New to machining looking at 3 in 1 lathe, help

It may be the perfect thing for you. The price is fine as long as nothing is broken. On the flip side, it may be a curse to own as many people feel that multi-purpose machines do three things poorly.

I am very familiar with these as, they are used at the high school where I donate time to the machine and carpentry shop. For basic, simple things that do not require precision they're fine. If you're serious about model building or making finely finished parts, forget it; the are inadequate.


Ray
 
Do what you will on that machine buy but be forewarned It may so three things but none will be as good as a single machine doing the same job. The multi-machines were made for people with limited space. This is my opinion of these machines. Yes, the price is right.

"Billy G"
 
It"s probably a great starter machine to get your feet wet. Like Ray said, if you want to get serious about this hobby, you'll find that machines limitations really quick. I think it would be a great little starter machine for someone if it's in decent shape. You can't go wrong though for $350, if it's all there and in decent shape. When you outgrow it, and you most probably will, I doubt you'll lose any money on it when you go to sell it.

Marcel
 
The big problem with these machines is if you are set up in mill mode with a job in it and you find that you need to use the lathe for a short job. You will have to take the mill job out and put the lathe job in, then you have to set the mill job back up again and errors can happen doing that.

This is not a problem if you have separate machines. I owned one for a short time and had to sell it at a lose because of a move. In retrospect that was good because I now have separate machines.

Dave
 
:agreed: That's the biggest PITA with a multipurpose machine.
 
I had a similar machine (Grizzly 9729) that I purchased because I didn't think I could afford both a lathe and a mill. I kept it for two years and then sold it to buy separate mill and lathe about a year ago. The machine worked fine as a lathe but the mill head is fixed and the only Z axis movement you get is with the spindle. This means a lot of packing under the vise to move it up and down depending on the part. Every time you do that, your back to squaring the vide to the table.
Even at $350 I would think long and hard about that unit (looks to have the same kind of fixed head). If you are set on a 3 in one, look at the machines that have the mill mounted on a columm AT&T he back of the lathe bed.
Best of luck.
 
The machine just be enough to make you want better. Machining isn't a cheap hobby. If that one comes with any tooling it may be worth it. It may also frustrate you to the point of total disgust. Others have valid points.
 
Awsome thanks,

I think i will pick it up.

I have no need for precision right now. I will be using it to make parts for my vintage motorcycle hobby. Nothing to complicated. Brackets to mount brake calipers, lathe plugs for joining tubing and other one off pieces for the various hobbies I'm into.

I don't want to drop a grand till i know what i am doing and what i really need.

I am looking at a lathemaster 8x14 as it seems to be a good start up package. It looks as if i could unpack it and start learning with what it comes with.

I was going to buy a horizontal/vertical band saw and saw this as i prowled around Craig's list.

Thanks

Chris K




If we are all the same who would laugh at me?
 
Around here you could buy that, use it for a year, and sale it for no less then what you paid. It aint a gamble if theres nothing to be lost.
 
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