Choosing a lathe to convert

[Bwana Don]

I've been looking at lathe and mill conversions lately. For a lathe I've decided on the Go602 Grizzly. Then I looked at some old South Bend 9" Lathes. The 900A,B,C South Bends seem to be well made. Much better than Chinese products.

What do you guys think about a CNC conversion on one of these old American lathes? Should I just go with the Grizzly?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Don

[HorridHenry]

Go602 Grizzly. Then I looked at some old South Bend 9" Lathes. The 900A,B,C South Bends seem to be well made.

Wow! I'm no expert on the SBL but I know which screams a better lathe.

Any lathe is covertable to CNC so if you can get a SB then go for it providing its complete.

[Bubba]

IMHO, I would go with the Grizzly for a couple of reasons:
1. The spindle through hole is much larger.
2. Because of the plain bearings, the SB will be limited in rotational speed.

Don't get me wrong, I love SB and have a lot of respect for what they can do, but I don't think cnc of the older iron is one of them.

[Bwana Don]

IMHO, I would go with the Grizzly for a couple of reasons:
1. The spindle through hole is much larger.
2. Because of the plain bearings, the SB will be limited in rotational speed.

Don't get me wrong, I love SB and have a lot of respect for what they can do, but I don't think cnc of the older iron is one of them.

I begrudgingly agree. I love those old American mini lathes from the 50's and 60's though. Built tons better than the China ones but...... probably cost tons more too.

Back to converting a Taig mini mill to a CNC lathe.

Thanks guys.