[wizard]

Just brought home a new SB1001 from Muncy, Pa.

Sort of like Christmas isn't it?

I've included a few photos of the bench I built for it last summer. It's a shortened HF Oak Bench. I made a router sled to flatten the Chinese oak top before gluing the pc of American red oak to it. Piece of plywood glued to bottom of top and additional red oak legs in the middle. Lastly angle iron connecting the feet and some aluminum angle beefing up the top! Oh yea, the lathe on trailer waiting for someone to open it and the Micro mark 7x16 up for sale.

Your bench building sounds like something I'd do. I made a router table that ended up so heavy it is a struggle to move it. Keep up the good work.

I'm looking forward to your opinions with respect to that South Bend. I went with a 9x20 years ago, dirt cheap from harbor Freight too. Not complaining at all really but I've seen the South Bend in Grizzlys store and it looks like a significantly higher quality machine.

[Mikbul]

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Sort of like Christmas isn't it?


Your bench building sounds like something I'd do. I made a router table that ended up so heavy it is a struggle to move it. Keep up the good work.

I'm looking forward to your opinions with respect to that South Bend. I went with a 9x20 years ago, dirt cheap from harbor Freight too. Not complaining at all really but I've seen the South Bend in Grizzlys store and it looks like a significantly higher quality machine.

Actually I made a router sled, three pcs of plywood with a slot that your router just fits into and you swing it left and right. O course you have to put temporary slides on each side of the table for the sled to ride on. Got the SB1001 cleaned up today and was surprised the apron was spotless inside. No need to mess with the lead screw other than clean off the cosmoline. The lead screw end play is good so I just let the apron hang on the nut to get the carriage off. Also the crosslide and carriage are hand scraped, nice! Another nice surprise with this lathe was the three page inspection record with all the runouts, etc. I can tell it's been run quite a bit from the wear-in powder from the belts inside the cover.

[Mikbul]

Just summing up what I see so far with the SB1001. It's superior in quality to my 7x16, I can tell it will be two to three times as rigid, It runs smooth and quiet, clean up was a breeze, my tormach oxa quick change bolted right on to the existing 10mm stud. The tailstock feels as heavy as my 7X16! It'll take me awhile to get it off the floor and mounted even with the carriage and tailstock off, it's heavy. The machining on the ways are a work of art, and the hand scraped crosslide and carriage has to figure into the price. The nice paint and multitudes of oil & grease fittings are also more costly, but what a lathe should have. There are ten grease fittings alone, and I didn't expect an oil fitting on the chuck. Almost every moving piece has a fitting! Sure beats dumping oil on and hoping it goes somewhere good and not just all over the wall. I have a 3-mt ground test bar I'm hoping will jive with the three page test results that came with it.

[wizard]

This impression you describe below is the feeling I got looking at the lathe at the grizzly store. Even though it is technically a smaller lathe it puts my 9x20 to shame. It is effectively a commercial quality small lathe.

Just summing up what I see so far with the SB1001. It's superior in quality to my 7x16, I can tell it will be two to three times as rigid, It runs smooth and quiet, clean up was a breeze, my tormach oxa quick change bolted right on to the existing 10mm stud. The tailstock feels as heavy as my 7X16! It'll take me awhile to get it off the floor and mounted even with the carriage and tailstock off, it's heavy. The machining on the ways are a work of art, and the hand scraped crosslide and carriage has to figure into the price. The nice paint and multitudes of oil & grease fittings are also more costly, but what a lathe should have. There are ten grease fittings alone, and I didn't expect an oil fitting on the chuck.

A lathe designed to last a lifetime!

Almost every moving piece has a fitting! Sure beats dumping oil on and hoping it goes somewhere good and not just all over the wall. I have a 3-mt ground test bar I'm hoping will jive with the three page test results that came with it.

Most likely the test result where done with the lathe leveled. It can be very important even for a beefy design like this machine.

[Mikbul]

Attachment 205038Attachment 205040I've got an 8" Starrett level that I hope will be big enough to do the job, it's pretty sensitive. I'm not too concerned with the lathe being perfectly level with the outside world just twist in the bedways. I built the bench fairly strong but it is a wooden building with a wooden floor sitting on 4X4's. The top is 2" of red oak glued to 1.5" of oak boards laminated (and leveled with a router) and 3/4" of plywood screwed & glued to the bottom of the laminated oak. I added two additional center legs and they all sit (Bolted) on 2" angle iron. The top of the top is reinforced with heavy aluminum angle. I made it last summer and of course this summer I got a welder. I would have welded up a table out of Square steel tubing. Oh well, time will tell. If the top doesn't twist I'll be happy.
The photos are before and after leveling the oak top. Nice swimming pool there!

[Mikbul]

Attachment 205084Lathe is on the bench and bolted down. Stuck the Starrett level on the carriage and checked for twist, tiny amount of twist. Just tightened one corner and it's gone. I do have the rubber matts they give you so it's hard to tell how tight each corner is. Could be from me tightening it down anyway. Stuck the 30 thou Attachment 205078[test indicator in the spindle and no measurable run out. Not as good with the test bar, .75 thou at the spindle and 2 thou at 12". I need to re-clean everything and check again. My ground test bar is 3mt and spindle is 4.5mt. They give you a 4.5-3mt sleeve and that could be off. Just happy with the spindle run out. The spindle bearings take the same oil as my John Deere Hydro. Low viscosity Hy- Guard!

[Mikbul]

Other than Wizard there doesn't seem to be much interest in this thread? I may switch to Practical Machinist, no sense posting to myself!

[Mikbul]

All photos are of Micro Mark 7X16 except 3r/d. You can see the motor hanging out on bottom right. Sorry for the photos all over, still not used to how these posts work.

[Mikbul]

Unfortunately my brother is of black powder hunting for a week so I had to get the SB1001 up on the bench myself. Little scary but all went well! Picked it up sideways then slid the beam over the bench.Attachment 205028Attachment 205030 Two of the bolts by the door are in, the come along is handy to drill the other two holes while it's dangling. Still have to put the rubber matt under the lathe that came with it. I'm still wondering if that's a good idea or not? Supposed to cut vibration