Grizzly G0800 and McNaughton Coring System

[Edward Weingarden]

I recently obtained a G0800 and went to use my McNaughton coring system for the first time with this lathe. To my dismay, I found that the banjo for the G0800 does not allow the McNaughton post to be placed high enough so that the cutter is at the center height of the spindle; it's about 1.5" low. Any ideas of how to resolve this issue without having to replace the banjo? Thanks.

[David Delo]

Ed,

Either buy the correct post for a 24" swing lathe or just put a plug 1.5" long or whatever distance you need into the banjo.

[Edward Weingarden]

David:
I looked for a longer post for the McNaughton, but only see a 6" post, which is what I have. Do you know of a source for a longer post that is specific for the McNaughton?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "plug"; can you elaborate. Thanks.

[Roger Chandler]

The longer post is what you need. You could likely get a 1” post from a local machine shop. 1” round bar stock is pretty common. If it needs to be threaded to fit the head, they can do that also, so take your setup with you to the machine shop. Congrats on the G0800.....it is a fine beast of a lathe!

[David Delo]

Don't know about where to find a longer post.

Plug means put something solid close to the diameter of you banjo hole (I assume it's 1" diameter) into the banjo to the correct height that will allow your current post to be at the correct height. Quick & easy fix if you don't have any steel round stock in the shop would be drop as many quarters into the banjo hole until you get the right height.

[David Delo]

Ed,

Hey, Sorry but I'm "all wet" with the plug idea. I have the Oneway system and they use a plug inside the posts along with an adjustable screw & locking nut to get height adjustability between different lathe swing heights. I forgot the Mac doesn't have a treaded hole on the bottom side. Been awhile since I messed around with the Mac.

[Bill Boehme]

I recently obtained a G0800 and went to use my McNaughton coring system for the first time with this lathe. To my dismay, I found that the banjo for the G0800 does not allow the McNaughton post to be placed high enough so that the cutter is at the center height of the spindle; it's about 1.5" low. Any ideas of how to resolve this issue without having to replace the banjo? Thanks.

Call Craft Supplies to see if there is a longer post. They asked me what lathe I had and when I told them it is a Robust AB they said that I needed the long post. I'm not sure what the length is, but it's hard to imagine needing a post that is longer than that. It wouldn't be too difficult to turn a recess for the setscrew in a one inch diameter steel bar.

[Edward Weingarden]

Bill - I'll check with Craft Supply.

David - just an FYI if you're not familiar with the G0800 banjo. In comparison to the Oneway banjo, the vertical part where the post inserts is not as tall on the G0800. As such, the tightening bolt is lower down and therefore won't secure my post at the height I need it at.

[Tony Rozendaal]

FYI, when I got my new lathe and needed a longer post, I got one through Craft Supply. For some reason the portion that fit into the head, was too long and needed to be reworked a bit. I don't KNOW this but what I THINK the deal was a I received an older post for a newer head (McNaughton has changed a few things over the years). I was able to turn a bit off the top end of the post with a metal lathe, a few touches with a angle dringer would likely have done the same thing and quicker to boot.

[Edward Weingarden]

Thanks for the input/suggestion Tony.

[Reed Gray]

One down side to the Grizzly lathes is the short banjo. No clue as to why they make is so short other than maybe wanting you to buy just their tool rests, but I have no idea what rests they sell. Personally, I would get a new banjo. I would have concerns with the longer post getting bent with heavy duty use, especially if you have catches...

robo hippy

[Roger Chandler]

One down side to the Grizzly lathes is the short banjo. No clue as to why they make is so short other than maybe wanting you to buy just their tool rests, but I have no idea what rests they sell. Personally, I would get a new banjo. I would have concerns with the longer post getting bent with heavy duty use, especially if you have catches...

robo hippyReed, the G0800 does NOT have a short banjo. The larger, and second iteration of the G0766 banjo did have the banjo neck lowered by about 5/8” from the too small original to make it work with the stock toolrest that came with that lathe. I have both models, and for me, it was one of the best investments I made to get the “custom” Robust rests at 8.75” total height, as the G0800 came with a stock 8.75” rest, and my rests work with both large lathes. No vibrations, no slipping, nothing but solid lockdown and premium performance.

[Bill Boehme]

Reed, the G0800 does NOT have a short banjo. The larger, and second iteration of the G0766 banjo did have the banjo neck lowered by about 5/8” from the too small original to make it work with the stock toolrest that came with that lathe. I have both models, and for me, it was one of the best investments I made to get the “custom” Robust rests at 8.75” total height, as the G0800 came with a stock 8.75” rest, and my rests work with both large lathes. No vibrations, no slipping, nothing but solid lockdown and premium performance.

Roger, I looked at the G0800 and am inclined to agree with Reed. The banjo might be designed to work with Grizzly tool rests, but it seems to be a disadvantage to not work with any off-the-shelf tool rest. Fortunately, Robust will custom build their tool rests, but the support of a taller banjo would certainly be more desirable for situations such as coring.

[Reed Gray]

I had several people that wanted my inside bowl rests for the Grizzly lathes, but the posts were too short. They fit all other lathes 24 inch swing range, fine. I have never turned on one of them.

robo hippy

[Roger Chandler]

Brings up an interesting discussion. A fully, completely functional, and well built banjo that works fine with the lathe design, and is made by the same company that makes the Powermatic lathes...the Harvey Industries Co., and the G0800 is identical to the flagship Harvey Turbo-60 unit, with the exception of the A/C three phase motor vs. the 3 hp D/C motor.

The G0800 is comparable in size class to the PM 4224b, but does not have the venturi system, the lights, which I did not want anyway. I hear nobody complaining about Powematic banjos. Makes me ponder the responsibility of the manufacturers.....should they be required to make all models of lathes to accommodate any possible aftermarket accessory? I find that for the price point, and quality, and also the heavy build of the G0800, that value and performance can’t be beat!

I’ve turned on the Robust American Beauty and at the last Virginia symposium last fall, they had one there. Great lathe for sure, and I could have gotten one [was actually saving for one] and really got to seriously looking at the build of the G0800, Oneway 2436, and the Robust AB. After a lot of thought, pulled the trigger on the G0800. My feeling today after more than a year, with some heavy turning......I would do it again today, just based on the performance and build.

The Robust AB is a fine machine.....who knows, I may eventually get one, but based on my personal experience with a couple of sessions on it, and also on the Serious SL2542, the performance of the G0800 is right there, comparable to both.

I still maintain that the banjo is well built, perfectly suitable for the lathe design, and not too short. If one is looking to have the manufacturer make something that will fit all possible lathes and scenarios......I think that is a bit of a stretch, and unrealistic.

[Edward Weingarden]

Roger:
I would think that many who purchase a lathe with a 24" swing are upgrading from a smaller lathe. I don't think it's a stretch for a company to have some foresight and consider that their banjo should be able to accommodate accessories from the smaller lathes that people are upgrading from. I agree that the banjo is well built, but the height is not in proportion to the swing.

[Brice Rogers]

My first lathe was a 9" craftsman and it used a short 5/8" shaft on the tool post. Over a few years I had fabricated a half dozen specialty tool posts - - outside curve, inside curve, narrow, etc. Then I got a Griz G0766 22" lathe. I didn't want to throw away my old tool posts or fabricate a whole new set of longer tool posts.

So I fabricated an extension adapter to go from 1" to 5/8". It also adds about 6 or 7" to the length. The collar or coupler section is bigger than it needs to be but I fabricated it out of stuff that I had in my shop. The forces are essentially all in compression, so there isn't any issue with strength.

So if a person wanted to add an inch or two or three, or seven, etc. it would be possible to make an extension adapter w/o modifying the banjo. But for the smaller length extensions, a person might have to take a saw and cut off part of the tool post. For some people that could be a psychologically painful thing to do.

BTW, although I don't think that it shows on the picture, there is a threaded locking hole for a knob to secure the smaller diameter tool rest.

410338

[Roger Chandler]

Roger:
I would think that many who purchase a lathe with a 24" swing are upgrading from a smaller lathe. I don't think it's a stretch for a company to have some foresight and consider that their banjo should be able to accommodate accessories from the smaller lathes that people are upgrading from. I agree that the banjo is well built, but the height is not in proportion to the swing.

I fully understand every turners desire to not have to upgrade everything when they want to upgrade lathes. In my mind I think it is unfair to any manufacturer to be expected to try and forsee any particular turner with any particular previous lathe model, that might possibly purchase their larger lathe sometime in the future, to not be able to somehow just pull a rabbit out of the hat and figure out exactly what they are supposed to manufacture well in advance of whatever the particular scenario might possibly involve.

I would challenge any person to be required to manufacture a unit that could possibly meet any possible upgrade at any possible time in the future.........and not have to charge 25 times the price it is actually worth.

I'm not being critical of folks who wish everything would just line up for their particular situation, but a couple of things do stand out......first off, there is very little standardized in lathes....no rules actually exist, other than the manufacturers and accessories makers have figured out that some spindle sizes are a good thing so there aren't 50 different sizes, and that goes for accessories.

Second, the size class of the lathes......not everyone wants a big lathe.......they only want to turn a few pens and maybe a bottle stopper once in a while. Some want the biggest thing on the market because they have room and want to turn big items. Upgrade in class from a midi class lathe to a 24" class lathe will of necessity require bigger, beefier, and yes, sometimes longer support for accessories like a toolrest.

"Consideration" for someone's possible upgrade, not knowing who, when, or what possible adjustment might be needed to accommodate those particular parameters is simply not the way manufacturing works.......manufacturing has a set of blueprints, specs/tolerances to meet and design to be met in the process, which cannot in my mind possibly be anywhere near cost effective if every possible desire of every possible machine owner, who could possibly sometime in the future consider one of their machines.

Manufacturers do seem to try to meet what they see as demand developing in the market place, and their offerings have gotten better over the years, but I seriously doubt any could forsee what might be every possible upgrade necessity from any possible turner.

I don't expect GM to make a universal muffler for my Ram truck, even though I have a GMC SUV. I cannot expect Honda to make parts for my Dodge. Not trying to be unkind, but reasonable. ;)

[Alex Zeller]

By this logic would you expect every band of lathe use the same pitch thread on the head stock? It would be nice so every chuck would work without an adapter. In the case of a tool rest why aren't they offered with a 1" shaft extra long so the buyer can cut it to the exact length they want? When the maker of the Grizzly G0766 made the banjo 25mm they got push back and changed it to the standard 1". So if enough people feel something is wrong at least Grizzly will ask for a change. I'm guessing that if enough Grizzly owners have a problem with the banjo Grizzly will change it.

[Bill Boehme]

I recently obtained a G0800 and went to use my McNaughton coring system for the first time with this lathe. To my dismay, I found that the banjo for the G0800 does not allow the McNaughton post to be placed high enough so that the cutter is at the center height of the spindle; it's about 1.5" low. Any ideas of how to resolve this issue without having to replace the banjo? Thanks.

Was Craft Supplies able to scratch your itch?

[Edward Weingarden]

Bill:
The only one that Craft Supplies has with a 1" diameter post is 6" long, which is the one I have. Nathan at Craft Supplies offered to contact McNaughton to have one made, but it sounded like it would take a long time, and be pricey. I'll have to get a piece of 1" bar and take it to a local machine shop.

[Bill Boehme]

Bill:
The only one that Craft Supplies has with a 1" diameter post is 6" long, which is the one I have. Nathan at Craft Supplies offered to contact McNaughton to have one made, but it sounded like it would take a long time, and be pricey. I'll have to get a piece of 1" bar and take it to a local machine shop.

I would ask the shop first if they already have or can turn a one inch bar with the dimensions that you want. Take your six inch post to them to show what you need. It might be cheaper than buying the bar stock yourself.

[Edward Weingarden]

Good idea Bill.