I am looking at a Grizzly bench top lathe used. I plan to use it just to learn general machining. Make things for the reloading room and such. I know a little about lathes but I was hoping fir some hints on things to look for. Thanks in advance.
Used lathe
- Thread starter HillBillyPirate
- Start date
I don’t handy. I will get some. I was hoping for some general lathe buying things to look for.
If it's a DF1236 or DF1224 from the 80's, They are pretty good little lathes and are belt drive heads. Just make sure you get all of the accessories that came with it, Because the Early ones had 60mmx8 TPI spindle threads instead of 2 1/4x8 Spindle threads and trying to find chucks, Faceplates Etc is like trying to find Rocking Horse Road Apples.
This is the lathe I am talking about. They were made in Taiwan. This pic was scraped from the interwebs.
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It’s a big topic and what we might suggest varies based on your ability to measure accurately. Since you’re learning, chances are there’s a lot you won’t be able to check. A number of close up photos of any wear surfaces would let us help a lot more.
If the lathe is setup and the owner is willing, just taking a pass on a simple steel 1” rod 12” long or so will tell you a lot. If it’s well aligned the shaft will be the same(ish) diameter the whole length (the ends are the most important), and the finish on the ends won’t have a lot of chatter. If he will face off a 4” to 6” aluminum disk, laying a straight edge across it will show if the cross slide is aligned.
Current owner is a super nice guy and will probably work with me on any questions I have. Thanks for the info.
That's worth a lot, starting out.
I look very closely for cracks and anything that doesn’t look right. If a bechtop lathe had a corner of the bed, or cross slide, chipped off that’s a bad sign it might have been dropped. Bent or broken handles, road rash, or the like are a sign it’s been dropped. If the bed has had little use that’s the best case.
The biggest problem with a lot of those lathes is the lack of care and maintenance. The Norton Gearboxes on this type of machine rarely get lubricated properly. If you read the manual, You are supposed to remove the shifter cover and lubricate the gears before each use, That means you have to remove 4 socket head screws and pull the cover and lube the gears and then put it back on. Most people don't know to do it and have never pulled it off.
Just above the cover on the right side of the head where the drum switch is, There is a small rubber plug you are supposed to take out and squirt a healthy dose of oil inside there to supply the drip system for the gearbox. There is a piece of gauze like material inside that gets soaked with oil and then drips on top of the gears.
There are 2 other areas that don't get taken care of properly and that is keeping the apron full of the proper type of Mineral oil for the gears inside. People put stuff like 90 wt gear oil in there and some of those oils will eat the bronze worm gear the drives the feed rod, And unfortunately those gears have to be made as they are no longer in stock at Grizzly or anywhere else.
And thirdly, People also tend to put 90 weight oil or motor oil in the headstocks and 90 wt gear oil will ruin the bearings on these type of lathes especially if it's a gearhead as they have a splash lubrication system and the 90 wt is just too heavy to splash up high enough to reach the bearings. The older Larger lathes like LeBlondes etc from moons ago use 90 wt gear oil because that is what they were designed to use.
So I always smell the lathe I am looking at for the smell of 90 wt gear oil, If you know what it smells like, It's nasty smelling. Steer clear of that lathe if it has that smell, It's going to cost you.
The drum switches on the older ones get brittle and break, Then you have to adapt a newer style drum switch to it. The G1003 model which is a little newer 90's or so has contactors and an apron switch. The drum switch system is much simpler but the switches wear out eventually.
These belt drive lathes have some little holes to put oil in the bearings, You lift the belt cover up and you will see them.
Anyway I love those little belt drive lathes, They are quiet and they are actually pretty stout little lathes that are quite capable for Gunsmithing work and can do surprisingly accurate work. They also have a large spindle bore of around almost 1 3/4 on the model with the 60mmx8 spindle.
I hope the one you are looking at has been well cared for, You will love it once you get accustomed to it.
Please post some pics of it.
Just above the cover on the right side of the head where the drum switch is, There is a small rubber plug you are supposed to take out and squirt a healthy dose of oil inside there to supply the drip system for the gearbox. There is a piece of gauze like material inside that gets soaked with oil and then drips on top of the gears.
There are 2 other areas that don't get taken care of properly and that is keeping the apron full of the proper type of Mineral oil for the gears inside. People put stuff like 90 wt gear oil in there and some of those oils will eat the bronze worm gear the drives the feed rod, And unfortunately those gears have to be made as they are no longer in stock at Grizzly or anywhere else.
And thirdly, People also tend to put 90 weight oil or motor oil in the headstocks and 90 wt gear oil will ruin the bearings on these type of lathes especially if it's a gearhead as they have a splash lubrication system and the 90 wt is just too heavy to splash up high enough to reach the bearings. The older Larger lathes like LeBlondes etc from moons ago use 90 wt gear oil because that is what they were designed to use.
So I always smell the lathe I am looking at for the smell of 90 wt gear oil, If you know what it smells like, It's nasty smelling. Steer clear of that lathe if it has that smell, It's going to cost you.
The drum switches on the older ones get brittle and break, Then you have to adapt a newer style drum switch to it. The G1003 model which is a little newer 90's or so has contactors and an apron switch. The drum switch system is much simpler but the switches wear out eventually.
These belt drive lathes have some little holes to put oil in the bearings, You lift the belt cover up and you will see them.
Anyway I love those little belt drive lathes, They are quiet and they are actually pretty stout little lathes that are quite capable for Gunsmithing work and can do surprisingly accurate work. They also have a large spindle bore of around almost 1 3/4 on the model with the 60mmx8 spindle.
I hope the one you are looking at has been well cared for, You will love it once you get accustomed to it.
Please post some pics of it.
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Be prepared to pull the gibs, flush the crap out, possibly scrape the gibs , but a decent lathe. Find yourself a local machinist club/ model engine club lots of knots be had
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