Grizzly G0765 7' X 14' Variable-Speed Benchtop Lathe vs Harbor Freight 7' x 10' Precision Mini Lathe

A brief comparison of the Grizzly product versus Harbor Freight's offering.

[BolognaAmputee]

What size of material will either handle. Grizzly says its a 3" chuck. Is that the size if the chuck itself or will it handle 3" tubing?

[ITSMYBSNLDINESH]

Price can you said , you can send in india

[whtsxka]

What’s the bore diameter in both machines, and it looks like the grizzly has plastic gears, does the central machinery have plastic or metal? Thanks

[tomt]

Another thing to keep in mind is that Harbor Freight also sells a 7 x 12 mini lathe that’s not available in their stores. You have to go online to their website and order it. Until the last few months it was actually cheaper than the 7 X 10, but now it’s about $30 higher. The HF 7x10 is actually 7x8, because the dimension is measured between centers, with a dead center in both the headstock and tailstock, and HF evidently measured this one with a bogus ruler! Ha! The 7x12 is actually 4” longer than the 7x10, not 2”. Don’t waste your money on the 7x10. HF also sells a good mini milling machine online. Both of the lathes and the mill are manufactured by Sieg in China. A helpful hint: HF doesn’t sell parts for any of these machines, but “The Little Machine Shop” carries all of these parts along with a bewildering array of accessories for mini lathes and mills!

[stevelamperta]

I'd just like to point out that harbor freight does not make lathe's or mills ! I hear a lot of people bitchin that harbor freight sucks an they would never buy something like a lathe or mill from them... the lathe's and mills they sell are built by central machinery and are high quality equipment ! I own a mill from central machinery and its really a great machine. in fact its one of the best knee mills ive ever run ! its their biggest one harbor freight carries its 2 hp with a 3-3/4 " spindle !!! And the ways are very smooth and tight. its truly a very high quality mill.

[jeremywhittington]

You know... for less money you could have bought the harbor freight 7x10/12/14” lathe bed extender and made it a 7”x16”. It’s less than $200 at Little Machine Shop, and you get everything including the drip pan. Including the price of the HF lathe and ordering the extender you’re still be looking at spending less money on the Grizzly(especially with shipping costs), and I ordered an rpm sensor and voltage monitor from Amazon to retrofit to my mini lathe, and you guessed it... still spent less in the long run.

[arrlmember]

The best mini lathes are the ones with the quiet 7x16 brushless DC motors that are sold by Micro Mark and Little Machine Shop. The torque of those motors does not require the noisy 2 speed gearbox, which is where a lot of the mini noise comes from.
If you want to true the front of a Mauser for a custom barrel, you will need the 16" lathe to use the mandrels made for that purpose. Of course there are other reasons to get a longer lathe bed. The only down sides are the increased costs and the digital RPM indicator is a plug in option. The good news is that these two companies also sell mini mills that use the same powerful quiet motor.

[skeletor]

the Grizzly variable speed control produces an additional Humming sound, which is constant right down to almost zero rpm, because it uses a KB controls DC motor controller which is based on SCR's, not MOSFETS as the power switching device.
The KB are more respectable drives, but they do use the 60Hz AC line frequency as a modulating carrier to achieve their pulse width modulation.

[goldwingowner]

Part of the noise you are hearing is the high amp motor. The other noise sounds like the plastic gearing. My 7x10 hf was making that noise till I figured out which gear it was. turned out it was the forward/reverse lead screw gears rubbing on a screw washer. A little tweak later and now its quiet as a can be. The high amp motor noise I found on my 8x12 was a different issue. The drive gear bushing wasn't oiling and binding up. Somehow when they machined the bolt that holds it they forgot to drill the passage to the bearing. it ate a couple of belts before the light came on that something was wrong. Drilled it out, gave it some oil and now all is happy with it.

For the tail stock I agree its annoying. That mod is in the future on my bigger one.

[robertoviana]

One thing to keep in mind is that these are both made by the same (Chinese) manufacturer. They are just different models. That is why some of the components swap out.

[minimachinist]

I just added the digital display to my Harbor freight 8x12, (I liked the 8x12 more than the 7x10.)
I have already added the A2Z quick change tool post. (The biggest improvement you can make to a lathe.)
When my 4 jaw chuck comes in I cam make the cam so my tailstock works like yours.
After I add the VFD and the 1hp motor I think it will be better than the Grizzly.
Beyond that I'll be adding steppers and a PC.
If I was to spend more it would be a South Bend 10 inch.

[FrancoCNC]

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I did perform the break-in procedure as described in the manual before I shot the video. Hopefully, it will quiet down in time. However, I do believe the noise is coming from the motor bearings, not the spindle. Also, I think some of what I can only describe as a harmonic at higher RPM's may actually be a result of the electronics, and not the spindle.

I agree with your point - in spite of all these issues, the G0765 is still best of breed in the world of 7 x mini lathes. I guess I just expect Grizzly products to have a higher quality standard than the competition. I was shocked that HF actually did better job with a few details on their version of the mini lathe.

I'm still happy I brought the Grizzly home.

[IbrahimALHammadi]

What is it compared to the microlux 7x16 mini lathe ? .... I'm thinking of buying a mini lathe and i want the best one ... Cost is not an issue so please help . Thanks

[squarewrangler]

Can these lathes be used for making pens and such? Using wood and acrylics.

[remcovanwoerkom]

i need a lathe, what do you reccomend for a beginner? my budget is 800 euros so that's like 950 dollars

[sailrbill]

what do they cost? are the gears plastic or metal?

[georgescarlett]

Hey Mate, I wonder if some of the "resonant" noise could be coming, (or at least amping- up) from your table top? If your top is not a solid wood laminate as the top that the H'F' is sitting I have my very first, (self-owned) G0765 Lathe coming as soon as "Griz" gets them BACK IN STOCK! As a CNC Machinist, (and even before) I've always wanted my own "METAL" Lathe, and Vertical Mill, one down, one to go, LOL! Have Fun, and be blessed! Gb bg

[MountainCrestFarm]

It seems the HF "benefits" are cosmetic for the most part...The nicer finished handles for example, while the Griz has better function items, like the marked travel wheels on the bed and tailstock, as well as the bed and tailstock cam locks.

I vote Griz, despite some plastic in inappropriate places and the slight motor noise

[pines]

Do these lathes have automatic feed and can you turn threads? Also can you machine hard metal if you take small passes?

[jlg]

Out of curiosity, have you performed the recommended spindle break-in procedure as detailed in the Grizzly G0765 manual [pg 23]?  Also, the headstock gearing might need some time to break in from use before they quiet down, as well as good dose of lubricant.

I'm surprised you were able to transplant the ball cranks from the Harbor Freight to the Grizzly.  I tried replacing mine with parts from Little Machine Shop and it seems the hardware is specific to the G0765.  I also noticed the castings were a bit rough, i.e., pits, blowholes, coarse machining, etc., along with some of the hardware was defective and some holes didn't seem to be drilled properly.

I do think the G0765 is worth every penny, though, just for the tail stock.  Tail stock alignment with the G0765 has been a snap compared to the wretched, miserable exercise of tedious frustration of the 7 X 12's tail stock.