Lathe came yesterday! Yay. Monster part is the hassle it was getting it in the house. I figure a couple more days and my back will be able to withstand trying some turning! Seemed to be in good shape. There was a little hole punched into the box from forks somewhere but nothing was close to it inside. Roger, why did you say to have the robust rests made 8.5 to 8.75 inches tall? The grizzly rest is 8 inches tall. Is the consensus 8 inches is too short?
Sam, the 8.75 total height will allow you to get high for skew work on spindles as well. Are you measuring from the bottom of the banjo, or just the rest itself? The stock rest has a shoulder milled to bottom out on the banjo, so that leaves a short post. The extra 3/4” of post inside the banjo will add stability. Unless they have changed the specs on the banjo since I got mine a couple years ago, the 8.75” is perfect, but they may have tweaked things as they have refined their designs.
I measured from the very top edge where the tool rides to the bottom of the post. It was exactly 8 inches on the grizzly, hopefully I don't have to cut off the posts on those robust rests. it looks like some pretty good steel as in take me a while with a hacksaw. I did find one thing wrong with the lathe. The motor was loose. When I was putting the legs on I thought it looked funny that the motor was not running parallel with the bed. turns out the back bolt that the motor pivots on to change the belts was about to fall out. Tightened it up and my fingers are crossed hoping that's all it was was. A loose bolt and not stripped out
Sam, I was told by knowledgeable sources that significant vibrations occur on ships that travel across the oceans. What started out tight at the factory can and does at times vibrate loose due to ocean wave induced oscillations. You should be fine. If the banjo is the same as what came out with the updated version back about 21 months ago, then the Robust rests will be right on target, which I suspect is the case.
The first thing I advise with all new owners after uncrating the lathe is to go through EVERY screw on the lathe and tighten them, and even the rpm sensor, to make sure it is tight.
Yes, I'm thinking it won't hurt to check tightness also. the set screw was loose on the tail stock wheel letting it wobble too. The date of manufacture on this lathe says august so it should be the newer banjo I would think. Can't try the robust rests yet because menards didn't have an inch bit and the 3 machine shops I called in galesburg, 2 said they didn't have an inch bit. One would hone it out but wouldn't be cheap and the third said they had a minimum charge which I didn't ask because I figured it was more than me ordering a bit off the internet. So I got the feeling they didn't want to mess with it.
Sam, consider buying a 1" bit on-line, perhap on Amazon or eBay. The common 1" bit is a "silver and deming" which means that it has a narrowed-down shaft to 1/2 inch. Most drill presses don't go to 1" diameter bits. Typical on-line price is around $15-20. Keep in mind that it will probably cut a few thousandths under-size, so don't be surprised if you need to enlarge it a bit after drilling. I used a 1/2 inch dowel with a slit in the end (to hold silicon carbide sand paper) that I stuck into my electric hand drill to sand away the last couple of thou... Easy-peezy.
I also used a 1" silver & deming bit to enlarge the banjo hole. I clamped the banjo on my drill press table, and bored out the hole, then took my hand drill and did a circular wobble cut with the same bit.....again easy peezy! It does't take much at all, so go easy with the hand drill. I bored out my former G0698 18/47 lathe with just the hand drill, and cutting oil.......if you do this have the bit spinning slowly before entering the hole & have it lubricated.....you do not want to break a wrist!!!
Well, thanks to the internet I found a shop that does sub work for caterpillar and the guy reamed it out to where it looks factory and it was $20. Roughly the cost of a bit if I had to go buy it. Now to get the feet on and level then grinder and jig set up to sharpen tools and maybe I'll be ready to make some wood chips!
I received my G0766 in Oct of this year and the same motor bolt had backed all the way out and was laying just below the motor. I think that the fact that that bolt is left loose enough to allow the motor to pivot lets that bolt back out.
