3-in-1 selection.

[gbftats]

Im looking into getting a mini 3-in-1 lathe, but all the reviews i have read on this type of machine are far from good. What's your experience been with this type of machine? My projects require quite a bit of accuracy, but are so small i cant see spending a bunch of money on larger equipment. Also what machines are worth buying and which should i stay away from? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[vascon2196]

I purchased a Grizzly G0516 3-in-1 machine about a year ago. I got into making small stationary steam engines as a hobby and for the price and what it had to offer made it an easy decision to make.

HOWEVER....if I had the cash (and patience) I would have bought a separate lathe and mill. It gets really old really fast when you start a project using your lathe and have to mill a keyway or something and then have to (take the tool post off, clean the cross-slide, attach milling tabel, attach and square up milling vise) and then mill a keyway. Then if you want to part the finished piece off you have to take all of the milling components off and set up again for your lathe. PITA.

I already had the lathe tool post tapped holes strip out on me in a little over a year from the constant back and forth between the lathe and mill.

Also, the milling attachment that comes with the lathe is great for aluminum and brass but steel....it just doesn't have what it takes. If I do have to mill steel I have to take very light cuts (.005 to .010"). Drilling isn't really an issue.

The lathe works great I must say. Changing speeds is a pain because you have to change belts around manually.

To give you a true honest answer (in my opinion) becasue I am a 3-in-1 owner, I would suggest you purchase a lathe and a mill separately. Grizzly is nice because of the price and the tooling is relatively inexpensive as well but if you want to spend the money and get some really nice machines do yourself a favor and get a Smithy.

I am use to my 3-in-1 now but if I could go back, I would have gotten a separate lathe and mill probably from Smithy.

That's my opinion.

Chris

[Still-Learning]

I'll second the opinion of vascon2196. I bought an Enco 3-1 almost 10 years ago and he is absolutely correct when he says to consider a mill and lathe.

A 3-1 is a compromise at best and I find that it is lacking in the ability to do the individual operations as well as a dedicated machine does. The lathe operations are better that the mill and for drilling I use my benchtop drill press as it's far easier to set up.

They do save room and that's why I went that route but if I were to buy again I would tear down a wall to make more room.

Right now I'd like to get an X3 mill to convert to cnc then follow up with a small lathe to also cnc. When that happens the Enco is history.

SL

[JohnB52]

How good is a 3-in-1?? I suppose it depends on the machine, and how well you trick it out. I've had a 'shoptask', for 20 years. I have it retrofitted with CNC on the X,Y, and Z axis, and I have a motor on the tailstock, along with a turrett, so I can automate certain drilling. It has a comparatively big table, so I can do a bit of gang style tooling for the lathe as well. Years ago, I pounded the bearings in the mill up quite a bit, and am in the midst of replacing them, but overall, it's served me nicely for aluminum and brass, and I echo others comments, that the times I've milled steel, I wasn't too happy with the result, but frankly, I was not as good then as now (not that I don't still have a lot to learn).

Would I prefer a separate lathe & mill? Well, since I do a lot of CNC (some production work, and big prototype lots), I have to say that an 'ordinary' lathe with a small table would not suite me. I like that gang tooling. As for a separate mill, I don't see an adequate advantage to justify the extra floor space. But, one must compare apples to apples. This shoptask is not a bridgeport, but it's a lot heavier than a sherline or a little sieg. I can do things a typical modeler couldn't, and in part because I have both the mill and lathe in one machine running from one 3 axis CNC controller.

I'm not arguing for or against this particular 3-in-1, but I have to caution that the machines not be lumped all together. Similarly, to say that having a separate lathe and mill depends a whole lot on what lathe and mill you're talking about. Dollar for dollar, and looking at my total capability with this shoptask machine, I'd say it's not something to write-off.

Regards, and accepting any challenge,
JohnB52

[rodw]

I've got a Smithy CB 1220 and am happy with it for a first lathe. I bought it second hand and it is currently in pieces waiting for some parts from the US after a few years of work during which it has paid for itself and lots of tooling from a regular simple job which I can do as fast as somebody with CNC machine on $90 an hour. I guess one good thing is parts are all still available and very reasonably priced. I must confess I have hardly used the mill because I have a good drill press but I have used it when I want an accurately placed square hole. Also collecting the mill tooling has been a long journey but I am nearly there.

I have given some thought to trading it out for separate tools but decided that once I have rebuilt it, I will probably add a DRO and keep it as I really am struggling to find room in my small shop for an upgrade. I find now I have a much more relaxed attitude to machining now as rather than rushing to get a job out the door, I take my time and don't worry about the time it takes but enjoy the experience. This includes rebuilding the lathe spindle now, just part of the fun in the workshop but I must say waiting patiently for parts to arrive for a couple of weeks is frustrating!

So in summary, with the right attitude to home machining, you will get by with the combo unit.

[toddalin]

This is a nice machine (supposed to be one of the best) with 3-axis CNC, power, and manual feeds. It sat unused in a barn since new and there is no wear on any of the parts. I just got it mounted yesterday. It didn't look this good when I got it.

[ken572]

It didn't look this good when I got it.

Hey Todd,

It sure looks GREAT NOW..

Very Cool Barn Find.

Ken.

[toddalin]

Yes looks great. But while of American design, it is of Chinese construction and I've had to go though a whole lot to get it to a point where I can finally use it. I had to do a lot to get it to where it should have been from the factory. Just a couple things here,

Every freekin' bolt was loose and the motor shifted on start-up and chewed up the belt the first time I turned it on!

The "scales" are over 10% off and the first time I used the power feed, it ripped out the spline shaft before it got anywhere near the "end" of its travel. JT said, "I don't have any of those and the factory is no longer in business. Anyway, we closed out those machines with the understanding that there would be no parts availability. Do a Google search for metric shafts."

The DRO was mounted wrong and broke the channel.

The cogs on the Y-axis CNC are so poorly spaced, that the belt jumps off the cog and skips a tooth. This even makes the manual feed "jumpy." Luckily,I was able to use the supplied cog from the "A-axis" and reconfigure the software to account for the difference in diameter.

I also added limit switches to try to avoid future breakage because help from ShopTask just ain't gonna happen.

On the other hand, Smithy has been a great help and when I showed them the broken shaft, Tom Sorenson instantly came up with a workable replacement, once I machined it a bit!

I've been told the ShopMasters are nice, once you get them sorted out. We'll see.

[Bentworker]

I've got a Smithy Granite 1324 3-n-1... I have had a Rong Fu mill, and currently have a Vectrax 10X54" mill and a Jet 13x40" lathe.

My experience has been this as follows. The Smithy does well as a lathe, and does OK as a mill. I put the "MAX" style mill head on my machine that has a thicker column and double clamps that seem to keep the head in place a lot better than the original head. Overall as a mill you have to take lighter cuts. I use small tooling (less than 1/2"), and use a mist coolant system to keep the finish looking decent. So, as a mill you sacrifice rigidity, but you gain neat little features like power feed in the X and Y axis. Another advantage is that it is one machine to tool up with a single DRO, instead of two... As a mill mine has always done fine, but you cannot expect to hog something out like you can on a Bridgeport. The other thing is that you have to take the time to go over and adjust all the gibs and lock all axis you are not using. If you are in a hurry you are buying the wrong machine. The other advantage is size... My mill and lathe chew up a lot more floor space than my old Smithy did.

As a lathe the first thing I did was get a real tool post. I ran a Dorian AXA on mine and loved it. The Smithy compound rests left something to be desired until they rolled out the new design last year. With a good post it is pretty solid. Really as a lathe they are pretty neat. Compact, rigid enough, and easy to do both metric and standard threads on.

This all being said, if you see yourself doing far more milling than turning a 3-n-1 is probably not for you. If the majority of your work will be turning and you will occasionally mill it should be fine.

I have had mine for a decade, and am selling it now because I have a dedicated mill and lathe these days.