Choosing lathe - Grizzly question

[Keith Buxton]

I have had my G0766 sense 2015 and turn on it almost every weekend about 95% of my stuff Is segmented turning. I have not had any problems with my lathe. I was the 2nd person in or wood turning club to buy one and now I think there is 9 of us that own one and the only problem so far out of all of them is one speed pot has had to be replaced. Sorry you don't live near by you would be welcome to come by and try it out yourself. as for run out I have not had a problem only time I get a wobble is when I turn green wood and it starts to dry while I am turning it

[Greg Parrish]

I had run out problems with my laguna 18/36 but solved them by tossing the nova chuck thread adapter and switching to vicmarc chucks with direct thread feature. Made a huge difference in my case and it runs perfectly true now. I was never able to get an adapter to thread into a nova chuck that would run without any wobble even though I know plenty of people use them without any issues. Only point I make is the run out I experienced was chuck related.

On a separate note the one time I did call laguna customer service they were just fine to work with. Very pleasant and very responsive. And grizzly customer service has always been the same. One positive for grizzly is they have a highly stocked, online inventory of parts. One of the only companies I’ve seen that puts their parts inventory online for customer search and purchase with very accurate inventory specs.

[David Pichevin]

Thanks. The G0766 is back at the top of my list for now along with the Jets. A shame we're not dealing with the same price of a couple years ago. Now around 2300 once you add a good live center. But still a lot of machine for the price.

[Steve Doerr]

David, I just checked out one of the Stephen Ogle videos. In the video that I saw, he is using a Grizzly G0462. When I first started turning about 12 years ago, that was the lathe I had. It was a terrible lathe! (IMHO) It has a reeves drive which is not an acceptable drive system because of its lack of a low speed range. This lathe does have a problems of not being able to line up the head stock and tail stock. To be fair to Grizzly, this was one of their first ventures into lathes and the quality was not there. I got rid of that lathe and purchased a Jet 1642 EVS (220 volt). What a difference in quality between the two lathes. My wife is using the Jet now and I'm using a Robust AB. That being said, I know that Grizzly has made some huge improvements with their lathes. I have read many of Roger's, and others, comment on the quality of the newer lathes and believe there is a significant difference between the Grizzly lathe that I first had and the ones they are making now. I can tell you that I have two Grizzly machines (table saw and bandsaw) in my shop that I can highly recommend. I can also talk about the customer service that Grizzly offers and say that it is one of the best that I have had the privilege of working with. The only one better in my opinion is Robust, but you also pay for that up front in the cost of the machine. If I was looking for a new lathe today, I would definitely be considering one of the new Grizzly lathes.

[Roger Chandler]

Steven Ogle did replace his old 0462 with the G0766, and from what I can tell in his video that I watched a few months ago, he highly recommends it. A new turner may not have the full scope of understanding on wood density, lathe harmonics, lathe setup, floor types and such that produce harmonics, and balance issues with mounting the wood to the lathe to fully comprehend the true nature of turning related matters.

I think anyone who has turned on a PM3520b or Jet, will find the G0766 will perform on a level with them.

[Ralph Lindberg]

David, we own a G0766 and a DVR-XP... I'm also the "mod" for the Teknatool owners forum on Facebook.

So I stand over two fences...

Comparing the two is interesting, I don't think the -average- runout is worse on the 766 then the DVR (I have one of the first DVRs made in China)

Teknatool has had some QC issues since they moved production to China a decade ago. Examples would be the first batch of SN2 chucks was so bad that LeeValley dropped them and the first batch of their modular chucks (now discontinued due to poor sales) had a bad heat-treat and had to be recalled.

Honestly there are features I like about both lathes, if I had to recommend one, I honestly would want to know more about what the user expected.

[David Pichevin]

Ralph, thanks for your feedback.

To be honest, the Nova lathe is out of the running, even though I found that DVR tech awesome. There is one person out there who is an experienced (it seems) turner who has documented a serious issue with clear videos and is left out in the dust by a company that could simply have made their client whole by sending her a new headstock, but just won't do it. Even if they think they are right, the fact that they prefer to leave such a negative review out there on the interwebs, costing them sales, it's puzzling. Also another example in the Nova forums themselves. I have actually contacted them via Facebook to ask about it, and they repeated the platitudes to me (blaming the client), so it's out of the question at this point. I don't care if I have to do the work myself, but I won't be shipping heavy things back and forth at my expense for sure. Grizzly seems to have good support, per what I've read recently. I have one of the Grizzly jointers but haven't had to use their support so far.

[Ralph Lindberg]

David, besides the G0766 I also own a (junk) small lathe from Grizzly, a table-saw and a band-saw.

My honest call is Grizzly support is about the same as Teknatool... usually good, but not always.

I think you are talking about Dianna (sp?) I've worked with he myself and I dono, She was having troubles doing exactly the same kind of thing I do with my DVR.

[Brice Rogers]

David,
Do a google search on Tucson woodturning club. You'll find the Southern Arizona Woodturners Association. It meets on the second Saturday of the month in Tuscon (which is where I thought you said that you were located). Perhaps there are members who will invite you to try out their lathe if you ask?

[Jack Lilley]

Hi David, I would suggest you take a hands on look at the Grizzly vs the other lathes you are interested in if that is an option for you. You will find the castings, ergonomics and fit/finish to be much nicer on the Jet/Powermatic/Laguna vs the Grizzly. I owned the 0766 for about 1-1/2 years before selling it and purchasing an 1836. The 0766 I had worked good, I didn't have to be the mechanic more than the woodturner. The 1836 is the 2hp version and has performed flawlessly. I did purchase the 20" extension for the 1836 and the tool post extender broke the first time I used it, Laguna wanted a photo and still after a week had heard nothing, called again and the replacement was shipped right away.

[David Pichevin]

Thank you. Unfortunately hands-on isn't much of a possibility out here. I will look into the club, but to be honest meetings and gatherings aren't my thing The Laguna and especially Powermatic lathes are just not in my price range. I do not have to make a decision right away though.

[Alex Zeller]

Here's my story and hopefully it'll give you an idea as to how much experience I have. Decades ago back in middle school I got to use a lathe in woodworking class to make some legs for a small stool. I enjoyed it but never did any turning until about a year and a half ago when I started making buttons for my wife and sister to use on scarfs. Between using a drill press/ table saw and on occasion a small pen size lathe I decided that I would get my own. The idea was learn now as I have time and when I retire I'll have all the equipment and I can really focus on becoming accomplished.

I looked around and it became clear that a VFD was a lot better than a reeves drive. There wasn't much used so I began looking at new. Turning spindles seamed ok but not really what I wanted to do so that lead me to search for a lathe with enough swing to handle medium size bowls. I was kind of leaning towards the Laguna 1836 (but also as low down as the Grizzly G0632). Then another member here posted a coupon code for the G0766 (it was just over $1500 with shipping) so I jumped on it. The price has jumped since then.

I can't tell you that it's as good as any other lathe as I don't have any experience on other lathes. The local club has a One-Way but they meet on days I work so I've only been able to go to one meeting. I have turned some very heavy blanks that were out of balance. Some that anything over about 300 rpm would make the lathe jump like crazy and it's handled them just fine. These were ones that I used my chainsaw to true up the best I could. I have added a 19" Grizzly bandsaw so the blanks are not as out of balance. I didn't add any weight to the base of the lathe to help steady it.

I'm sure that the lathe isn't as polished as some of the top end machines. The paint has a few chips from shipping and assembly. The tool rest is ok at best (my personal feeling is that the cast rests just aren't as good as a welded one with a harden steel rod where the tool rests). But over all I'm extremely satisfied with it. I have no plans on replacing it. I would recommend to anyone to seriously think about it unless they have a huge budget and want the best. It is a full size budget lathe that offers variable drive, a large swing, and lots of HP. I believe that it will be an extremely hard lathe to grow out of for me. Maybe I'll add a second lathe, like an American Beauty if I feel rich but the only way I could see selling it is if I stop turning. Like you, I didn't have a chance to see one before mine arrived so it was a leap of faith. Others may feel differently, maybe I would too if I had more experience. As of now, with what I know, I'm very happy with my G0766.

[tom lucas]

I'm also a G0766 owner. While I've only had it since March, it has performed flawlessly so far. There is no perceptible run out in the spindle. Perhaps what you are seeing is green wood moving, or improper mounting of the work piece, or chuck run out. I don't think any of us would accept a visibly perceptible run out much less run out that affects the cut.

From what I've read, it seems the only "maintenance" items are the speed potentiometer and F/R switch. Mine are still going strong. The F/R switch handle does appear to be a bit "weak", but that could just be me. If and when these fail, it's a simple fix using better quality parts.

I did have to lightly file the spindle boss so my Vimarc chuck would seat all the way down. This was a simple 1 minute process.

I own several grizzly tools and have gotten outstanding service out of all of them. By far the best bang for the buck.

[David Pichevin]

Thanks all for the responses!

[Randy Hogan]

I have a G0766. I'm not happy with the tool rest/ banjo design. And I'm quite positive I get vibration from it when I don't think I would with a tool rest that's designed correctly, in my opinion. I've debated on buying a different banjo but I haven't done so yet.