[Mikbul]

Thanks man! I think I am going to order the AXA one. The OXA one seems small! I had a smaller one on my 4000 and noticed a big difference going to the AXA. Of course that thing flexed like a champ to begin with.

Thanks again for everything.

-Keith

Yea I already had the premium package with OXA and I think I'll be fine for now. I haven't even used all the tools in it yet! Though the boring bar holder makes a great test dial holder. Are you getting the AXA from LMS? BTW Brian Miller from Miller Machine is making me a sleeve adapter. If he's set up to make one maybe he'd give us a break on two?
Mike

[keithmcelhinney]

What is the sleeve adapter for?

[Mikbul]

What is the sleeve adapter for?

The SB1001 has a 4.5 MT taper in the spindle, why did they did that? I think for clearance since the spindle bore is 1.25" and if they made it MT3 it would have choked it down. So any way to get to MT3 you need a sleeve adapter and both I got from Grizzly where out of whack, or the two tapers don't have the same centerline. When I stick my test bar in it"s exaggerated at 12" so .015" run out at the spindle becomes .004" at twelve inches. If you don't have a test bar and just plan on using the 3MT dead center they give you that fit's in the sleeve you probably can get away without a "perfect". Say if you put stock between centers and used a lathe dog you would turn that small error on one end right off. If you use the sleeve for something else the stock one won't do. Then again you may get lucky and get a good one but don't count on it! I don't believe the sleeve was made in the same factory as the lathe, I just don't see the attention to quality there, and that's the only part on the lathe I've found lacking. I would have paid more for a "better" sleeve. On the other hand if you look in the Grizzly catalog the sleeves are something like ten bucks! I don't think even an Asian Co. could grind two perfect tapers perfectly aligned, packaged and shipped with mark up for ten bucks! Anyway it may be a non issue for you if you always have a chuck on, foogetaboutit!

[Mikbul]

Faced and turned some brass today, face is pretty flat for a lathe not set up other than leveled. My machinists square on edge just a glint of light, good enough for what I do. Also got a set of three metal drawers that came out from under a metal desk at work. Pulled the harbor freight drill press stand out from under the drill press and it's hanging on a rope! Will mount it on top of the heavy drawers with a thick plywood top. Anybody need a stand?

How's the new lathe coming Keith?

Attachment 207814

[Mikbul]

:cheers:

Keith,
Looked in the Grizzly catalog today and the sleeves look different and claim a total run out of .00059"-.00079"? I don't get it? They don't offer the MT4.5- MT3, just MT4-MT3?
Anyway good luck again with the lathe and if I cut .060" in high range on steel if you get some HSS tools in low range with the bigger AXA tool holder you should be able to hog steel like crazy!
BTW did you see the finish on that brass? It was too easy and I could have ran a lot faster than 750 rpm's. Love this lathe!

[keithmcelhinney]

I just basically unpacked it tonight. Pulled the cross slide and chuck off and have it soaking in mineral spirits. Going to get into it a little more in tomorrow. I think I am just going to order the OXA toolpost and some more tooling tomorrow. I was going to go with the AXA but you are having great results and it is just going to be easier.

-Keith

[Mikbul]

I just basically unpacked it tonight. Pulled the cross slide and chuck off and have it soaking in mineral spirits. Going to get into it a little more in tomorrow. I think I am just going to order the OXA toolpost and some more tooling tomorrow. I was going to go with the AXA but you are having great results and it is just going to be easier.

-Keith

I think you'll do fine with the OXA, all I had to do was raise my tools a little and done. I stuck the dead center in the tailstock and went off that. As you can see in the brass face the height was right on.
When you get to messing with the lead screw (forward, reverse, neutral). Once I've chosen the forward or reverse gear, I take the wrench you loosen the clamp with and hold the gear I want engaged with it, then I rock the big spindle pulley and move the gear cluster forward or backward to get out the backlash. Pretty simple when you do it. Takes all of a minute to switch.

Anyway happy cosmoline!:stickpoke

[Mikbul]

And last .060" DOC at 604 rpm's 0.0030 feed. Again, after compensating with the variable speed dial ( after all, it's in high range, in low range you probably wouldn't need to but too slow for my carbide inserts ) no issues. No chattering, tool post issues, etc.

Attachment 207708Attachment 207710Attachment 207712Attachment 207714Attachment 207716

My final thoughts on the South Bend SB1001:
Man this is one fine lathe!

1-Fit and finish are top notch
2-Unexpected rigidity throughout the lathe
3-Big lathe feel in the controls, I can't emphasize how smooth and tight these controls are!
4-Quiet and powerful motor and drivetrain
5-The D1-3 chucks are great, especially the 5"!
6-Variable speed motor with digital counter, nice!
7-And much, much more I can't think of at the moment

There were a few hiccups at first and all but one was of my making.
This lathe will be in my workshop for a long time to come! And my old lathe has found a new home.
Cheers!
Mike

[keithmcelhinney]

Got a little cleaning done tonight. Again noticed the difference between my g4000 and this thing is night and day! Still have a lot of work to do before I can cut but it is really nice to take something apart and it go together nice and easy. The 4000 always seemed like a struggle...

-Keithj

[Wizbaa]

Hey, I just wanted to join in your thread because I too bought a new sb1001! I finally got it up onto my work bench last night for cleaning. Having it sit side by side with my Sieg SC4 really shows the difference in quality. They simply put more attention to detail when compared with other chinese lathes in its size bracket.

For $3200 I wouldnt buy it if you had a gun to my head, but for $1950 its a great deal!

The Sieg SC4 could take .050" DOC (thats 50 thou radius) in free machining Stainless steel with 3/8" Carbide tooling, in an OXA set up and with the Compound rest replaced with a solid block.

Im going to bump up to AXA and 1/2" tooling, the SB1001 might actually be rigid enough to make use of the extra mass, I cant wait to find out!

[Mikbul]

Hey, I just wanted to join in your thread because I too bought a new sb1001! I finally got it up onto my work bench last night for cleaning. Having it sit side by side with my Sieg SC4 really shows the difference in quality. They simply put more attention to detail when compared with other chinese lathes in its size bracket.

For $3200 I wouldnt buy it if you had a gun to my head, but for $1950 its a great deal!

The Sieg SC4 could take .050" DOC (thats 50 thou radius) in free machining Stainless steel with 3/8" Carbide tooling, in an OXA set up and with the Compound rest replaced with a solid block.

Im going to bump up to AXA and 1/2" tooling, the SB1001 might actually be rigid enough to make use of the extra mass, I cant wait to find out!

Welcome to the 8K group.(I just made that up LOL) I think you'll be surprised at the rigidity of the compound on the 8K, but if you look at the way they did it makes more sense. Where it attaches to the cross slide it's much wider than it looks. I'm not a trained machinist but I am familiar with chatter and compound flex, and at .060" DOC I saw neither with the SB1001. Of course it wasn't stainless but still good I think for a machine that size, saw no reason to go deeper, but I think it would have. If you put that solid block on and dropped to low range with an HSS tool I bet it would go way deeper , or smoke the belts! I don't think you'll stall that motor in low range.

[Mikbul]

I am strongly considering buying this lathe in the near future so I am looking at this review with a great deal of interest.Please keep the posts coming.I've e-mailed Grizzly about the cost to ship to Canada.Hope to hear from them soon.Looking forward to a review on the 5" D1-3 chuck.Wonder how a CNC conversion would go on this machine?I think with the current sale price they should be able to move quite a few machines and there will be many more reviews.

Have not heard from our Canadian friend, there are two reviews on the 5" chuck, stay in touch. Also consider having it shipped to somewhere across the border and go pick it up, I heard it might be cheaper that way?

[Mikbul]

Hey, I just wanted to join in your thread because I too bought a new sb1001! I finally got it up onto my work bench last night for cleaning. Having it sit side by side with my Sieg SC4 really shows the difference in quality. They simply put more attention to detail when compared with other chinese lathes in its size bracket.

For $3200 I wouldnt buy it if you had a gun to my head, but for $1950 its a great deal!

The Sieg SC4 could take .050" DOC (thats 50 thou radius) in free machining Stainless steel with 3/8" Carbide tooling, in an OXA set up and with the Compound rest replaced with a solid block.

Im going to bump up to AXA and 1/2" tooling, the SB1001 might actually be rigid enough to make use of the extra mass, I cant wait to find out!

Just one thing to watch out for, and a major one! Before you break the spindle in make sure to oil it and make sure the oil is actually going in and not all over the lathe. If it's going all over the lathe stop the spindle break in! If you have any questions about where to get the spindle oil etc. speak up.

[voere]

Have not heard from our Canadian friend, there are two reviews on the 5" chuck, stay in touch. Also consider having it shipped to somewhere across the border and go pick it up, I heard it might be cheaper that way?

Still here and reading the posts on the SB1001 every day.On the fence about buying one since I heard that they are discontinued.Worried about support from South Bend in the future.All the posts that I have read on this and other forums are pretty positive about this machine so it's still in the running.Wizbaa is from Canada and he PM me that the total cost of the SB1001 was $2380 delivered to his door.Not a bad price for quality.

[Mikbul]

Still here and reading the posts on the SB1001 every day.On the fence about buying one since I heard that they are discontinued.Worried about support from South Bend in the future.All the posts that I have read on this and other forums are pretty positive about this machine so it's still in the running.Wizbaa is from Canada and he PM me that the total cost of the SB1001 was $2380 delivered to his door.Not a bad price for quality.

I wouldn't worry about parts availability, their still making and selling parts for 50 year old machines, they still have the molds, etc. Keith just picked one up and asked about the machine being discontinued and he was told no.

[keithmcelhinney]

I haven't made any cuts yet but pretty much have all the cosmocrap off it. Way better design and fit than the 4000. I don't think you can go wrong with this machine. The grizzly guys said it is not on discontinued status so I think you are safe there.

-Keith

[Wizbaa]

Im happy to hear they dont want to discontinue it, they must have sold a lot of them at this sale price. Im really hoping they keep developing it. Put a QCGB on it and it could stand up against the other small lathes. Of course then grizzly could justify charging a little more, and some wouldnt mind paying. It was a wise decision to buy South Bend.

Did the manual impress anyone else? Clear exploded views and parts lists, although the metal work 101 section wasn't exactly necessary. I dont know how many people would buy it as a first lathe.

I've tracked the spindle bearings down. Little confusing because they say its a 30205 Nachi Tapered roller bearing, but the 30205 bearing has a 25mm ID. The SB1001 spindle bore of 28mm. So it would either be a 30207 with 35mm ID or 30208 with 40mm. I hope its the '08 for my spindles sake, I might not get time out in the garage again until the weekend but I will try to measure the spindle bearing journals. Funny they want us to keep it under 2300RPM, VXB says they are rated to 6700RPM with oil.

30208 Nachi Tapered Roller Bearing Japan 40x80x18 Taper Bearings:Nachi-Bearings

I would appreciate the lead on lubricants, and im sure any other lurkers reading would like it to.

[keithmcelhinney]

Got my stuff from Little machine shop today. Forgot how small the OXA and 3/8" tooling is! Pretty much finished cleaning and just have to get grease to do the spindle break in. Went to John Deere and got the Hy Guard so that is all I need! Can't wait to fire it up.

-Keith

[Mikbul]

Im happy to hear they dont want to discontinue it, they must have sold a lot of them at this sale price. Im really hoping they keep developing it. Put a QCGB on it and it could stand up against the other small lathes. Of course then grizzly could justify charging a little more, and some wouldnt mind paying. It was a wise decision to buy South Bend.

Did the manual impress anyone else? Clear exploded views and parts lists, although the metal work 101 section wasn't exactly necessary. I dont know how many people would buy it as a first lathe.

I've tracked the spindle bearings down. Little confusing because they say its a 30205 Nachi Tapered roller bearing, but the 30205 bearing has a 25mm ID. The SB1001 spindle bore of 28mm. So it would either be a 30207 with 35mm ID or 30208 with 40mm. I hope its the '08 for my spindles sake, I might not get time out in the garage again until the weekend but I will try to measure the spindle bearing journals. Funny they want us to keep it under 2300RPM, VXB says they are rated to 6700RPM with oil.

30208 Nachi Tapered Roller Bearing Japan 40x80x18 Taper Bearings:Nachi-Bearings

I would appreciate the lead on lubricants, and im sure any other lurkers reading would like it to.

The manual states ISO 32 oil for the spindle bearings. John deere's low viscosity Hyguard is an ISO 32 oil, and comes in a quart or gallon. All the other oil companies make an ISO 32, like mobil DTE light. I use Vactrose II for everything else but the grease fittings and they spec a marine grade grease but I think that's if you're using coolant. I got some marine grade grease anyway from NAPA. The problem I'm having is the grease doesn't seem to want to go in? I've popped two fittings out (they are a tapered fit, I wish they were screw in) they popped back in but maybe if it's full of grease it won't take anymore? I'm used to a looser fit and the grease comes out somewhere. One question I have is the tailstock fittings, manual says they're grease fittings but ones over the quill, and grease doesn't seem to me to be the proper lube for a tailstock quill? Book says ten grease fittings and if you count them up you need them to make ten? Might have to call tech support to sort this out.

Note: clear bleeder hose used to bleed automotive brakes fits the spindle oilers perfectly. Leave the hose empty and if the line fills you know oil is going in. I use a syringe and the brake line hose also fits that perfectly! It takes a bit of pressure but the ball will give way and you can watch the syringe empty. A pump can with an empty hose will do the same. I'm going to work those ball oilers by hand a little to loosen them up, but I don't want to bend the springs down!

BTW I've found a few mistakes in the manual, states it's a 3MT Spindle which is obviously incorrect, etc. All in all I found the manual above average in detail. Even a color coded wiring diagram like the Generac generators I service, nice!

[Mikbul]

Got my stuff from Little machine shop today. Forgot how small the OXA and 3/8" tooling is! Pretty much finished cleaning and just have to get grease to do the spindle break in. Went to John Deere and got the Hy Guard so that is all I need! Can't wait to fire it up.

-Keith

Did you make a mistake when you said grease for the spindle? I think you did because you bought Hyguard. Just making sure you don't put grease in the spindle bearings!

Great you're almost up and running! Back a few hundred posts I mentioned using string to get last bit of cosmoline out of the pulley grooves, works great! Not while it's running! Just work it back and forth and when it's dirty toss it. I actually untwined a string and got three perfect size, so if you have string that's too big just take it apart.