Smithy Granite 1340

[obrian]

Hi All,

I am new at this so bear with me. I been looking for a better lathe and I found one on Craig's List tonight. I have been looking for months and nothing in my price range. This one is a Smithy Granite 1340 for $1800. It is a combination Lathe/mill. The pictures look like it has been used very little. It is about a three hour drive from where I live so I would like to know if they are good machines. I used a lathe /mill a little at one of the manufacturing shops I worked for to make prototypes but nothing complex or extremely precision. any suggestions will be appreciated.

Dennis

 

[b.lindsey]

Hi Dennis,
Keep in mind that the combination machines are always a compromise. We had 10 of the 1340 machines here in the Engineering Technology machine shop and they served well for the simpler projects we had students doing. I do find that their main weakness is in the electrics...controller board, etc. Over on the other side of campus that are still using Smithy's but have now converted all of them to VFD drives which has solved the electrical problems. I have spent the last 3 years pushing hard for stand alone machines and now finally have 6 JET knee mills and 3 13x40 stand alone lathes. I realize that you may have budget constraints and I do as well in my home shop. Though I have seen some nice work done on combination machines, I remain a firm believer in separate lathe and mill. Maybe not what you hoped to hear but that's my opinion. I know there are members here using these machines effectively and I hope some of them will offer a different perspective. In this hobby, there are lots of ways to get to the same result...its just a constant balancing act between budget and the level of frustration we are willing to endure to get there. Best wishes in finding what works best for YOU!!

Bill

 

[hitandmissman]

I can't say much about the the 1340. I do however, have a Smithy AT300 that I bought new in the early 90's. I still use the lathe, in fact that is the only lathe I have at this time. I did have over the years to change the motor and the electric switch. Over all Smithy's are a good machine. I do have a stand alone mill now. I got tired of having to change from milling to lathe. Keep in mind, if you pay 1800 for the smithy you will over time spend that or more in tooling if none comes with it.