yort81
Member
I am considering getting this lathe... does anyone have any positive or negative experience with this?
G0602 10" x 22" Bench Top Metal Lathe
G0602 10" x 22" Bench Top Metal Lathe
Grizzly Metal lathe g0602
- Thread starter yort81
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johnnycnc
Member
I have had this lathe in my garage to play on since late 2009.
i added a quick change tool post, and holders.
It is a good lathe in my estimation for the money, and has more
than enough power, room between centers, and accuracy for what
I do which is primarily pen play and a few knick knacks for my home shop
and personal tinkering.
About 6 months in, the retaining screw for the back gears snapped
and it was right at 100 days before I got the replacement part, so
while Grizzly claims they have tons of parts in stock they did not have this piece for me. but it was sent, and I was able to get by since this lathe is not my primary, just a hobby machine. It was covered under warranty.
This is a heavy machine, plan on 3 people to move. And the two for the headstock end better have had their wheaties when you move it.
I have logged an estimated 250+ hours on it and everything is holding up well. If it disappeared, I'd buy again.
Actually I did. I lost the first one of these in a flood in 2008 and replaced it with the current one in 2009.
MattTheHat
Member
LONG REPLY ALERT! The short version: good value for money, maybe slightly higher quality compared to average Chinese lathes. Grizzly is very responsive to shipping damage claims and warranty parts IF THEY HAVE THE REPLACEMENT PART IN STOCK. Lathe is very well suited for home shop use and larger and more accurate than needed for pen making use unless you're making pens for the Jolly GreenGiant.
Long version:
I've owned one for about two years. The only problem I had was with the tail stock quill lead screw. Mine got very difficult to turn after a month or so, probably as a result of having it out of the tail stock while performing a mod. I ordered a replacement (at my cost, because it worked fine before i frigged with it, fair is fair) which was shipped immediately.
Now that I think of it, the emergency stop button also failed after about a year. It's a spring loaded deal which you have to rotate to reset. Mine came apart, but since I was right in the middle of adding a VFD setup, I never bothered to check to see if I could put the switch back together or if it was actually broken. In fairness, I used the stop button more than I should have. The proper technique would be to turn the forward/reverse switch to the off position. I like being able to turns machine off without looking. If I wore the switch out using it as not intended, I would have gladly paid for a replacement or two for the convenience. No fault of Grizzly's in this case.
Like Johnny indicated, the lathe was easily large enough for anything I wanted to do, though I did replace it last month with a Precision Matthews PM1127VF-LB.
I found the mounting plate for the compound rest to bit a bit flimsier than I would have liked, which resulted in a slightly sub-par surface finish, especially on hard materials. Not a huge deal, as it can be rectified by making a 4-bolt compound mounting plate to replace the stock unit. If this change was done at the production level, the cost of the lathe would likely go up $5 or less. The cost for the user is probably $20 for a chunk of 1" steel (less if you can find locally) and a few hours of machine time.
I converted mine to a variable frequency drive setup which used a Baldor 3-phase motor and Hitachi controller. Single phase 120 Volt input, 230 Volt 3-phase output. It's a mod I highly recommend as it gives a broader range of speeds (if you use a 3400 RPM motor) and the 3-phase motor runs significantly smoother. Doing so eliminates the need to stop what you're doing to change the belts every time you need a different speed. For pen making, I find that a HUGE time saver.
Like Johnny, I also added a quick change tool post, which I also highly recommend, as in addition to being convenient for changing cutting tools, also stiffens up the weak compound mount mentioned above.
I also added an ER40 collet chuck adapter with shop made spindle bushing and metric all-thread draw bar, a 5-C collet chuck, and a precision 6-jaw chuck.
I found the tail stock quill travel a bit limiting. Again, a simple design change at zero cost would improve things. The tail stock casting is drilled and tapped for a set screw that rides inside a groove in the quill to keep it from spinning when drilling. I remove the quill and drilled and tapped a new hole for that set screw about 3/4" toward the head stock. I used red Loctite on another set screw to fill the original hole. This was the first mod I did and I highly recommend it. Running that quill too far out while drilling a pen blank and having the quill start spinning gets a bit exciting.
One word of caution if you buy one...
The manual will tell you to oil the headstock bearings, which is simply incorrect. The bearings are grease-packed and sealed so they don't ever need to be oiled. If you do so, you will flush out the grease which oozes out of the headstock and makes a mess. Once you do that a few times you will completely wash out all the grease. That's not really a problem, IF you continue to oil them regularly. BUT, the oil also oozes out which also makes a mess. If you call and ask them whether or not to oil the headstock bearings as indicated in the manual, they will tell you not to do so, yet they don't seem concerned enough about their customers to takes the ten minutes it would require to update the manual. The real danger, of course, is not the oozing oil mess, but the chance you could forget to oil the bearings once the grease has been flushed out and run them dry. That being said, there are a couple of guys on the G0602 Yahoo group who claim to have been running theirs in that condition for more than two years without any ill effects. If the bearings do ever need to be replaced,Timken offers a bearing that's an exact replacement, which can be had for about $20 each.
If you decide to mount another type of chuck, the backplate is not a common one. The spindle thread is 1-3/4" x 8 TPI. Grizzly offers them, but are often out of stock. Wholesale tool seems to normally have them in stock. At least one US-made lathe from the past had the same spindle thread, but I forget which machine it was. They come up on eBay occasionally.
A word of caution about the backplate...
The supplied back plate is drilled and tapped for two retaining blocks that are used to insure the chuck mounted to the plate doesn't spun off. Most backplates you source are not going to have those holes drilled and tapped. DO NOT RUN THE LATHE WITHOUT THOSE RETAINING BLOCKS. This means you will have to drill and tap the two mounting holes. Even with the slow-start and slow-stop curves on my VFD system, I spun my 6-jaw chuck off the lathe on one of the very few times I decided not to bother with the locks. Again, no fault of Grizzly, just something to be aware of, and something I'm sure is covered in he manual.
The deal with the incorrect oiling instructions in the manual has really soured me on Grizzly. Being the manual-trusting guy I am, I regularly oiled the headstock bearings and just cleaned up the mess each time. Once I read it wasn't needed, I was really irritated for two reasons. One, I cleaned up bearing poo countless times for no reason. Two, I don't know how long you can run them without oiling them so I don't know if my bearings were damaged or not. They still run smoothly enough, but I do hear some weird noises from time to time which I can't figure out what else could be causing. My guess is that the bearings are in the early stage of going bad. The cost of the Timken replacement bearings doesn't bother me as I figure they are of superior quality to the Chinese bearings that came in the lathe. What does bother me is the complete weekend or more of time it would likely take me to replace them. It's a shame that Grizzly places so little value on my time and trouble that they can't have someone spend a few minutes to correct the manual. Multiply that by the wasted time of all the other manual-reading schmucks out there, and in my opinion the situation becomes unconscionable.
Now, to be fair, I have not contacted Grizzly to see if they would offer anything in the way of consideration. Being a year out of warranty, though, I highly doubt they'd have any interest in doing so. It's a shame, too. Since I have an open account with them, sourcing machines and goodies from them is very easy to do. I've decided not to buy for them in the future. In the past two months it's already cost them the sale of one of their South Bend lathes, and goodness knows how much tooling and accessories for it. I also hope to acquire a Hardinge-style high precision toolroom lathe within the next year. It won't be a Grizzly/South Bend unit.
I emailed South Bend two months ago when I decided to buy a new lathe. I had one simple question. They didn't bother to reply. That pretty much made up my mind about Grizzly/South Bend.
-Matt
Long version:
I've owned one for about two years. The only problem I had was with the tail stock quill lead screw. Mine got very difficult to turn after a month or so, probably as a result of having it out of the tail stock while performing a mod. I ordered a replacement (at my cost, because it worked fine before i frigged with it, fair is fair) which was shipped immediately.
Now that I think of it, the emergency stop button also failed after about a year. It's a spring loaded deal which you have to rotate to reset. Mine came apart, but since I was right in the middle of adding a VFD setup, I never bothered to check to see if I could put the switch back together or if it was actually broken. In fairness, I used the stop button more than I should have. The proper technique would be to turn the forward/reverse switch to the off position. I like being able to turns machine off without looking. If I wore the switch out using it as not intended, I would have gladly paid for a replacement or two for the convenience. No fault of Grizzly's in this case.
Like Johnny indicated, the lathe was easily large enough for anything I wanted to do, though I did replace it last month with a Precision Matthews PM1127VF-LB.
I found the mounting plate for the compound rest to bit a bit flimsier than I would have liked, which resulted in a slightly sub-par surface finish, especially on hard materials. Not a huge deal, as it can be rectified by making a 4-bolt compound mounting plate to replace the stock unit. If this change was done at the production level, the cost of the lathe would likely go up $5 or less. The cost for the user is probably $20 for a chunk of 1" steel (less if you can find locally) and a few hours of machine time.
I converted mine to a variable frequency drive setup which used a Baldor 3-phase motor and Hitachi controller. Single phase 120 Volt input, 230 Volt 3-phase output. It's a mod I highly recommend as it gives a broader range of speeds (if you use a 3400 RPM motor) and the 3-phase motor runs significantly smoother. Doing so eliminates the need to stop what you're doing to change the belts every time you need a different speed. For pen making, I find that a HUGE time saver.
Like Johnny, I also added a quick change tool post, which I also highly recommend, as in addition to being convenient for changing cutting tools, also stiffens up the weak compound mount mentioned above.
I also added an ER40 collet chuck adapter with shop made spindle bushing and metric all-thread draw bar, a 5-C collet chuck, and a precision 6-jaw chuck.
I found the tail stock quill travel a bit limiting. Again, a simple design change at zero cost would improve things. The tail stock casting is drilled and tapped for a set screw that rides inside a groove in the quill to keep it from spinning when drilling. I remove the quill and drilled and tapped a new hole for that set screw about 3/4" toward the head stock. I used red Loctite on another set screw to fill the original hole. This was the first mod I did and I highly recommend it. Running that quill too far out while drilling a pen blank and having the quill start spinning gets a bit exciting.
One word of caution if you buy one...
The manual will tell you to oil the headstock bearings, which is simply incorrect. The bearings are grease-packed and sealed so they don't ever need to be oiled. If you do so, you will flush out the grease which oozes out of the headstock and makes a mess. Once you do that a few times you will completely wash out all the grease. That's not really a problem, IF you continue to oil them regularly. BUT, the oil also oozes out which also makes a mess. If you call and ask them whether or not to oil the headstock bearings as indicated in the manual, they will tell you not to do so, yet they don't seem concerned enough about their customers to takes the ten minutes it would require to update the manual. The real danger, of course, is not the oozing oil mess, but the chance you could forget to oil the bearings once the grease has been flushed out and run them dry. That being said, there are a couple of guys on the G0602 Yahoo group who claim to have been running theirs in that condition for more than two years without any ill effects. If the bearings do ever need to be replaced,Timken offers a bearing that's an exact replacement, which can be had for about $20 each.
If you decide to mount another type of chuck, the backplate is not a common one. The spindle thread is 1-3/4" x 8 TPI. Grizzly offers them, but are often out of stock. Wholesale tool seems to normally have them in stock. At least one US-made lathe from the past had the same spindle thread, but I forget which machine it was. They come up on eBay occasionally.
A word of caution about the backplate...
The supplied back plate is drilled and tapped for two retaining blocks that are used to insure the chuck mounted to the plate doesn't spun off. Most backplates you source are not going to have those holes drilled and tapped. DO NOT RUN THE LATHE WITHOUT THOSE RETAINING BLOCKS. This means you will have to drill and tap the two mounting holes. Even with the slow-start and slow-stop curves on my VFD system, I spun my 6-jaw chuck off the lathe on one of the very few times I decided not to bother with the locks. Again, no fault of Grizzly, just something to be aware of, and something I'm sure is covered in he manual.
The deal with the incorrect oiling instructions in the manual has really soured me on Grizzly. Being the manual-trusting guy I am, I regularly oiled the headstock bearings and just cleaned up the mess each time. Once I read it wasn't needed, I was really irritated for two reasons. One, I cleaned up bearing poo countless times for no reason. Two, I don't know how long you can run them without oiling them so I don't know if my bearings were damaged or not. They still run smoothly enough, but I do hear some weird noises from time to time which I can't figure out what else could be causing. My guess is that the bearings are in the early stage of going bad. The cost of the Timken replacement bearings doesn't bother me as I figure they are of superior quality to the Chinese bearings that came in the lathe. What does bother me is the complete weekend or more of time it would likely take me to replace them. It's a shame that Grizzly places so little value on my time and trouble that they can't have someone spend a few minutes to correct the manual. Multiply that by the wasted time of all the other manual-reading schmucks out there, and in my opinion the situation becomes unconscionable.
Now, to be fair, I have not contacted Grizzly to see if they would offer anything in the way of consideration. Being a year out of warranty, though, I highly doubt they'd have any interest in doing so. It's a shame, too. Since I have an open account with them, sourcing machines and goodies from them is very easy to do. I've decided not to buy for them in the future. In the past two months it's already cost them the sale of one of their South Bend lathes, and goodness knows how much tooling and accessories for it. I also hope to acquire a Hardinge-style high precision toolroom lathe within the next year. It won't be a Grizzly/South Bend unit.
I emailed South Bend two months ago when I decided to buy a new lathe. I had one simple question. They didn't bother to reply. That pretty much made up my mind about Grizzly/South Bend.
-Matt
yort81
Member
Johnny... Matt... thank you!! wow... that is more good info than i ever thought i would get :~) I am now rethinking that purchase... Im looking for a solid piece that will serve me in making metal pens with out the hassle...
The G0602 is a little more money than i wanted to spend... but it seemed solid and looked like it ran true... ive seen a few videos on youtube that people seemed to like it well enough and demonstrated a few turnings...
Im still thinking! THANK YOU BOTH for the informative replies! :~)
The G0602 is a little more money than i wanted to spend... but it seemed solid and looked like it ran true... ive seen a few videos on youtube that people seemed to like it well enough and demonstrated a few turnings...
Im still thinking! THANK YOU BOTH for the informative replies! :~)
MattTheHat
Member
yort81 said:
Please don't get me wrong. I think the G0602 was worth every penny and at the time was by far the best bang for the buck I could find. As far as customer support goes, I've got a feeling they're as good or better than most importers. Same goes for fit and finish. The G0602 seems a little better put together than average.
I'm just grumpy about the incorrect advice in the manual.
Another option you have would be a used G0602. I happen to know where there's a good deal on one, complete with a set of replacement headstock bearings.
Seriously, if you're interested, let me know. I was going to replace the bearings and use it at work when business is slow. Unfortunately, that translate to the lathe with sit in a corner without use for the next ten years. I'm going to move the VFD setup over to my mill, so the price would be right.
-Matt
Last edited:
waynewright
Member
I purchased a G0602 a little over a year ago from Grizzly and had to return it 4 months later. The unit was defective when I purchased it (told to me by Grizzly Tech after they checked it out) and kept breaking the retaining clips on the threading gears. After replacing them weekly for over three months, I finally returned the unit and received a full refund from Grizzly. I give there tech support and customer service A+ but the lathe was a lemon. It could be just that one lathe. But that was my experience with the G0602.
yort81
Member
Matt.... I could be interested :~) Send me an IM and let me know what you are thinking :~)