Opinions on Grizzly G4015Z Combo Lathe/Mill

[ilcop22]

Good morning,

I run a small shop out of my house, and I'm looking to get a lathe/mill. I've been eyeing this Grizzly combo:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combo-Lathe-Mill/G4015Z

I'd like to know if anyone owns this, if getting a smaller lathe inhibits the amount of work I can do, etc. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Jeff Michel]

It's going to depend on what type of "gunsmithing" your planning to do on a routine basis. For what it's worth........ I've never used a combo mil/lathe, I have a friend that makes little hobby engines and small metal working projects and is fairly satisfied with his overall. He did state it was a pain with multiple setups with the mill since the column loses it's orientation every time you have to move i the head,i.e. you have to "dial" it back in. If you plan on threading, you will have to deal with change gears with this unit, slow certainly but I've threaded a bunch of barrels on a old Southbend using the same sort of setup. Quick change gear box is MUCH nicer. You will want a large hole through the spindle,and preferably with a cam-lock spindle nose. And at least 36 inch between the centers. You can do light milling on a lathe but it will lack the rigidity necessary to do any sort of reasonable operation. The "mill" appendage on a combo unit appears to be a beefy sort of drill press head. It will probably do ok with light work if you don't push it hard. I guess if you have to buy a lathe with gunsmithing as the primary driving force, I would suggest that you look into something a bit larger as it will provide you with a greater degree of flexibility. Grizzly has some pretty nice equipment, I bought a lathe and a number of accessories from them over the years and never have had a single complaint.

[ilcop22]

Thanks for your input, Jeff. I was also looking at their table top lathe (http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-x-...al-Lathe/G8688) or bench lathe (http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-x-...ch-Lathe/G4000) and their mini mill (http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mini...-Machine/G8689). I won't be doing much other than threading/chambering and cutting slides for dovetails. Most of the work I do is small stuff like that. I was wondering about the effectiveness of a combo since more often than not, combo tools come at the cost of function, so thanks for pointing that out.

[Frank46]

The round column mills are a pain to keep it where you want it. You would be better off with a square column one. While I have no experience with the lathe/mill combos I do have a jet 13x40
gear head lathe. And if and when I get the $$ will get a separate mill. I would think you would be limited in the length of the barrels you could work on due to the shorter bed length on the mill/lathe combos. Frank

[Reg]

In gunsmithing as in all work, time is money. It's difficult ( if not down right impossible ) to make a real full time living in gunsmithing and to hinder yourself with a very time consuming machine is only tying another ball and chain on to your foot.
Great little machine for the home hobbyist , not worth a darn if you are charging someone for your time.

[Jammer Six]

Reg, I was thinking the same thing, but I'm not qualified to say so about mills.

[Jeff Michel]

ilcop22,
Sounds like your pressed for space. How much room do you have that can be a dedicated to metal working? When you say threading/chambering do you mean handguns or are you including rifles? The reason I'm asking is that you should consider a couple items before taking the plunge. Most folks do chambering/threading by placing the barrel through the headstock with a three point steady on the bed and a spyder or outboard support on the opposite side of the headstock. This is providing the explaination as to why a large hole through the spindle is desirable but not totally necessary. If you thru spindle hole is too small (like the 9x19 Grizzly) you are going to have to drive it between centers. The limitation obliviously is the distance between centers (19 inchs) so you pretty well stuck with pistol or SMG size stuff. Another concern is the spindle speed for this lathe... 130RPMs is as slow as she goes and if you are not fairly skilled at threading or have fine reflexes (I don't) you may encounter some some frustrations while in the learning phase.

[ilcop22]

Jeff,
I have plenty of space for any size machines in the garage. My biggest concern is cost, and I only have to spend what my business profited last year, which isn't much. I'm of the mentality that if what I can afford isn't what I need, then I should just keep saving. That said, mill vs. lathe, a mill is more necessary at this time.

[Reload3006]

Being a machinist/tool n die maker I am probably more critical than is necessary. My opinion of the Grizzly lathe is for the home hobbyist they probably are a pretty good machine. I am not very impressed with them for a commercial machine. If I was using one for a business and had to make money with it I would look for something much better. Oh yes by the way South Bend is owned by the same company that makes Grizzlys now too Supposedly they are using the South bend patterns but they are still Chinese made. For me I would be trying to find a good LeBlond or Hardinge or Monarch.

[Tokarev]

As an owner of the made in China mini lathe, I can assure everyone, that the 1st thing one has to do after buying one, is to order custom dovetail shims for the ways. The shims that come with the lathe are too small and the space between them and dovetails is large enough for the screws to bend under stress allowing the toolholder to dive under load.
Another issue was with the motor mount, which is so weak, that motor tilts under load and the belt skips. This one is easy to fix with a piece of plywood between the motor and frame, once you know what's happening. I almost pulled hair out before figuring it out.

[Jeff Michel]

You should be able to turn up a decent Bridgeport turret mill for around 2500.00. They are not huge and sturdy enough to do anything you will ever encounter. I think that if you were caught between something soon and something that you will be satisfied with, I'd vote for waiting. If your willing to travel, there are a ton of them in the Cleveland area.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I have a 12x40 Smithy combo machine because it was given to us for free.
Its OK for little stuff, but if time is money forget the combos. Every time you need to mill something the lathe is set up and vice-versa.
The mentioned problem with the ways & gibs is another good thing. Any of the home type machines, if you want it to work with out getting PO'd you might as well tear down anything that moves, fix it, adjust, it and replace all the **** chikom screws they assemble the machine with.
I would look for an older 12-13 inch lathe in good shape and consider a smaller bench top type mill- something with either a maybe knee or a vertical dovetail slide on the head

[Tokarev]

Our federal government is selling this lathe for just $100:

McDougal lathe with tools

JK!

[Skrenos]

I've owned a G4015Z for a few years. I bought mine because Grizzly was having a sale on them for $800 (oh yeah, a while ago) and I live only an hour from the Springfield, MO showroom so no freight costs. It's a great machine for a person who has no "big toys" in the garage, but like all combo machines, it doesn't do all of them well.

The spindle bore is only .750". This is bad because most barrel blanks are 1 to 1.5" in diameter. Also, the bed length from center to center is 16", so no long barrels, unless they can fit in the spindle bore. If you plan on mainly working on pistols, suppressors, or premade rifle parts, it'll do fine. I've cut dovetails on slides with it, made lyman style lube dies/punches, trimmed brass/cut extractor grooves.

I have mine in the garage on a piece of kitchen countertop with kitchen cabinets underneath from Lowes. I wish I had the room for a separate mill and lathe, but I have very limited space. If you have the room and money, get separate and bigger machines.

[Tokarev]

I actually bored out spindle in my mini lathe, just a bit, from 1/2" to .62 or so and there is still material that can be bored out there. Opened a whole lot of opportunities, I must tell you!

[KCSO]

You won't be happy wit it, get a good small lathe first and then a good small mill. No matter what you are set up to do on a combo machine it's not the next job in line. In addition the mill will shift on the round column if you get it just a little loose or if you mill for a while and it works loose. You will need adapters to get your work up to the mill head and the distance involved and the mounting makes for chatter. IF you go slow and are very careful yo can do good work but it is a lot harder than having dedicated units. I learned a lot on my Smithy but I sure wouldn't do it that way again.

[Hang Fire]

The only lathe/mill combo have owned was a Emco Maier Maximat Super 11. Was made in Austria and by the time got it tooled up with all the whistles and bells, cost was over 8 grand and that was in 1982. It was a great machine and still regret selling it several years ago.