(some of these also apply to dedicated machines) Things to watch out for in selecting a combo machine. It has a rapid Z wheel, a half nut and a threading dial. It has a 2HP motor with variable speed control and a quick change gearbox for the lead screw. It looks to be more rigid than the other offerings on the market – wider column, lower lathe spindle, deeper beam on the mill etc. While it is based on the earlier single motor “short head” design, it is scaled up significantly. If I were to buy a new Lathe Mill Combo today, I would probably go for the Smithy Granite. I’m making do with it for now, but when I get more space, I’ll be shopping at Precision Matthews or Grizzly for new machines. I purchased my ShopTask 1720 XMTC back in 1998 because I didn’t listen to that advice – and I was interested in the CNC potential of that specific model. I find myself constantly re-truing the mill vise or re-zeroing my lathe tools as I switch it between lathe mode and mill mode and back again. Ten inches is a long way to go from the nose of the spindle. For instance there is a perennial problem of getting the tool bit down to work near the table. These machines tend to lack rigidity compared to similar sized dedicated machines, and their format brings in some annoyances. If you can commit the space, buy a lathe and then a mill. The short version is: if you are really short on space, they are a valid machining platform, but they are a compromise. I’ve run up a short video sharing my thoughts on the Lathe Mill Combo format of machine tools.
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