Smithy Automate lathe review and pics

[seanphotoguy]

Well had the mill and lathe for a few months now and they seem fine. Support and response form Smithy though is horrible. I have tried many times to get help and prices for accessories and never hear back from them. If I could do it all over I would definitely buy the Tormachs. Not that I don't think these are good machines but as a beginner I need much more support and hand holding. I have lucked out and found a local CNC teacher and am paying to get some lessons and hopefully start making some parts soon.

[LeeWay]

That is a shame.
This is now and always been a critical element in machine purchases. At least for me. I get excellent CS from Novakon, Tormach, Timesavers, CNCRP. Basically for all of our larger machinery. I don't need them very often, but when I do, it is usually same day answers. More often the same hour.
If you are having some issues though, start a new thread. There are guys on here with expert knowledge that are willing to share and help for nothing. That said, one on one with a teacher is money well spent

[sin_arms]

Well had the mill and lathe for a few months now and they seem fine. Support and response form Smithy though is horrible. I have tried many times to get help and prices for accessories and never hear back from them. If I could do it all over I would definitely buy the Tormachs. Not that I don't think these are good machines but as a beginner I need much more support and hand holding. I have lucked out and found a local CNC teacher and am paying to get some lessons and hopefully start making some parts soon.

What Lathe and Mill did you order? Unforuntately I have mirrored experience. I had to replace the turret on mine and I have been having VFD problems with no fix of as yet. I've been holding out on the review because I wanted to be able to run without problems for a month straight so I could give an honest review.

[brianbonedoc]

The support issue is what I'm worried about. At least it sounds like the machines are a solid foundation. Hopefully we can all help each other out and create our own support system.

[seanphotoguy]

I got the 1413 lathe and the 1036 mill. haven't had them running long enough to find any machine issues. I am very worried about what service I might get if there is a problem.

[tmarks11]

I have tried many times to get help and prices for accessories and never hear back from them.

wow, that is surprising. As a relatively old, established business, I would think that Smithy would have the Customer Service thing solid. What a shame.

Maybe their cnc team is very small, and only represents a fraction of their sales. This isn't going to help them expand their sales.

[seanphotoguy]

Ya i found out the hard way their cnc team is one guy. while he was away they couldn't even help me answer some basic questions. Wishing i had of bought the tormach now big time.

[Norton-BMW]

Ya i found out the hard way their cnc team is one guy. while he was away they couldn't even help me answer some basic questions. Wishing i had of bought the tormach now big time.

Yeah- if you are gonna have to wait months and get no service, you might as well just buy the machine direct from China- you can order the same unit off Ali-Baba for 1/2 the Smithy price and they say 6 weeks delivery.

[seanphotoguy]

Wish I had now, called for tech support yesterday and never got a call back. Frustrating does not even come close to the feelings I have towards smithy at the moment.

[tmarks11]

Wish I had now, called for tech support yesterday and never got a call back

what problem are you having?

[vertcnc]

I was following this thread to see how the smithy lathe worked out, but after reading in a few places that customer service is lacking, kind of puts me off. If you can't get tech support or replacement parts for that matters, probably better off buying a used machine with know good support available.

[seanphotoguy]

the post processors they gave me are for machines with turrets or ATC the put in G53 G0 Z0 codes that cause the machine to do weird things and crash. Luckily I have found a guy with really good cnc and gcode knowledge to help me out. for now I am just removing the offending code manually each time I generate code.

[brianbonedoc]

Sean - there is a field setting in the 808 post in fusion to set the g53 position. You can enter where in machine coordinates you want that move. The consensus is g53 is a little better than a g28 move but not all controllers recognize it.

So maybe find a safe x and z position and enter those in the post and see what happens.

If you want I can prob remove the g53 reference in the post so it doesn't output that.

[tmarks11]

I was following this thread to see how the smithy lathe worked out, but after reading in a few places that customer service is lacking, kind of puts me off. If you can't get tech support or replacement parts for that matters, probably better off buying a used machine with know good support available.

What kind of gets me is that they expanded from offering one cnc mill and one cnc lathe to importing 9 different cnc lathes and 2 cnc mills.

A heck of a way to "grow your business". Adding one model at a time would ensure that they could ensure uniform quality of construction, write a very comprehensive manual for it, and would have tech support that knows the machine in and out.

The confusing thing as a customer is that the machines overlap each other in capabilities and price. So it is hard to pick out one machine over another. Just a confusing mish mash, and their website does a poor job of helping you compare the machines. For example, their slant bed lathes are all extremely similar:

ST-1116: $21900, box ways, 4 way tool post, manual chuck
GS-1113: $20000, linear guideways, gang tools, pneumatic collet (why is this cheaper than the ST-1116?)
TS-1117: $23800, linear guideways, 8 position turret, manual chuck

Better to sell one slant bed lathe in this size, with an optional turret. Easier for them to make volume purchases, easier to deal with parts, and ensures their technicians are familiar with the machine.

Same principle applies to their flat bed lathes.

So now they sell 11 different machines, and have one cnc guy for support? Would be nice if they would just pick one or two machines as the perfect choices and focus on them.

[LeeWay]

That is the thing. The business cannot grow like that. Not without taking care of customers after a sale. Customer satisfaction SHOULD be a primary focus. If you succeed at that, then word will travel. Fail at that and word will travel too.
The wham bam thank you maam attitude doesn't fly with high cost low volume products.
It may work to a limited degree with low cost high volume items, but not for long.

It boils down to choices made at the top level of management. You don't need to have attended a top level bidnezz school to figure that out yourself.

[seanphotoguy]

Ya a manual would have been nice. Was told there was one then it didn't show with the machine, then it was supposed to come with the replacement parts for everything damaged in shipping. Nothing at all. Still nothing. I spend $45,000 US wit them and I can't even get an accessory price list, a manual or a call back when I have problems. Unless something drastic changes there I would steer clear of them. If you are new to CNC like me, definitely steer clear. All the hand holding promised was never delivered. Its like they decided to play in the CNC area with no concept of how to support it properly. I got lucky and found a local guy with enough knowledge to get me pointed in the right direction at least. 5 months and I am just starting to make chips. I have never had such poor service from a company ever.

[jdclark]

Ya a manual would have been nice. Was told there was one then it didn't show with the machine, then it was supposed to come with the replacement parts for everything damaged in shipping. Nothing at all. Still nothing. I spend $45,000 US wit them and I can't even get an accessory price list, a manual or a call back when I have problems. Unless something drastic changes there I would steer clear of them. If you are new to CNC like me, definitely steer clear. All the hand holding promised was never delivered. Its like they decided to play in the CNC area with no concept of how to support it properly. I got lucky and found a local guy with enough knowledge to get me pointed in the right direction at least. 5 months and I am just starting to make chips. I have never had such poor service from a company ever.

If you study the history of Smithy you will see that they are not innovators. All of their products have been copies or derivatives of someone else's design. Starting in the beginning when they first sold Shoptask machines then later copied them. They also sold a copy of the Shopsmith combination woodworking machine, a copy of the Northern Hydraulics small bulldozer and now are trying to catch up to Tormach by changing their name to a more industrial sound and offering a slew of similar CNC mills and lathes. But without a solid knowledge of the design and true technical service they are going to have some serious customer issues.

[sin_arms]

Why I got mine over a Tormach was because it has a true cnc controller and servos. I like mine when it works right, I want to run a forklift into it when it doesn't. I think before the end of the year I will finally make my review video of the machine. I was holding out because it never ran long enough without problems. If I did it again I would of bought a Tormach.

[Ican]

Ya a manual would have been nice. Was told there was one then it didn't show with the machine, then it was supposed to come with the replacement parts for everything damaged in shipping. Nothing at all. Still nothing. I spend $45,000 US wit them and I can't even get an accessory price list, a manual or a call back when I have problems. Unless something drastic changes there I would steer clear of them. If you are new to CNC like me, definitely steer clear. All the hand holding promised was never delivered. Its like they decided to play in the CNC area with no concept of how to support it properly. I got lucky and found a local guy with enough knowledge to get me pointed in the right direction at least. 5 months and I am just starting to make chips. I have never had such poor service from a company ever.

Oh gacious sakes! Don't fuss about not getting a manual. I got one with mine. The reason I say don't fuss is, the manual is TRULY NOTHING TO FUSS ABOUT NOT GETTNG. YOU MISSED NOTHING..... NOTHING!!!! The one I got undoubtedly was written and put together by a drug addict.... that was having a SUPER BAD DAY!!! It makes "0" sense. They couldn't even get the pages in the correct order...and one is missing!!

That being said, my machine is performing well during testing. About to throw it into production over the next few weeks and we will know for sure what it will do. So far, it is as smooth as silk.

I am waiting after 5 - 6 weeks for parts too...after two calls and 2 e-mails. I have to admit, I did get a response right off to the first e-mail. I had sent images of what I needed replaced.... 6 or 8 small parts...missing screws...missing tool bushing... all for an ID tool holder I bought with the machine order... Well, I waited a week... watched the tracking... and I ended up with ...ready?? 4 screws! I have received nothing since.

I think the guys there mean well. I don't think they are out to rip off anyone.... but they simply have "0" idea what customer support is or how to do it. When I need something, I just stay at it until I get a reply or a part. It's sad really. I must wonder how long they can last. Dan.

EDIT.... I do hope you know I was messing with you in that first sentence or two !!! A GOOD manual is hard to beat!!

[brianbonedoc]

sin_arms - ouch. sorry to hear about your issues. Now I don't know what to do. Mine is on a slow boat from china, so still have time to change my mind.