Does anyone have a grizzly gunsmith lathe?

[jonbearman]

Thanks for the feedback. I already own a 13" southbend and my buddy has a thing with tail stocks. Mine is a little loose the further you wheel it out so he thinks you cant cut a decent chamber with it. However if it is locked it is fine. I am thinking even if there is a little slop in the quill bore and using a self centering reamer holder what difference would it make as the reamer going into the bore self centers so to speak once it gets in the bore with a barrel dialed in tight. What do you think?

 

[RemingtonAI]

Harbor freight had it on sale and my crafty girlfriend found a coupon online that worked on sale items in store, so I pulled the trigger. Never turned anything in my life so still learning lots and just like all of my other skill sets in just teaching myself from online resources and anywhere I can find good info. let the fun begin.

 

[riflewoman]

Thanks for the feedback. I already own a 13" southbend and my buddy has a thing with tail stocks. Mine is a little loose the further you wheel it out so he thinks you cant cut a decent chamber with it. However if it is locked it is fine. I am thinking even if there is a little slop in the quill bore and using a self centering reamer holder what difference would it make as the reamer going into the bore self centers so to speak once it gets in the bore with a barrel dialed in tight. What do you think?

There was once a very renowned accuracy gunsmith that locked the tail stock quill in a retracted position then chambered by pushing the whole tail stock. It worked for him.

A tail stock can only be "dialed in" in one position on the ways. Unless you get very very lucky in leveling your lathe ther will always be a slight sag or twist. This affects the tail stock. As the quill extends any looseness will move the center off the spindle center. A quill lock only jams the quill to one side.

Use a floating holder and learn what works for you.

 

[savagedasher]

There was once a very renowned accuracy gunsmith that locked the tail stock quill in a retracted position then chambered by pushing the whole tail stock. It worked for him.

A tail stock can only be "dialed in" in one position on the ways. Unless you get very very lucky in leveling your lathe ther will always be a slight sag or twist. This affects the tail stock. As the quill extends any looseness will move the center off the spindle center. A quill lock only jams the quill to one side.

Use a floating holder and learn what works for you.

The gunsmith lathe has provision to be tighten with a torque wrench on the tail stock. Larry

 

[jonbearman]

Thanks Larry as this is type of imfo I was looking for. This lathe isn't for me it is for my best friend who wants something tight enough to do chambers. Meaning it will get used on about 10-15 barrels a year.

 

[savagedasher]

Thanks Larry as this is type of imfo I was looking for. This lathe isn't for me it is for my best friend who wants something tight enough to do chambers. Meaning it will get used on about 10-15 barrels a year.

If you break the bearings in and adjust the bearings Align the tail stock. With good tooling . You can get chambers to .0003.
Muzzle flush system is a plus. Larry

 

[dkhunt14]

Mark king has chambered a lot of record breaking 1000 yard barrels on a Grizzly lathe. Matt

 

[lbran]

I have the 14x40 grizzly gunsmith lathe and love it! did lots of research from lots of gunsmiths, the 14x40 and bigger has lots better bearings then 12x36, althought the smaller ones should be fine, I would think the only difference would be wear! if used 8hrs a day, 40hrs aweek! looked at lots of used American made! most were wore on the bed ! beware!!!!

 

[Dodge61]

I've owned a Grizzly 14x40 for awhile now and really like it thus far. I looked high and low for a good used American made lathe before the purchase. All I can say is good luck, they were mostly worn out, leaking, not maintained, missing steady and follow rests etc. Also, most of the 14x40 American lathes are too long through the headstock to chamber via a spider on the outboard end and a 4 jaw on the inboard. My lathe will hold extremely tight tolerance and is a pleasure to use. Most of the hype regarding Grizzly lathes and machines are not very good is that "just hype". Of course, the name brand American made lathes are superior to the imports, but that's not comparing apples to apples. One can spend twenty grand on a new American made machine plus three or four more grand on tooling, or less than ten grand for a Grizzly machine and some good tooling and go to work. This topic has been beaten to death plenty of times. My opinion is, if your not using the lathe forty hours per week there's nothing wrong with the Grizzly "gunsmithing" lathes. Purchase and don't look back.

 

[hpshooter]

"The gunsmith lathe has provision to be tighten with a torque wrench on the tail stock."

So do all the other tailstocks that have opposing adjustment screws.

Myself, I would indicate the quill off the spindle and watch the indicator while I tightened the adjusting screws with any proper fitting wrench.

 

[Caleb85]

I have a two year old 4003G bought new, broke in the head stock, changed oil, checked bearing preload, a little adjustment in the gibs and she is a thing of beauty! Have done about a dozen barrels ( all shoot lights out) made some bushing, bypass valves for some Hydrostats, some input shafts or a final drive. I really have nothing to complain about other then the silly fact that the compound is a 90 degree!??

 

[NateHaler]

How are the tolerances and could you do decent chamber jobs with it.

Grizzly was founded and is owned by this man: http://www.bullets.com/shiraz-biography

The shooting sports don't have a bigger friend, and I wish him and his companies much continued success.

 

[dannyjbiggs]

Since around 2005, all of my competition barrels for Palma and F-Class have been chambered on my friend's older Grizzly using my reamers...he is a retired machinist. IN in the morning and OUT right after lunch, never an issue!

Dan

 

[Caleb85]

Jet is a much better lathe, the equipment and the service.
More $, nothing changed, you rarely get what you pay for these days never more.
The Grizz service is poor at best, and the lather is low end entry level junk.

Now I know several high end smiths that own and use grizzly, don't be going to far off on the company considering your prior experience.

 

[mrjdasr]

If you are interested in Grizzly's small gunsmithing lathe, check out Shop Fox. It is the same lathe only white and you can find it cheaper. Plus it has a 2 year warranty instead of a 1 year.

Erick Crouthamel

shop fox is owned by the same person as grizzly

 

[mrjdasr]

grizzly is asian' China'
save your money buy a lath that american Theres plenty of old American iron for sale in decent shape at near the same prices.
Why would you want to buy china lathes, and then have to work on it to make it accurate enough?

what make of lathe do you own???

 

[GerryM]

Clausing 12'' It's great. Lots of power and accurate.

 

[Intheshop]

We got a Grizz Z series 13/40 with the melinite(sp) bed process,that is stupid accurate.Sits next to a resto'd Wade 8A collet lathe.It's been a battle of old vs new on the precision....there's specs on both that keeps the race going.

Generally,and our shop has some pretty sophisticated examples of both,new vs old...the old arn is,or has,better ergos.Meaning,the more interface the operator has with the pce,the more the old U.S. arn shines.Once you start,powerfeeding,the differences becomes a little less clear.

The one thing that bumps Grizz,is that they have price/quality ladder.You want cheap,they got it.....but they also have more sophisticated,higher end units as well.Which,in my pea brain...separates them from most.

 

[XTR]

Sheesh, what do David Bailey and Danny Biggs know about whether or not guns shoot?

 

[dannyjbiggs]

Sheesh, what do David Bailey and Danny Biggs know about whether or not guns shoot?

Mr. jonberman asked if Grizzly lathes were worth a hoot for chambering. David and I were simply and emphatically saying "YES", and each of us can back it up with fairly decent demonstrated rifle performance! Looks like David does it all, though. For me, I just squirt the cutting oil, and operate the "go/no go" gauges!!. My friend does the rest.

Dan