Grizzly G0838 vs G0766

[John A Murray]

I am looking seriously at falling into the wood turning vortex in the near future. I want to buy my 2nd lathe 1st. I have been watching CL for several months and the majority in my area for sale are either midis or ancient, so I am looking at maybe going with a new machine. Trying to get the most bang for my buck I am looking at the G0838 or the G0766. I don't currently anticipate doing a lot of spindle work so I think the shorter bed would be OK. Apparently the 0838 is fairly new so I am not finding a lot of reviews online. Would appreciate any comments from those that might have one or the other machine and what I might miss by going with the 0838 vs the 0766 and is it worth the extra $500?

Thanks in advance.

[scott ward]

John,
I own the 766 and have been using it almost daily for the last 6 months. My opinion is that the longer bed is worth it. I also do very little, if any, spindle work and I was thinking a shorter bed would do just fine, but after using the 766, I am glad I went with the longer bed.
The reason is that even though I don't do spindle work, I do use chucks, glue blocks, longworth chucks etc that will take up 3 to 6 inches of the capacity. Now you are down to 18 inches. If you want to do a larger vase you may not have the capacity. Also, any hollowing system will need a longer bed to attach to.
And if you are anything like most woodturners I have come across, there is always a new tool that we have to have (like a hollowing system) and they may not fit the shorter lathe.

My brother in law is an RVer and Boater. He told me about the 6 ft envy that boaters get after buying a new boat. They wish they had gone just 6 ft bigger (or maybe 2 foot, I can't remember). So the same may apply to a short bed lathe, they may be times when you are cursing the short bed.

Just my 2 cents (or $500 in this case)

[scott ward]

Plus, you are getting more swing, more HP with the G0766.

[John A Murray]

Thanks for your reply Scott. Part of my debate is also the footprint. My shop is a two car garage, without the cars, so I have somewhat limited space. There is a bed/tool rest extension for the 838. Quote from the Grizzly site....."For increased bowl turning capacity, this Bed & Tool Post Extension kit provides an incredible 28" swing over the bed extension. The extension can also be mounted to the end of the lathe bed for a total of 47" between centers. For use with the G0838 Variable Speed Wood Lathe."

Other than the motor size, would this solve the other things you brought up in your first thread. (I know that sounds like a newby question, but my learning curve is pretty much straight up at the moment)

Thanks again,

[Keith Buxton]

John,
our wood turning club just bought the G0838 and I own a G0766 the club placed the order back in march but just got the lathe last month. I was able to turn on the 838 last weekend and was very happy with I very smooth running and with the 2hp motor I had plenty of power. it all comes down to what you are going to turn if you are not going to be tuning 20" bowls or long spindles then the 838 will do the job with alittle wait add to it with it's weight only 322 lbs . the one bad thing is the club paid more for the 838 then I did 3 years ago for my 766 the catalog had t listed back when we ordered it for around $1250.00 but with the tariff pushed it up over $1650.00. both lathes are sill a go buy.

[Roger Chandler]

Having the 0766 in my shop, I would recommend that you get the larger lathe. More horsepower with a 3 hp motor/advanced inverter combo, and even though you may not use the extra capacity real often, you will find times that you wish you had it! Also the greater capacity in between centers is needed if you ever want to turn table legs, bed posts, or stair or chair spindles. Any woodworking projects other than just bowls or vessels, that extra capacity comes in handy, and is also needed for use of hollowing rigs, steady rests, etc.

Don't limit yourself up front.......your turning journey will evolve over time as you learn more about the craft and a mistake up front only frustrates your ability to adapt to new things as you see what others do and how they do it.

I have 3 lathes in my shop...not everyone can manage that, so the G0766 is a very good large lathe at an exceptional value!

[Joe Kaufman]

My vote would be the 838 w/extension. Is 240V vs 120V in the consideration? I'm just a little east of you and sources for suitable large pieces of wood are not easy to find. I went to the 20" about 5 years ago and couldn't wait to turn some large pieces. Completed a couple and after the initial "that's nice", what do you do with them. They won't fit in most cabinets and therefore collect a lot of dust and are soon moved to the garage. I still prefer to work on pieces smaller than 6" in diameter on my 12" MIDI lathe.

[scott ward]

I also have my G0766 in a two car garage (technically a 3 car but the third bay is a storage bay). Against a wall the size is not an issue form me. I can still park two cars in if I need to.

I saw the extension and wonder if using the full capacity of the extension to turn a 28" bowl if the motor would have the power to turn it. I have stalled out my 3HP motor on 16 inch bowls.

[Alex Zeller]

Others could be different but I like to slide the tailstock well out of my way when not using it. My G0766 has lots of room to do so but I don't think the G0838 would be able to do so. My bowl gouge is at least 24" long and when working inside a bowl I could see it being an issue. The face plate doesn't take up much room but my chuck does, about 3" or so. You could always remove the tail stock or get the extension. The price of the extension seams kind of cheap so I would want to see one in person. BusyBee in Canada has an extension for the G0733 but I was told it was very lightweight. The G0800 has an extension but costs more than 4 times the amount of the one for the G0838. For spindle turning or for getting the tailstock further out of the way it should be fine. Even if you had it mounted to the lower position to turn a platter it should be fine but it could have some flex if doing a large bowl where the rest is further away from the mounting bolts. I suspect even then you could make a support leg for the other end to help stiffen it up.

[Brice Rogers]

My vote would be the 838 w/extension. Is 240V vs 120V in the consideration? I'm just a little east of you and sources for suitable large pieces of wood are not easy to find. I went to the 20" about 5 years ago and couldn't wait to turn some large pieces. Completed a couple and after the initial "that's nice", what do you do with them. They won't fit in most cabinets and therefore collect a lot of dust and are soon moved to the garage. I still prefer to work on pieces smaller than 6" in diameter on my 12" MIDI lathe.

Joe, I took a similar path. I thought that having a 22" diameter capability would be great. But, getting wood that big doesn't happen every day. When I got a nice chunk of Magnolia that could have ended up around 22" I too had the revelation that what the heck would I do with a 22" platter? So, I made a 17 or 18" platter and a couple of smaller bowls from the beautiful blank.

It is nice to have the 22" capability, but 18" would probably have worked just as well. But the cost difference wasn't terribly different, so perhaps it turns out to be a coin toss.

[John A Murray]

I want to thank everyone that has weighed in with their thoughts and opinions. They are truly appreciated as I don't know what I don't know. There are great points going both ways and gives me plenty to consider in making this decision. I am a firm believer in knowledge is power and everyone had helped me to increase my knowledge in order to make this decision. Additional responses are welcome as I have not come to a final conclusion yet, I just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for their time so far.

[John A Murray]

My wife asked me to ask a question. What is the largest realistic size of a vase I could do on the 838 with the extension vs the 766? Thanks,

[Chris A Lawrence]

My wife asked me to ask a question. What is the largest realistic size of a vase I could do on the 838 with the extension vs the 766? Thanks,

Depends on what your making it out of. If your making a segmented vase maybe 16 to 17 inches when done. If your turning an unbalanced log maybe 13 or 14 inches depending on how well you find the center.

[Roger Chandler]

Depends on what your making it out of. If your making a segmented vase maybe 16 to 17 inches when done. If your turning an unbalanced log maybe 13 or 14 inches depending on how well you find the center.

He would need to use a steady rest for that tall a vase, and that would be difficult with the G0838. That extra bed length is a great plus on those occassions you want to do deep vessels or spindle work. Even hollow forms need a steady if you want to go tall or bigger than 6” and at times 6” can put stress on the hold without a steady rest.

[scott ward]

This vase is about 14 inches tall and 8 inches in diameter. With the chuck on the bottom it stood about 17 to 18 inches. With a steady rest, banjo and boring bar rest I was all the way to end of my bed with the boring bar rest on the G0766. It started out as a very unbalanced log so before hollowing the tail stock was also in the mix.

I probably could have gone a few inches more but not much more than that.

Maple Burl Vase by Scott Ward, on Flickr