Disclaimer: As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases. This is at no extra cost to you. Learn more here.
Grizzly Industrial has been in the lathe business for more than 30 years now, and they are also pretty awesome at producing mill, drill, power tools, and hand tools, and other machine tools.
Now I am not going to explain everything about the succession of Grizzly’s nomenclatures, I am here to just talk about the G0602 unit.
The quick summary is that it’s a great unit and you can get it for the best price by clicking here.
They have a wide range of lathes lining in the market with other top-class brands like Precision Mathews lathe, which is of excellent quality. One of them is this Grizzly G0602.
The operations are super friendly, and the construction has a solitary factor altogether.
The most interesting part is that Grizzly themselves finetune every segment of the G0602 in their factory to give the user a hassle-free turning.
The grizzly small lathe comes with a powerful motor that is adequate for turning any project under the ranged diameter.
Most of all, it is a very stable mini lathe machine with almost 0% vibration feedback. So, the user gets an ultimate vibration-free turning experience.
Grizzly G0602 Lathe in-depth Review
- Swing over bed: 9-1/2″
- Swing over cross slide: 6-1/8″
- Distance between centers: 22″
- 25mm Spindle bore
- Spindle inch threads: 1-3/4″ x 8 TPI
- Spindle taper: MT #4
- Motor: 1 HP, 110V, single-phase, 13.6A
- Number of speeds: 6
- Speed range: 150, 300, 560, 720, 1200, 2400 RPM
- Leadscrew: 3/4″-12 TPI
- 5″ 3-Jaw chuck with two sets of jaws
- 6-1/2″ 4-jaw chuck with reversible jaws
- 4-way turret tool post
- 8″ Faceplate
- Standard/Metric Handwheel Graduations
Now Let’s talk briefly about my arrangement of Grizzly G0602 and its features.
Construction
This Grizzly model is undoubtedly a top-notch mini metal lathe for benchtop turning operations. You won’t need a leg extension for this. It stays on a table so it can be more stable for the mini bench lathe to operate in.
The construction is made with great durable iron cast material. This iron cast has the properties of being very solid and tactile.
So, even if you’re turning the metal lathe at a very fast pace, the vibration created will be eliminated right away.
Also, there is an advantage of having it on a tabletop which makes locomotive features easily accessible. This 10″ mini-lathe weighs around 447 pounds in total, which is actually not so “mini” I reckon.
Powerful Motor
The Grizzly G0602 might be a little expensive but the feature that is included subsidized the price. One of the great features of the lathe is its ability to metal turn any sort of hard metal into a metal craft.
It is done with the help of the powerful motors that are inbuilt in the lathe. The lathe features a motor that is powered with a 110-volt single-phase with having 1 horsepower.
Metal turning has been made even easier than before with the motor being capable of handling any tough job.
Gearbox
The Grizzly G0602 has a fine gearing system running in the lathe. This Benchtop metal lathe features a 1-inch spindle bore and from 1 to 3 or a 4-inch x 8 inch TPI spindle having an MT4 spindle taper.
The gearbox of the lathe makes sure that it maintains a constant speed without any failure in the operation. Six speeds are available for you to choose from the speed selection.
The speed offers will surely amaze you, a feature we will be discussing later in the review.
User-Friendly Device
Grizzly’s Research and development sector has done intensive researches on the customers before launching its products. They have made the device to be as user-friendly as possible.
We have used a few random lathes in earlier times; most of them tend to make the device very complicated with no good reason.
The benchtop lathe offers a hardened and ground V-way bed that is ensuring optimal support for future use.
It is powerful enough to help in molding the engines. Also, the Grizzly G0602 comes with a 1-year international warranty.
Variable Speed Ranges
It is surprising that in this price range few of the lathes tend to have a single speed range with no variations. But not in the case for the Grizzly G0602.
The Lathe support gearbox that we have mentioned before features Multiple Speed variations for the users to operate.
It comes with six-speed ranges of 150, 300, 560, 720, 1200, and a whopping 2400 RPM.
And if you’re thinking is it tough to change the speed while you are using the benchtop lathe. You are very wrong as the Grizzly lathe G0602 is designed in such a way that you just have to spin the knob for changing the speed as you desired.
Pros
- The lathe offers Variable speed controls.
- The one-inch bore can turn any metal into a massive project.
- It can be movable from place to place as having lightweight.
- Beginners can operate it without too much complexity.
- Upgradation of the predecessor but it only costs a few dollars.
Cons
- The paint job needs to be a little better; we saw some wear off of paint due.
- The Grizzly G0602 is a bit expensive.
By the way, if this doesn’t fit your needs you can read this review of Grizzly G8688 which is one of the low budget lathes, but a powerful unit of Grizzly!
Or at least give it a try cause you have to have a clear vision about what you are buying before you spend your money.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the distance between the centers?
A. The distance between the center of this benchtop mini metal lathe is 22 inches.
Q. How many numbers of longitudinal feeds are there in the lathe?
A. There are 9 feeds of the longitudinal present in the lathe.
Q. What is the cross-slide travel and the carriage travel of the lathe?
A. The Grizzly G0602 has cross-slide travel of 6-1/2 inches and the carriage having 18-1/2 inches.
Q. What kind of tailstock barrel taper is there present in the lathe?
A. An MT #3 type tailstock barrel is there in the lathe for ultimate usability.
Q. Recommended tool post?
A. Get an AXA type for this one. Check my recommendations for a quick change tool post here.
Note That worth
The Grizzly G0602 is a great device with no doubt. But there are few notes that are worth noting.
This is a semi-professional metal turning lathe and not a milling machine combo.
But if you want CNC conversion out of this then without cross slide modification for the z-axis, check this thread that might be helpful to you. Read thoroughly about using the stepper motor instead of servos.
A beginner can operate it but has to take proper precautions before jumping right into work. I recommend always reading the lathe manuals carefully.
Don’t forget to measure the thickness of the tool rest bottom, if you find something off, report their customer care and they will call you right away.
Please note that this is not the cheapest lathe in the market; it is relatively expensive. Some machinists prefer the PM1022 lathe but if you ask me, I am more into a grizzly (personal opinion).
You can even use it instead of your wood lathe to turn woods.
So, as you are paying a premium price, the outcome will definitely be of premium quality. The variable speed option is a must-try.
The operation of the grizzly g0602 lathe is relatively easier than most of the lathes in the market. Thus it is well recommended.
So, I hope my Grizzly G0602 review has enlightened you in your purchasing decision. Let me know in the comment.
Turn Big, Turn Safe. Welcome to the turning world!