Grizzly Lathe Opinons

[Matt Reiland]

I bought my own machine for my basement, and got a Smithy 1220XL Ltd with CNC upgrade package. It is cheaper than the one in the picture also it is a 3-in-1 machine, a mill, drill press, and lathe. What is your budget? For $5000 you can get a CNC 3-in-1 machine that will do just great, otherwise (If I only knew then what I do now) buy it used. Most of these larger machine tools last 30 years easily. Some of the machinists here have bought equipment like bridgeports from places like plastic prototype shops with little if any wear on a 1 or 2 year old machine for pennies on the dollar (Its all written off from the original owner)
One of our schools just bought an Emco CNC machine which is really slick and includes a protective shroud to keep people from getting hurt