Grizzly G0602 10" x 22" Bench Top Metal Lathe Product Description:
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Can't beat the quality, especially for the price!
By Tyler Youngblood
I am a hobby machinist and I manage a metalworking website - Projects In Metal Dot Com.I wanted a small benchtop lathe that would allow me to turn small to medium sized projects with decent precision - but I didn't want to spend several thousand dollars. I read forums and blog posts about benchtop lathe comparisons and this lathe was mentioned a lot, so after much deliberation I purchased the G0602. And I'm very happy with the purchase. In fact, it took 3 months to get the lathe (it was on backorder). Everyone seems to be purchasing this lathe instead of the other lathes of a similar size. I was the 34th person on the backorder list for the G0602, but they had nearly 20 of the 19" lathes in stock. People weren't purchasing the 19" lathe (the G4000) for a reason, and I have to think it was because the G0602 had more features for almost the same price. Again, I'll use price and # of threads as just one example in a mini comparison below:G0602 $1050-Number of inch threads 33-Number of metric threads 26G4000 $925-Number of inch threads: 27-Number of metric threads: 11For the price you get quite a lot of features in the G0602 compared to similar sized lathes like the G4000. Threading ranges are just one example of where the G0602 stands out. Other lathes of a similar size don't have nearly the variety of threads (both in inch and metric).Also, the G0602 is very well built. The chuck rotates w/in +/- .0005 (1 thou total), and the 3 jaw chuck consistently centers a 1.5" round of CRS within .0015 to .002 from perfect measured at 6" from the chuck jaws (and some of that could be because CRS isn't perfectly round, I haven't tried ground stock to see how close the chuck can truly get). It's not quite what you'd get if you used a quality collet, but it's better than the LeBlond lathe that I learned on (though to be fair, the LeBlond was old and slightly abused).The compound rest has plenty of travel and very little backlash. The motor seems to have plenty of power for everything I've tried to turn so far, but I haven't truly pushed the limits yet with anything huge or heavy like a 10" diameter casting.The only downsides I've discovered so far are these:1 - The tailstock only has 2.5" of travel, and some of that is used up if you use a MT with a tang on the end. There isn't a slot in the tailstock to fit the tang into, so either buy chuck for the tailstock without a tang on the MT, or grind the tang off, otherwise you can't retract the drill chuck all the way to zero (the tailstock pushes it out at about .500"). So really your 2.5" of travel is more like 2, unless you use shorter tang-less MT's. My live center doesn't have a tang, and I get all 2.5" of travel out of it.2 - The 4-way toolpost is a bummer. I'm not one to use shims to get my tooling on centerline, so I bought a Quick Change Toolpost and it works perfectly. Much better than the 4-way. However, if you're used to using a 4-way, the toolpost won't bother you at all, since it's ridged enough to cut nicely once the tool is properly shimmed.3 - The wrenches Grizzly supplied with the lathe are the only things I've noticed that are poor quality, and they don't fit everything you need to loosen. For instance, you get a 17 and 19 end wrench, but the tailstock takes an 18 (which isn't supplied). And the 17 wrench is a bit oversize for some reason, so the 17 is actually more like a 17.25 (a bit sloppy). A quick trip to Harbor Freight for a cheap $10 metric wrench set fixed the problem.4 - I haven't figured out a collet closer yet. It doesn't seem like anyone makes one to fit this lathe.Other than those 4 small issues, this lathe is great.And if you're looking for a few beginner projects to get yourself started with your new lathe, visit Projects In Metal Dot Com for free project plans of all shapes, sizes and skill levels.Tyler YoungbloodSeattle, WA
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
useful little lathe
By E. J. Zwirlein
Nice little lathe. Runs smooth and has reasonable power. Good thread choices for cutting threads.Will take a.100 depth of cut using tpg carbide inserts on a 2 in diaI have used 10 plus horsepower lathes and this Grizzly does not disappoint for only 1 horsepower. It cuts with less than .0002 taper over 8 inches(2 in bar of 11L44) just chucked up no tale stock.the tail stock only has about 2.5inches of spindle travel.I have run machine tools since i was 14 years old.The belt changes for spindle speeds are not well thought out. the motor to spindle change has a pulley to allow for looseening of the belt The lower pulley (to spindle) does not appear to have any place to loosen the pulley for speed adjustments. ie you have to roll the belt off one of the pulleys to remove then reinstall to make spindle speed adjustmentsOver the years i have found issues like this before on Chinese products...they just fall asleep at the wheel.I do not think this issue is a show stopper.If you want good results in a small lathe the Grizzly G0602 is a good choice
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