The grizzly lathes

[Andrew Derhammer]

I know that the grizzly lathes are a copy of the jet but only go down to 600 rpm. Could it be a simple fix that the speed control is just a potentiometer and that with a new one that has more resistance that you may be able to get the rpms down on the grizzly? or would it require a whole new lathe?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A simple pot won't work for a speed control on most lathes.


Seriously, while I don't own any Grizzley equipment, I will in the near future. That being said, some of the Grizzley lathes have some serious design short comings IMHO.

The articulated tools rests IMHO just don't have the strength needed in my turnings and I don't turn extraordinarily large things.

The low speed being too high......that can be a real problem when first spinning up a blank to be roughed out.

The design with the sander at the other end of the head stock.....I need that room to manuever sometimes when turning ...though a disk sander would be nice.

Light weight in some cases....Weight is very important for stability expecially when first roughing out unbalanced blanks.

While there may be some Grizzley lathes that suit some turners, several of them have some design flaws IMHO.

I just looked at the current Grizzley lathe offerings online.

They have changed what they are now selling. They still have at least one that has an articulated arm tool rest that I don't trust and a couple of them have low speeds that I'd regard as too fast but for the most part they have gone to some fairly usual designs. I had not looked at them in the last year or so.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Andrew it depends on which one you are wanting to buy. The only one with a pot is the G0632 2 hp and it goes from 0-3200. The rest are reeves drive and don't use pots but have a lever that moves a pulley in or out to change the speed using the belt so no a new pot won't work. Neither will a router speed controller.

[Phillip Bogle]

I bought one of the smaller Grizzly Lathes. It works fine for me but I am learning and the challenges I give it are to not break it or myself. The work I am trying is not much of a challenge to a serious turner. I am just starting on pen turning as well so you can guess I am not taxing the capacity.

I have looked at the other Grizzly lathes and will probably shop for a different brand. I am leery of any sanding disk on the lathe. I am not a fan of that type of sander and if you need to sand a part of the turning, chances are the disk type doesn't reach where you need. Plus you have the added weakness of not being able to knock out the chuck that is in the MT#2 that comes with the lathe.

As far a speed, well the direct drive electronic lathes are one issue but most of the Grizzly lathes are belt driven, and mine is a manual move the belt from speed to speed.

There are some design issues I have to agree, but for the $$'s the value is good. The Grizzly Hybrid Cabinet table saw is wonderful but the lathe, combination sander, variable speed drill press are so-so. The new Grizzly wet sharpener that is a Tormek knock off is --IMHO -- a disaster and I had to return it.

I hope that helps you in your selection process.

[Josh Holden]

I have the G0462 -- the $425 floor standing model (16x43). I can't recommend it.

I bought it based on their cabinet saw -- which I love -- and the 555 bandsaw, which is also great. But my successes in turning are in spite of the lathe. I'm always fighting it. The tool rest is not secure, and the lathe itself doesn't run smoothly. Any decent size, slightly unbalanced blank shakes like you would not believe, even with 6x80lb bags of concrete mix. The headstock mounting on the ways is not secure enough.


And as for your actual question, it is a reeves drive, and is way too fast. Out of the box, the nominal min speed of 600 was more like 640. And it's been getting faster -- after 6 months, it would only go down to 720. Now I can't get it below 800.


Like I said, I love my other grizzlies, but they don't seem to have paid as much attention to the design on the lathes.

Josh

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Just so nobody misunderstands my view.

Grizzley makes some excellent power tools for the amount of money you pay for them.

In the past, however, some of their lathe designs were a little different IMHO.

The articulated tool rests I saw were just waiting to break IMHO.

The low end speeds they showed on some lathes were too fast IMHO.

Going to their web page it appears that some if not most of those lathes are no longer available and IMHO that is a good thing.

I will be buying one of their 8" jointers in the near future.