Review of Grizzly 18x47 lathe

[CarpenterSpirit]

Hi all,

Thought I would share a little review of my Grizzly G0698 18x47 lathe. Grizzly lathes in the past have not had the best of reputations in some circles, and some of that is probably deserved in my opinion, as some of their lower end machines were comparable with what is found at Harbor Freight. I believe that this newest model G0698 is probably a cut above what they had carried in the past.
Mine arrived sooner than expected from Grizzly, and so far I am happy with the lathe as I look at the features, the quality, and the capacity as they relate to the price I paid. I have not seen more lathe for the money on the market anywhere. The switches, pulleys, wiring are heavy duty, and the machining is good. The machine is smooth and quiet, and it has variable frequency drive, 2 hp., 3 phase 220v output from a single phase input. It is an AC motor with DC inverter. It has 2 belt speeds low 0-1200 rpm and high 0-3200 rpm.and reversing. Quill travel on the tailstock is 4-3/8 inches. The headstock, tailstock and tool rest all lock up on the ways very solidly.
It is my opinion that this lathe will stack up against the Jet 16/42 evs very well, has larger capacity, and for those who cannot find the wallet in this recession to let go of nearly $3500.00 for a 3520B PM, then this may very well be the ticket to a large capacity lathe for them. This is the same lathe as the Laguna 18x47 platinum series only without the hand wheel accessory, and the Busy Bee CT128 and the Hafco woodmaster by Hare & Forbes in Australia, and has a track record of over 3 years in production. The great majority of reviews from owners of this machine have been very favorable. only one or two at the beginning of Laguna'a introduction which mostly involved customer service issues. One was an electrical problem, eventually resolved by replacing the headstock entirely.
I have one thing I wish they would have done. The nut on under the tail stock and the tool rest are plain hex nuts. I wish they had included lock nuts with nylon inserts, so as to keep the adjustment firm over long periods of time. As it is, the manual says to adjust the tension on the nut periodically so as to keep the tool rest properly adjusted on the ways. I put a lock washer on mine to help keep it adjusted, but that is not as good as a lock bolt with nylon insert.
Overall, after turning a few things, {bowl, candlestick, light pulls] just to get a feel for the machine, I can say I am very pleased with the lathe, the features, the quality and especially the value for my money.
Hope this helps any others who might be interested in this same machine.