Smithy Machines?

[rbattelle]

Does anyone have any experience with Smithy machines? Every time I order something from Summit I get an ad from them with my order. They're pretty inexpensive as lathes/mills go... around $1500 for their middle-of-the-line model.



www.smithy.com

 

[KBennett]

TTT



I am interested in these also

 

[Hohn]

Looks like the "shop smith" products that have been around for years.



I have always associated them with woodworking only, though.



jlh

 

[PJereb]

I have the Smithy Granite 1324



They are good machines, but they do have their weaknesses, they are not that rigid, and the mills leave much to be desired, they lack basic things like table locks. I have fooled with mine quite a bit; I have a Dorian quick change tool post, and a small assortment of tooling. Personally, if you primarily want a mill, you are better off buying a drill-mill like a Rong-FU, or if you are lucky you may be able to track down a small used Rockwell or Bridgeport vertical mill. Overall, it is a neat machine, and it really is quite capable, but it requires a bit of ingenuity to get it to behave.



I would NEVER buy one new. My machine is about three grand new; I paid $1,100 for it used. That included the monstrous table that it is mounted to, and some tooling and other bits. I bought it from a small IT shop in San Jose, CA. They bought it new a couple years ago for prototyping work, and quickly outgrew it, so after they bought a new vertical Bridgeport knockoff and a no name lathe, they put the Smithy up for sale and I snatched it up. It was in near perfect shape, very little wear. You can find used Smithy’s and other small import machines at used machinery dealers, in the newspapers, in online classifieds, on eBay, and by word of mouth. I found mine on Craigslist.org. It helps out if you live in or near a big city, I am unlucky enough to live right by Oakland/ San Francisco/ San Jose, so there are plenty of deals on used equipment locally.

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