Received my new G0766 yesterday and set it up. I am very impressed with it mostly. Runs very smooth. Good casting and machining on it. Just a few issues with it. I'm 5'10" tall which I would think would be fairly average and the lathe is about 3" or so to tall for me. I will be building a platform to stand on to fix this but I would think that they would have designed it for an average height person. The other issues are of course the length of the banjo and the tool rest height. The fact that the banjo will only place the toolrest 8" from the center to me is a major flaw in design. I have contacted Grizzly about it but have not heard back yet. I can of course fix this by ordering a Oneway banjo like Roger did (and probably will). I just think poor design issues like that will give Grizzly a black eye on this new lathe which otherwise is a great lathe and a really good value (even with spending another $300 or so to fix the Banjo and toolrest).
Overall I am very happy with it and with a few Tweaks it will be a great lathe. I've ordered some Robust toolrests for it and planning to add a remote control to the far end of the lathe and working on an open top steady rest for it.
Congrats Sparky........I posted a thread on the banjo upgrade I just did to my 0766......boy is it sweet! http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-Nirvana-G0766
Sparky.......I think as you use this new lathe for a while, you will find that it smooths out even more and gets quieter in operation. I think it is the smart circuitry in the inverter that learns from the feedback it gets from the motor as the lathe gets put through its paces with projects. At least, that is what has been the case for my G0766.......I am VERY pleased so far, even though I have done a bit of tweaking on it to bring to where I want with aftermarket tool rests and banjo. I would probably have gotten the tool rests anyway, but I am glad I got the new banjo as well!
Roger I am looking at the Oneway banjos and the pictures you posted on the forum. I only plan on using the Robust toolrests (12" and 6") and not the Grizzly toolrest and it appears from your pictures that the Robust rests stick up out of the original banjo quite a ways. From what you said I got the impression the 16" banjo was about the same height as the Grizzly. I wonder if the banjo for the 20" would be better since it has a taller post. I do know since a friend has the 24" Oneway that it is just a little too tall for even the Robust toolrests on this lathe. I have sent Oneway an email on the Dimensions of the 20" banjo to see if it would work. Not sure if the 20" would reach out as far as the 24" or the 16" (for outboard turning). Probably should order the 16 and not worry about it.
Dimensions of Oneways 24" banjo are 8 13/16" tall where the toolrest goes in and with a Robust comfort rest in it it will pull out 13 9/16" from the center of the spindle. With the Robust comfort Tool rest being 2 5/16" that added to the 8 13/16" you would be at 11 1/8". Was wondering if the 20" banjo was 2" shorter which would then put the lowest position of the toolrest at 9 1/8" which would be fine.
Sparky.......the tech guy at Oneway steered me away from the 20" or 24"....they are just plain too high! The 16" has a vertical section that is similar to the original rest that came with the 0766, but the Robust rests will go well below or well above the centerline with this Oneway banjo. It will also allow for up to a 28" swing. Don't make the mistake of getting the 20 or 24.......you will just have to send it back, and the Oneway tech guy was right. When I got mine, everything is perfect using the Robust rests with long post. I have the 15" comfort rest, and 12" inside curve and already had a 6" low profile robust rest...all have long posts and work well.
