About to pull the trigger on a Grizzly G0602

Group,

I'm completely and absolutely lathe ignorant, but I'm wanting to guy a benchtop rig to cut small parts out of aluminum. Nothing very complex, mostly bushings, adapters, things like that.

I simply cannot afford the cost, shipping, and space of a larger lathe because I have a small shop, and finding a good deal on a used lathe is difficult because I live in Alaska where there aren't a bunch around. Because of these things I called Grizzly and was quoted $250 to ship the G0602 to my doorstep which is reasonable for a 440lb machine.

Now the questions:

1. I make it a rule to not buy cheap tools because they always break and then I'm stuck replacing them with what I should have bought the first time. Does this G0602 qualify as a cheap tool?

2. What kind of accuracy am I going to get out of this? I would like to cut my parts to .001". Is that possible with this lathe?

3. What kind of tools to I want to order with this lathe since I'm already going to eat a ton of shipping cost? I need to be able to cut bushings with a flange to start. I also need to cut out the inside of some round stock.

4. Is there a better deal on a different lathe I should be looking at?

5. Can this lathe be converted to CNC later? I certainly would like to do this in a year or two when I finish a few other projects.

Thanks for answering my questions.

schu

Hi akschu. Welcome to the Zone!

Make sure you specify the liftgate truck. And also make sure that an 18 wheel truck can GET to your doorstep.

I live on a narrow lane, and even though Grizzly and UPS freight assured me that a smaller truck would come, the 18 wheeler that showed up could not make the turn. I ended up scrambling to get a neighbor's help with a high lift tractor.

I think the 10 x 22 is the most bang for a buck lathe you can buy. There are several threads here about converting it to CNC.

CR.

Here are some links:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59435

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32939

CR.

Hey askshu, I bought 9729 about 2 yrs ago. Burned up 3 motors when I first got it. They're tech. dept helped me over the phone and kept sending motors. They were polite and helpful even when I wasn't. I have a less than .001 tolerance x and y axis. I'm very happy with my machine. The single most helpful other tool I bought was an H7762 tool grinder. I bought most of my other tooling from them, probably more money than I spent on the machine.