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Small Lathe < 10x22

opensourcefan

opensourcefan

OSF
Hey all,

I'm in the market for a new small lathe. 10x22 or less. There are many options from the 8x16's, 9x19's, 9x20's and 10x22's to choose from. All made in China, some to "slightly" better standards ie Grizzly.

I want to get a small lathe and mod and tune the poop out of it and make it my own. There is little to slim chance that I will need to move into something bigger as this is specific to my hobby use and don't have the space. Part of the hobby is tweaking the lathe itself.

Question: Which one in your opinion would be the best as a starting point? I'm thinking the one with the most accurate and ridged base (ways etc), however they're all kinda the same. So then I start thinking the cheapest since I'm going to work it over. Leaning towards a 9x19 Grizzly.

The modding community appears to be the highest on the 8x16's due to the requirement and price point.

I am going this route because finding an old lathe that isn't clapped out is proving difficult and they're all on the bigger, more of a burden size. If anyone can help in this area that would be great. Would rather have pride in an oldie machine.

Budget is around 1600cdn give or take.

OSF
 
Well if tuning and modding is your thing, then the little Asian made lathe will have you pleased and busy for a long time. It is quite fun making them better and more capable.

Well I'm might be biased because of what I own but I would get the 10x22 lathe. I would say that it is the most capable and rigid of the small bench lathes but won't take up all that much more room. The 920 versions are very similar in many aspects. Your $1600 budget should be able to find an older model of that size without much tooling. Prices have gone up drastically in both the new and used market. I think I only paid $1700 for my variable speed 10x22 when it was brand new 8-9 years ago IIRC.
 
DPittman said:
Well if tuning and modding is your thing, then the little Asian made lathe will have you pleased and busy for a long time. It is quite fun making them better and more capable.

Well I'm might be biased because of what I own but I would get the 10x22 lathe. I would say that it is the most capable and rigid of the small bench lathes but won't take up all that much more room. The 920 versions are very similar in many aspects. Your $1600 budget should be able to find an older model of that size without much tooling. Prices have gone up drastically in both the new and used market. I think I only paid $1700 for my variable speed 10x22 when it was brand new 8-9 years ago IIRC.
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Yes, I must say I have been enjoying the thought of tweaking and modding. Just don't want to waste my time on a bad base. The 10x22 would be the best as it's rigidity would be the highest however you're correct, they're expensive.

Being that Grizzly is in the US getting it up here adds quite a bit to the price. I'm pretty much priced out of everything except the cheapo 8x16

8x16 = 1600 cdn no name China.
8x16 = 2100 cdn Grizzly
9x19 = 2400 cdn Grizzly
10x22 = 3000 cdn Grizzly

Haven't found anything used that fits the bill. I'll keep looking though.
 
Shout if there's something on the island you'd like to have looked at before spending the $ on ferries.
 
opensourcefan said:
I want to get a small lathe and mod and tune the poop out of it and make it my own.
Click to expand...

DPittman said:
Well if tuning and modding is your thing, then the little Asian made lathe will have you pleased and busy for a long time. It is quite fun making them better and more capable.
Click to expand...

I am curious, what kinds of things are you guys referring to when you talk about modding and tweaking to improve a lathe?
 
I have a King KC1022, very similar to the Grizzly G0602.

-I replaced the motor with a DC treadmill motor. This gains variable speed, no more belt changes.
-I replaced the compound with solid tool post. This gains much deeper cuts and parting off at >500 rpm
-Properly preload the spindle, removes chatter (someone had been at my spindle adjustment before me)
-Added a 5C collet chuck, a joy working with round stock now. You can remove a part, flip it over and still run true. Bought an inferial set of collets, then added metric ones as needed from KBC Tools.ca
-Added DRO's

Overall a solid base to work from. You can buy these new in Canada from King, KBC Tools and a similar one from BusyBee. Unless the Canadian $ goes to par, buying in the US is generally not worth it.

Gerrit
 
opensourcefan said:
I have been looking at that one, I suppose it would be a fair price vs the Grizzly once all is taken into account. I'm sure other than the stickers it's identical.

It's an option but a pricey one for me.
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I don't know but I got to think there are a few slightly used ones out there that may come to market... eventually. But how long can a fellow wait?
 
DPittman said:
I don't know but I got to think there are a few slightly used ones out there that may come to market... eventually. But how long can a fellow wait?
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Do you have experience with a 8x16? I'm curious if it's worth a double price jump for me to a 10x22. I am also short on space so the footprint of a 8x16 (31ish inches) is more appealing than the 47" or so of the 10x22.
 
opensourcefan said:
Do you have experience with a 8x16? I'm curious if it's worth a double price jump for me to a 10x22. I am also short on space so the footprint of a 8x16 (31ish inches) is more appealing than the 47" or so of the 10x22.
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No I don't have personal experience with that lathe. However I do believe that length of lathe bed is often not lacking for many hobbyists even with short little lathes, but swing capability and rigidiness can just about never be too much.
Rigidity is even more important than swing in my mind. It is quite possible that the 8x16 lathe has just as good rigidity as the 10x22 lathes. The bed may be the same width wise.
 
I do have a 6x18 Atlas lathe (I no longer use) that I did not very often find that the length of material I could turn was a limiting factor for me. However I often wanted a bit more rigidity and swing.. hence the 10x22. And now I wish I would could have gone with the 12x28 version but space is a limiting factor for me also.
 
DPittman said:
I do have a 6x18 Atlas lathe (I no longer use) that I did not very often find that the length of material I could turn was a limiting factor for me. However I often wanted a bit more rigidity and swing.. hence the 10x22. And now I wish I would could have gone with the 12x28 version but space is a limiting factor for me also.
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Well if I may enable you into spending more money I know of a good home for your 10x22 ;)
 
I ended up buying a Busy bee 10x22 a few years back. I really have not had any issues with it. It has its limitations for sure. I drove up to Calgary to look at a used lathe but the fellow could not decide what he wanted for it and I had the bug so just went and bought a new one. Hey I saved $350 on a project I was working on but spent about $3000 to do so. That being said I never regret buying that lathe. I use it quite often even if it is for quick jobs. Where are you located? I might be persuaded to part with a southbend 9" I have on the to do list.
 
thriller007 said:
I ended up buying a Busy bee 10x22 a few years back. I really have not had any issues with it. It has its limitations for sure. I drove up to Calgary to look at a used lathe but the fellow could not decide what he wanted for it and I had the bug so just went and bought a new one. Hey I saved $350 on a project I was working on but spent about $3000 to do so. That being said I never regret buying that lathe. I use it quite often even if it is for quick jobs. Where are you located? I might be persuaded to part with a southbend 9" I have on the to do list.
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I'm in BC, lower mainland. Message me and we can discuss the SB9. I've never looked at them or done any research. Almost bought a Boxford but it was heavily abused and broken.
 
opensourcefan said:
Oh it was broken as if it had been dropped or hit with a fork lift or something. Also the compound and cross slides were ground away by something big spinning in the chuck. Gave me the willies, didn't want that much of a project.
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Ouch sounds like scrap iron, not a project.
 
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