Grizzly G8688 v. LittleMachineShop 4100

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azamiryou

azamiryou

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Joined
Aug 14, 2010
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Location
Silver Spring, MD USA
I'm ready to get a metal lathe, and currently waffling between:

Little Machine Shop HiTorque 7x12
Grizzly G8688 7x12

From what I've read, the HiTorque is clearly the better lathe - more power, brushless motor, and assorted conveniences. But it costs nearly $200 more, and LMS wants $120 more for shipping than Grizzly does, making it a $290 difference in final price.

:confused: Where I'm stuck is on whether the differences are worth $290 - which can cover a lot of extra tooling and/or other tools and equipment I've been lusting after. Thoughts?
 
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I have the LMS machine, and looking at the Grizzly listing it comes with a faceplate, a steady rest, and a threading dial, none of which come with the LMS machine. It also claims inch+metric dials, also lacking on the LMS machine, or at least on mine (a year old).

The Grizzly also has a two-speed-range shifter with its variable speed motor, while the LMS machine has no shifter, driving the spindle directly with a single synchronous belt. Supposedly the high-torque brushless motor eliminates the need for the lower gear (for increased torque), and it does have quite a bit of beef at lower speeds.

What I'm not sure of is whether the Grizzly machine has one or two half nuts to engage the lead screw for power feed and threading. The LMS machine has two, which allows for heavier cuts under power, but some versions of the SIEG C-2 and SC-2 have only one.

One reason I chose the LMS machine over several others was that LMS was within driving range of where I live, so I avoided freight charges altogether.
 
Just NOT having to deal with Grizzly would be worth the $290 to me. I don't know about their metal lathes, but my experiences with Grizzly wood lathes and band saws has been awful. In Grizzly's defense, after several unsuccessful attempts to bring my ultimate band saw and wood lathe into specifications, they finally did dispatch a truck to pick these up and refund my money. BUT, I still spent two months yutzing with these guys and still had to rebox every thing.

Conversely, everything I have bought from LMS has been top quality and worked properly right out of the box.

Just remember that rarely is the lowest price the best value.
 
Matthew,

I guess it depends on what you will do with the lathe. For pen making, both the
Grizzly and LMS Hi-Torque will do a great job. I have had a Grizzly for about
18 months and no problems at all. I did have some minor shipping damage initially, but a call to Grizzly and they had me a new drip pan within 3 days, plus a can of green touch-up paint for latter use. I cannot speak for the LMS Hi-Torque, but for the price difference, I would get the grizzly. Just remember they both are MINI lathes and have their limitations. I have used my Grizzly on brass, aluminum, steel, arcylics and wood with good results. Andy, I'm sorry for your problems with Grizzly, but they worked with me just wonderfully. If money is no problem, you mght consider the Jet 9x20. Good luck and let us know the out come.

Ben
 
I'm not qualified to make any recommendations between the two. I AM compelled to say (yet again), you will be MUCH happier with at least a 14" bed. I got mine off Craigs List. I wonder what happened to the 16" LMS had not too long ago? Good luck and, hope it works out.
 
There is one feature that is worth at least 100.oo and that's the lever on the tail stock, Locking and Un locking the tail stock is a PITA. I made one for my Jet, but some hamfisted son in law who shall remain nameless pretty much destroyed it, I believe these can be bought through LMS for the other 7 inch lathes, They are worth their weight in tooling. also the LMS does sound like better deal with the low end power, and continuous speed control. 300.00 sounds like a lot, but the tooling is where the money is going to come in, and Grizzly has gotten quite a bit of bad press lately. be a shame to realize down the road the 300.00 would have been spent on convenience and useable torque.
 
In the end, I went with the LMS 4100. (I sold a couple of $150 pens, which made the decision a little easier!) It arrived last week, and since then I've been playing with all the adjustments and learning how to use it.

It's certainly a nice tool. I can tell there are more accessories I'll be wanting to get, though... I've entered a vortex within the vortex, it seems!
 
Great decision - in a few years you will forget about the extra money, but have a little better lathe. Not that the Grizzly is bad, just that I've never regretted getting the best I could afford at the time.
 
BRobbins629 said:
Great decision - in a few years you will forget about the extra money, but have a little better lathe. Not that the Grizzly is bad, just that I've never regretted getting the best I could afford at the time.
Click to expand...

Hence the saying, you can cry now or you can cry a whole lot later.
 
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