Combo Lathe/Mill Rigs?

[Mike Ellis]

Have any of you guys worked with the combo lathe/mill setups like the Smithy, Shopmaster, or Prazi systems? I am interested in doing some hobby-level machining and have been looking at the different systems, there are so many configs that I am Prefer to start out with a rugged, accurate manual system - upgrade to CNC would be off a good ways in the future.



I've looked at full-size used equipment, but don't know enough to tell what is a good deal and what is just a headache waiting to happen. One thing that turned my interest to the combo systems is the size, they use a heck of a lot less real estate.



Any recommendations for a system that would offer good repeatable results without endless setup tweaking and hair pulling?

 

[PJereb]

BUY USED!



I have a Smithy Granite 1324. They run about $3000 new, plus freight. You can find deals on used equipment. I bought my three year old machine for $1,100, including some tooling and an incredible rolling bench with leveling feet from a company in San Jose, CA that had outgrown the machine. Look in the classifieds, try searching craigslist.org, eBay, and used equipment dealers. Being in the Dallas area you should have no problem tracking down a deal as long as you are not in a hurry.



Most combo machines leave much to be desired, the Smithy isn’t that rigid, but it works fine as long as you are not in a hurry. Previously I had a Rong-Fu mill, it seemed a little more rigid than the Smithy, but I sold it because when I got the Smithy. I bought the Rong-Fu used for $300. 00, which was another great deal, and I sold it for a profit. Rockwell and other American manufactures made some really neat small mills, but they are difficult to find, and demand top dollar, expect to pay $1500+ for a used American machine.

 

[Mike Ellis]

That's a mighty nice looking setup PJereb, I would love to find something similar. Have you had any setup headaches with your Smithy (excessive backlash on the lead screws etc?)

 

[PJereb]

As a lathe it is great, but as a mill it requires some tweaking. The lead screws are easy to adjust, but the axis that parallels the bed of the machine is moved by a gear reduction rack and pinion that is sloppy, so it isn’t good for any fine travel in that direction. The other thing that is bad is that it does not have any table locks, and with a machine like this you need to lock up all axis that you are not using to keep it rigid. The lack of locks was easy to remedy, all I did was remove one of the set screws on each of the way adjustments and replace it with a longer bolt so that it is easy to tighten is down to lock it.



Happy hunting,

Peter

 

[kiwi bird]

I've a Shop Task machine I've had for a while, lacks some features but overall it's pretty good. I don't use it now as my "post divorce" shop has no room.

 

[MKinner]

you might want to check out grizzly tools at http://www.grizzly.com/

they have a lot of equipement to choose from.

 

[PJereb]

Something else to think about is parts availability.



Smithy has been very good about parts. There is cylindrical brass pin that holds the machine into the lathe or mill drive position, and it wears out after a while. It was very easy to get a couple new ones, they actually stock parts, unlike some of the other distributors of small import machines.