Purchase of first lathe...Grizzly G0462

[Roy Van Tassel]

I am going to purchase my first lathe. I have a Legacy Ornamental Mill model 1000. I have turned windsor chair legs on it with good results, however I have to turn the work manually. I am interested in turning and want to try my hand at a lathe. I have looked an various lathes and in my price range is the jet 1236. I think it is smaller than I would like. I saw the Grizzly G0462 which is more the size I want. Does anyone have the G0462? and I would like some opinions from turners with experience.

Roy Van Tassel

[Frank Fusco]

I have the G1067Z and have seen the G0462 in the Grizzly store in Springfield, MO. Comparing the 0462 to the 1067 is almost embarrasing. The 0462 http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0462 at less money is far and away the superior machine. There is no comparison. I asked a Grizzly manager how this was possible. He said that recently, Grizzly moved it's manufacturing operations from Tiawan to mainland China, thus reducing costs and improving quality.
The 0462, IMHO, compares favorably with some of the $2000.00 + machines on the market.
But, as has been pointed out here many times, a big downside of the 0462 is the 600 rpm for it's lowest speed. This can make turning a large, out of balance, hunk problematic.
Unless you are planning on doing a lot of REALLY BIG bowls, this is probably the best lathe value in the world.

[Chuck Hanger]

http://images.grizzly.com/grizzlycom/catalog/2006/main/0107_01.jpg

[Wilbur Pan]

Of course, my stupid question is, how does one go about slowing down the lower end?

Second question is, even if you do slow down the lower end, do you lose anything in terms of torque?

Third, the high end seems a bit slow - 2400 rpm. Any way to increase this while keeping the low end speed low?

[Travis Stinson]

Frank, could you please explain to me how a $400 Chinese made lathe compares favorably to lathes $2,000 and up?:confused: From the looks of the pictures, my Jet mini's tailstock looks to be twice as beefy.

[Curt Fuller]

I'm definitely not an expert on what the best lathes are. But there are a couple things about the Grizzly lathes that I can't figure out. With the popularity of bowl turning and turning other than spindle work, why doesn't Grizzly slow their machines down? Even their new 20 incher only goes down to 500. And why do they have those wierd spindle sizes, 1 1/2" x 8tpi and 1" x 12tpi. It makes it so you can't use hardly any of the standard available faceplates and chuck inserts. Those are two reasons that would make me think twice about buying one of their machines. I think that with the exception of Oneway and a few of the other $3-5K super nice lathes they're all imported from China now. But if Grizzly ever wanted my business they'd have to get the Chinese to make it right to start with.

BTW Roy, the GO462 looks like it has a standard 1" x 8tpi spindle. It would probably be a good lathe that would make a lot of shavings for you.

[Alex Cam]

Frank, could you please explain to me how a $400 Chinese made lathe compares favorably to lathes $2,000 and up?:confused: From the looks of the pictures, my Jet mini's tailstock looks to be twice as beefy.

One favorable comparison would be that it's $1600 less..?

[Christopher Hunter]

Hi Roy,
I have the go462 and have been using it for about 8 Months--
I have to say it is an O.K. Machine but it does have some drawbacks,,
the low end speed is a little scary for bigger projects and I have had a lot of big projects that the lathe could not handle due to the vibration--and the fact that the head of the thing rotates does not help in its vibration problems- the digital readout doesn't even light up anymore on mine, but it didn't really need to to begin with and the tool rest levers that stop the rest from rotating tend to strip out every 3 or 4 months --- but overall this is a good lathe to buy if you are not going to overdue things and just stick to bowls that are below 14" and the thicker you go the smaller diameter the piece should be...
despite the things listed above I am very happy with my lathe--
I do wish I would have saved for a lathe in the $2000- range but at the time that was all I could afford---
good luck in your purchase
--Chris

[Rob Bourgeois]

One favorable comparison would be that it's $1600 less..?

You might spend that much more in sand to keep it from hopping around the room. ;)

The thing is this...if you spend 400 on a lathe then expect it to NOT be of the quality of a lathe worth for times as much. ITs just a fact of life...you get what you pay for. IF you are just getting in to a bigger lathe..then it could either frustrate you or make you spend more money later....just dont expect a 400 dollar lathe to PERFORM in EVERY aspect as well as a 2000 dollar lathe.

I have a 500 dollar lathe and it performs like I would hope and expect a 500 dollar lathe to perform. I have turned on some bigger high end lathes...would I buy one..yep because the smoothness, lack of vibration, and ease of use is what I would expect from a 2000+ lathe.

/crawling back into my hole after my monthly post.

[Frank Fusco]

Of course, my stupid question is, how does one go about slowing down the lower end?

Second question is, even if you do slow down the lower end, do you lose anything in terms of torque?

Third, the high end seems a bit slow - 2400 rpm. Any way to increase this while keeping the low end speed low?

#1: Can't.

#2: No torque lost.

#3: No.

[Frank Fusco]

Frank, could you please explain to me how a $400 Chinese made lathe compares favorably to lathes $2,000 and up?:confused: From the looks of the pictures, my Jet mini's tailstock looks to be twice as beefy.

Travis, it is a 2 hp lathe with sturdy features, including cast iron legs. The tailstock looks lighter duty than I would like also but with the one year warranty, if it fails, Griz will give you another. I wouldn't worry about it.
My Griz is accurate and runs smoothly. The Reeves drive is a concession to the bigger dollar machines. But, I'll stick with my opinion that for about $400.00 it is 90% of what you will get with a $2000.00 machine.

[Frank Fusco]

I'm definitely not an expert on what the best lathes are. But there are a couple things about the Grizzly lathes that I can't figure out. With the popularity of bowl turning and turning other than spindle work, why doesn't Grizzly slow their machines down? Even their new 20 incher only goes down to 500. And why do they have those wierd spindle sizes, 1 1/2" x 8tpi and 1" x 12tpi. It makes it so you can't use hardly any of the standard available faceplates and chuck inserts. Those are two reasons that would make me think twice about buying one of their machines. I think that with the exception of Oneway and a few of the other $3-5K super nice lathes they're all imported from China now. But if Grizzly ever wanted my business they'd have to get the Chinese to make it right to start with.

BTW Roy, the GO462 looks like it has a standard 1" x 8tpi spindle. It would probably be a good lathe that would make a lot of shavings for you.

Curt, I agree on both those accounts. My G1067Z has that "weird" spindle size and I had to get an adapter made. But the newer machines are standardized. Why they won't slow them down is a mystery. I believe if they did that, Griz would capture a much greater chunk of the lathe market. I would like to seem something like belt change ranges combined with the Reeves for selections from about 50 rpm up to 3000. There are other annoying features, like the speed control handle at the highest setting gets into the field of work. About two minutes engineering could correct that. But, as said we (I) are comparing $400.00 to $2000.00.

[Keith Burns]

For a "Starter" Lathe the grizzly would probably be alright. Just don't expect much from it. If you are serious about turning and planning on sticking with it get soimething better. I'd like to relay my lathe history. My first lathe was a real cheap $100 import. Money well spent? Yes, because I was able to determine that I wanted to turn. Then I sold it and bought a new Delta 12" with the swivel head and reeves type drive. In all honestly it was decent but not much better than the cheap import as far as performance and it was to lightweight. Sold it and bought and refurbished an older 12" Delta 4 speed from a school. Much heavier and much better but I really needed a slower speed machine for bowls. I sold it and bought another used Delta 12" from a school. It had the reeves drive and was a great lathe. Heavy and worked well. But I found myself wanting more features and size. I now have a Delta 16" steelbed with electronic variable speed and reverse and I couldn't be happier (unless I had a Oneway maybe). If I were starting out again I would start with a Jet mini or equivilent and then get me a "bigger/better lathe (you can still use the mini at that point). If you decide you don't like turning you can sell the Mini and get most of your money back. I doubt the resale value on the Grizzly would be nearly as great.

Now I am not Grizzly bashing here. I have a Grizzly Mortiser, Jointer and Dust Collector and they are great machines. I have seen all their lathes at their showroom and I would not buy one, the quality/features are just not there.

[Dario Octaviano]

Here is my story.

I started on a tight budget. Decided to buy a HF lathe but it arrived broken (UPS' fault). I took that as a sign and ordered a Jet 1236. I am very happy with it. Lately I bought another lathe a Jet mini VS and loved it. It is well built.

Knowing what I know now and if I have to start over...I would start with a Jet mini (than the 1236) then get a bigger lathe later.

I since upgraded the 1236 (by luck) to a PM 3520B...but I am still keeping the mini!

Bottom line...as with any purchase buy quality. On lathes it seems to be more important than on others...especially if you want precision. I turn pens and precision is very important.

That said, the G0462 seems like a good starter lathe for the money if you must have the swing.

Good luck!!!

[Andy Hoyt]

It's my understanding that one reason the good lathes - Oneways, Robusts, Stubby's, Vic Marks, and yes, even the Powermatics - are held in such high regard is that they are machines designed as lathes from the ground up with all components carefully engineered and spec'd solely for the purpose ending up with a quality machine that will allow the end user many years of trouble and hassle free turning service. As consumers we pay top dollar for this "perceived value".

On the other side of this equation are those machines which do not benefit from a similar legacy. Simply dreamed up by bean counters and spare parts managers looking to reduce inventory overhead. The model numbers change slightly every once in a while as they (for example) run out of left over table saw motors and switch to using excess bandsaw motors. As consumers we pay less-than-top dollar for this, but it's still a "perceived value".

All of these companies have different business models to follow and different investor types to keep happy. Some consider the consumer in that, and sadly, it seems that some don't.

[Charles E. Martin V]

With HF and Grizzley lathes it's best to determine the spindle size and thread yourself. We have had multiple customers order adaptors for their lathes because that's what it said in the manual, only to find it was completely different. I don't think they've updated their manuals since day one.

[Mark Pruitt]

I don't have much to add to what's been said here, but to me any lathe that has 600 as its lowest RPM setting is useless. I might as well have scrap iron. I am mystified as to how Grizzly can do so well with most other equipment they sell and yet their lathes are no better than they are.

Owning both a HF lathe and a Rikon Mini, I am 100% convinced that the best use of one's $$ is to start out with a mini and use that as your "go-to" lathe until you can save enough to buy a PM or other very nice lathe. Even then the mini will retain its usefulness.

[Frank Fusco]

I don't have much to add to what's been said here, but to me any lathe that has 600 as its lowest RPM setting is useless. I might as well have scrap iron. I am mystified as to how Grizzly can do so well with most other equipment they sell and yet their lathes are no better than they are.

Owning both a HF lathe and a Rikon Mini, I am 100% convinced that the best use of one's $$ is to start out with a mini and use that as your "go-to" lathe until you can save enough to buy a PM or other very nice lathe. Even then the mini will retain its usefulness.

I'm a Grizzly fan. But admit my G1067Z has it's limitations. That high rpm thing does eliminate use for large bowls. But large bowls are not what everyone chooses to turn. In fact, some of the stuff I see here and elsewhere isn't possible without starting out with a very large hunk of wood. Except for oak and hickory, I wouldn't know were to get such big stuff. I wouldn't call them "useless". Limited, yes. But we are talking about $400.00 compared to $2000.00 to $5000.00. The $400.00 jobbie is, indeed, very USEFUL.
OTOH, I'm equally puzzled as to why they don't design one with a much slower low speed. Mr. Balolia, are you listening? :confused:

[John Hart]

It seems to me that if the low-end speed is really the only draw-back, and there is no VFD built in to the machine...then why not invest a couple hundred dollars into an external inverter so you can slow it down at the low end. It would make your $400 lathe a $600 lathe, but seems well worth it.

...course then...I'm spending YOUR money. Maybe that's why it seems worth it to me. :)