South Bend 8x18 lathe inspection

[lobocnc]

I've been itching to get one of the new Grizzlified SB 8x18 lathes, and am more motivated now that they've dropped the price. I still have yet to find anyone who has purchased one and posted a review. I happen to live in Bellingham (Grizzly-central) and am thinking of going to the showroom with a dial indicator and actually take some measurements to get an idea of the accuracy. I don't have any particular target numbers, but I'd like to see if it is any more accurate than their cheaper models.

I'm not much of a lathe guy - any suggestions on measurements I might easily take on the showroom floor? I was going to first just get the run-out on the 3-jaw chuck as a broad metric. What else? I'm not sure how cooperative they'll be (letting me remove the chuck on the display model, etc.), but they are generally pretty nice guys over there.
-Jeff

[SteveHGraham]

I'm wondering if the chuck runout matters. If you use a 4-jaw or an adjustable 3-jaw, I believe the runout doesn't mean a whole lot, because it gets indicated out. But I am frequently wrong.

I am totally in love with my adjustable 3-jaw. I used to be in love with the 4-jaw, but this thing is the bee's knees.

I think I'd be more concerned with overall quality than anything.

Will they let you look at the actual machine you buy?

[SteveM]

I suspect that you won't find much on a new piece - it's several steps up from a Harbor Freight mini lathe.

One test you can do is to put an indicator on a mag base. Mount the mag base on the carriage and have the indicator on the ways ahead of the carriage. If there's a dip in the bed, the indicator will get there before the carriage and will show a drop.

Put centers in the headstock and tailstock. Bring them together and see if they line up. Get a ruler and trap it between the two - if they line up, the ruler will stay vertical and perpendicular to the spindle centerline.

Nice to see that they lowered the price. That was a lot to ask for a lathe without a QC box.

On the plus side, the spindle is a camlock and has a large bore and the speed range is nice.

It has a MT4.5 spindle bore - does it take 5C collets? The specs and the manual do not even mention collets.

Steve

[sjames]

im not sure indicating the display model will tell you much. they are all built to the same standards, so you will either get one in spec that is good, or you will get one out of spec that isn't.

I also doubt you would be able to discern any difference in accuracy armed with only a dial indicator. maybe you can ask them for the test sheet for the lathe, i would think it would have one, that should show all the various accuracy tests that were done prior to shipping out of the factory.

and if you live close by, you can always easily return it later if its a lemon. at 263lbs, you can almost throw it under your arm and walk it back to the store.

[lobocnc]

I'm a bit of hack when it comes to lathe work. On my ancient Grizzly lathe, I mostly just use the standard 3-jaw chuck (which leaves something to be desired) and never get around to dialing things in on the 4-jaw chuck. On the SB lathe, the 4-jaw chuck is an extra $300 or so. I don't know how much an adjustable 3-jaw chuck would be. It'd be nice to have the standard chuck be "good enough" for most of what I do.

On the overall quality, the SB lathes look good, but I'd like to know that the premium price is going into grinding rather than polishing, if you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, I don't think they'll let me check out the actual machine I would buy - there'd be a lot of uncrating, degreasing, and assembly they won't be too keen on me doing in their warehouse.
-Jeff

[GlennW]

Iand am more motivated now that they've dropped the price. I still have yet to find anyone who has purchased one and posted a review.

Perhaps that's an indication right there!

[lobocnc]

...and if you live close by, you can always easily return it later if its a lemon. at 263lbs, you can almost throw it under your arm and walk it back to the store.

you've got bigger arms than me!

[lobocnc]

It has a MT4.5 spindle bore - does it take 5C collets? The specs and the manual do not even mention collets.

Thanks for the suggestions. The specs list a D1-3 back plate, and it seems like you can get D1-3 5C collet chucks. I know nothing about the different mounting standards, though.

I have a set of ER-40 collets for my milling machine - I work on short stuff mostly, so they'd be OK. I know you can get MT3 collet chucks for the ER-40 collets, but I haven't found any MT4.5(???) collet chucks. The SB lathe comes with an MT4.5 to MT3 adapter sleeve, but I am leery of stacking up adapters.
-Jeff

[SteveHGraham]

I'll bet the price drop is related to the lathe's popularity. I've always been amazed at South Bend's high prices. It's really difficult to find reviews, and you know people would be writing about the lathes if they were buying them.

My guess is that very few people will blow that much money on a lathe that seems identical to other Taiwan machines that sell for lower prices. It has always seemed strange to me that Grizzly even competes with itself. In the same catalog, they've had Taiwanese Grizzlys selling for way less than Taiwanese South Bends that look awfully similar.

[ctwo]

Perhaps that's an indication right there!

But of what? Usually people are more inclined to complain than praise, but the market for this kind of machine might yield an opposite norm.

Maybe use that as a bargaining chip and get a discount in turn for doing a full review - let them send you a "review" quality machine...

[GlennW]

Perhaps that's an indication right there!

But of what?

That they are not selling for whatever reason...

Perhaps just not being competitive price wise.

As much clamoring as there was from people stating that they couldn't wait until the new South Bend lathes were available so that they could get one, one would think that if someone had one they would make it known somewhere. I have not seen evidence of one in captivity! Usually when someone gets a new toy it soon shows up in the "Show us your Lathe" thread.

It may be a great machine!

[SteveM]

Thanks for the suggestions. The specs list a D1-3 back plate, and it seems like you can get D1-3 5C collet chucks.

Better to fit collets in the spindle. Less chance for runout.

I have a set of ER-40 collets for my milling machine - I work on short stuff mostly, so they'd be OK. I know you can get MT3 collet chucks for the ER-40 collets, but I haven't found any MT4.5(???) collet chucks.

Difference between a mill and a lathe is that you want to pass stock thru the spindle on the lathe, so the MT collet chuck, while good for short stock, won't let you pass stuff thru.

5C collet capability is great. Good collets are a dime a dozen.

Steve