g4003g 12x36 lathe

Jaden

Jaden

"no buds chill"
Silver Member
So I received my grizzly 12x36 gunsmithing lathe today. It looks pretty awesome.

It's plenty big enough to fit a full size butt and pin between the centers. Dead center in the chuck and live center in the tail stock.

In fact as long as you're not trying to make an oversize cue I would say it's perfect for most operations. Moving it is a *****. I still have it sitting in the crate right now.

I think I'll be able to mount it with a cherry picker that I have though.

It weighs 1022 lbs, so I don't think I have to worry about it moving on me. lol.

The stand it came with is pretty heavy duty as well. weighs about 350lbs.

I have that mostly setup. I need to level it still though.

It sucks cause everything is in the way and I can't even play pool on my table right now...

I'm looking really forward to doing some operations on it though.

I need to true up the backing plates on my cnc lathe that I built and I'll use that lathe for tapering and cutting v-grooves and then the metal lathe for precision work, pin mounting, and assembly.

I'll do a full review of it once I get it up and running.

The main reason I got this lathe is that I'll also be making some match grade barrels and some vaporizor canisters on it as well as using it for general prototyping for projects I design and other fun stuff.

Jaden
 
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drool

i live about 75 miles north of their showroom in springfield mo, when i went down to get my bandsaw, we walked around the showroom, they had a big lathe, dont remember the model number, but when i win the lottery. i do remember it was $17,000, with that i could build anything..

i love my grizzly, and i looked at the website to see your lathe, it looks great,enjoy
 
Interested in review...

I have been looking at this lathe for some time and would like to pick one up in the near future. I currently have a Deluxe Cuesmith lathe which serves me well, but I have always wanted to add a large metal lathe to my shop for precision work. I will be very interested to hear your full review on the lathe once you've had a chance to work with it.

dakota



Jaden said:
So I received my grizzly 12x36 gunsmithing lathe today. It looks pretty awesome.

It's plenty big enough to fit a full size butt and pin between the centers. Dead center in the chuck and live center in the tail stock.

In fact as long as you're not trying to make an oversize cue I would say it's perfect for most operations. Moving it is a *****. I still have it sitting in the crate right now.

I think I'll be able to mount it with a cherry picker that I have though.

It weighs 1022 lbs, so I don't think I have to worry about it moving on me. lol.

The stand it came with is pretty heavy duty as well. weighs about 350lbs.

I have that mostly setup. I need to level it still though.

It sucks cause everything is in the way and I can't even play pool on my table right now...

I'm looking really forward to doing some operations on it though.

I need to true up the backing plates on my cnc lathe that I built and I'll use that lathe for tapering and cutting v-grooves and then the metal lathe for precision work, pin mounting, and assembly.

I'll do a full review of it once I get it up and running.

The main reason I got this lathe is that I'll also be making some match grade barrels and some vaporizor canisters on it as well as using it for general prototyping for projects I design and other fun stuff.

Jaden
Click to expand...
 
Is the spindle hole polished or rough ?

The narrow headstock works well for us if you have a rear chuck.

Congrats on the new toy.
 
I have the same lathe and with a center and live center a full cue wont fit, you would need the 40" bed
 
36" between centers

Zirroe,

Thanks for clarifying that point. I would have thought that with the specs stating the lathe has 36" between centers, it would have easily fit a full size cue between centers. That will probably change what lathe I look at when the time comes for a metal lathe.

Thanks,

dakota



Zirroe said:
I have the same lathe and with a center and live center a full cue wont fit, you would need the 40" bed
Click to expand...
 
zirroe

are you saying a full size cue will not fit between the centers, are you talking about a 29 inch cue butt ?
 
desi2960 said:
are you saying a full size cue will not fit between the centers, are you talking about a 29 inch cue butt ?
Click to expand...

With the big chuck, dead center and a live center in the tail stock, it probably doesn't b/c they measure the 36" with an MT5 dead center on the spindle .
Not with a bic chuck/backplate and dead center.
Will not fit a pinned cue for sure.

The 40" also works much better if you use the steady rest bearing setup when threading a shaft or installing pins.
 
JoeyInCali said:
With the big chuck, dead center and a live center in the tail stock, it probably doesn't b/c they measure the 36" with an MT5 dead center on the spindle .
Not with a bic chuck/backplate and dead center.
Will not fit a pinned cue for sure.

The 40" also works much better if you use the steady rest bearing setup when threading a shaft or installing pins.
Click to expand...

I was going to say my 6" Bison and backplate eat up ALOT of room as well.
 
Zirroe said:
I have the same lathe and with a center and live center a full cue wont fit, you would need the 40" bed
Click to expand...


That is the main reason why I haven't pulled the trigger on a metal lathe.
There is a substantial jump in price for a metal lathe with a 40" center, and since I've never done this before, along with all of the tooling I need, I decided to hold off for a while.
I know people that can make the 36" centers work, but I didn't like it.
Grizzly is one of the lathes I'm interested in, if I buy a new one.
 
Grizzly

FWIW, A 29 inch cue butt will fit in this lathe (for me). I had one myself and it was cozy, but it did fit. Never tried a 30 inch cue. That was with the standard import 3 jaw or Sjogren collet chuck with adapter plate. I am sure my Bison would have worked, but never tried it.

The spindle bore was not terrible considering the import nature, but a little rough compared the high end lathes.

For anyone else thinking about it, just know what your buying. The 40 will be a lot easier, but this length worked for me and still does for others.
 
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Zirroe said:
I have the same lathe and with a center and live center a full cue wont fit, you would need the 40" bed
Click to expand...

First off - I don't think they offer a 40 inch Gunsmithing lathe - tho I could be wrong.

Besides - if you aren't clever enough to get around this limitation, should
you be operating a real lathe in the first place?

Do you think Thomas Wayne or Dick Neighbors would let this stop them
from working on a cue butt?

Dale(36 inches and damn proud of it)
 
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I've never had a 40" lathe to work on. I bet it would make some things a little easier, but I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary.

Now, keep in mind that currently we don't do any center to center work on cues or shafts on a traditional machine lathe. So the length certainly isn't an issue for us. But, I do still have the first lathe I ever bought and it's 37" between centers. (advertised) I built quite a few cues on that machine back in the day doing everything on it.


Royce
 
pdcue said:
First off - I don't think they offer a 40 inch Gunsmithing lathe - tho I could be wrong.

Besides - if you aren't clever enough to get around this limitation, should
you be operating a real lathe in the first place?

Do you think Thomas Wayne or Dick Neighbors would let this stop them
from working on a cue butt?

Dale(36 inches and damn proud of it)
Click to expand...

They offer a 40" gun lathe.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-X-40-Gunsmith-s-Gearhead-Lathe/G0709

If you don't have a dialed-in rear chuck and want to use the steady rest in installing the pin or threading the shaft, that 36" will be tight . I know I used to remove the tail stock when I live threaded for pin install.
Then I got the rear chuck going and now do most of that ops near the front chuck.
 
Have three Metal lathes none of which are 40" between centers. Two are 36" and one is 32". I have used all of them for full length and oversize cues. Did one with 31" shaft and 31" butt. Like Dale said there are ways to work around it. It is hard to find good old iron which is exactly what you are looking for, sometimes you need to make compromises.
 
The live center that comes with it...

The live center that comes with it takes up about 4 inches more than necessary so those saying a full cue won't fit maybe trying to just use that monster live center that comes with it.

It's still tight with the stock chuck. I have other chucks I can use as well that aren't quite as deep. Changing those out, I get an extra 4.5 to 5 inches of usable length, but as I said, I do my tapering on the CNC lathe that I built so I don't need to put a full cue between the centers on this lathe.

Jaden

p.s. just finished wiring it up and breaking it in. My wife came down and said that's loud, when are you going to stop. I said, I have to finish breaking it in, probably about 30 minutes.
 
JoeyInCali said:
They offer a 40" gun lathe.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-X-40-Gunsmith-s-Gearhead-Lathe/G0709

If you don't have a dialed-in rear chuck and want to use the steady rest in installing the pin or threading the shaft, that 36" will be tight . I know I used to remove the tail stock when I live threaded for pin install.
Then I got the rear chuck going and now do most of that ops near the front chuck.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the updated info. But at +40% for the 40 inch - IMHO it is well worth it
for a one cuemaker shop to improvise.

If you are production and make 1000 cues a year - prolly worth the money over time.

Dale(still 36 after all these years)
 
JoeyInCali said:
They offer a 40" gun lathe.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-X-40-Gunsmith-s-Gearhead-Lathe/G0709

If you don't have a dialed-in rear chuck and want to use the steady rest in installing the pin or threading the shaft, that 36" will be tight . I know I used to remove the tail stock when I live threaded for pin install.
Then I got the rear chuck going and now do most of that ops near the front chuck.
Click to expand...

That is one thing I also had. I had a nice fixture Mike Bender made me that holds the cue perfectly. That helps with the 36inch part probably.
 
Why not just use the spider???

William said:
That is one thing I also had. I had a nice fixture Mike Bender made me that holds the cue perfectly. That helps with the 36inch part probably.
Click to expand...

Just use a dial indicator with the spider on the rear of the spindle on a collet...

Adjust the spider bolts on a collet until the butt is running true, then do it at the front of the chuck.

Also, it's not necessary to run the full length of the cue with the steady rest for it to be accurate. Again, use the steady rest about six to eight inches in front of the chuck and use a dial indicator to adjust the steady rest and you're good to go.

It IS nice though to have a rear chuck. Something I am planning on doing in the near future.

Jaden
 
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