Shop Fox M1112 12-Inch by 36-Inch Gunsmithing Lathe

When deciding on buying this lathe I searched and reviewed about 10-15 lathes that fit my needs. I looked around for the best price and options as well as features. Let me tell you this thing in awesome, it has done everything and more that I have asked of it. Nice thing about getting it from amazon is they pay for lift gate service with the free shipping! Now mine did get shipped and delivered by two different companies (not to sure why)but one wheeled the stand right into the garage and the other backed the truck right up to the garage and unloaded it at no cost to me! Don't be fooled this lathe is huge and when your staring at the box your gonna understand what I am talking about. Getting it unboxed is a challenge and a half but getting it on the stand is even more so. I used a 2 ton engine crane to lift it while I put the stand together under it and then used the same crane to move it to its new home. Nice thing about the crane is I was able to do all of it by my self and did not need help to do it which is a plus. Everything is fit together nicely and tight, all parts are packaged well as to not get damaged. You will need your own 220v plug for it as well as a cable since it is not supplied. Lathe runs beautifully once set up, I have machined everything from cheap aluminum, 6061, 7075, SS 304, 316, 17-4 and no issues what so ever. I have even managed to break carbide tooling, cobalt drills and countersinks and the lathe never skips a beat. The cooling system is great no issues there and really helps when working on stainless. I use this lathe for machining barrels, suppressors, and other misc items and no complaints everything comes out to spec every time. I am no trained or schooled machinist by far everything has been self taught on this lathe but so far I am very happy with it. The work it provides it outstanding and I sell my products to police/swat/armed forces along with anyone who wants something. Simply put if and when the time comes I need another lathe like this there is no doubt in my mind I will buy another in a heart beat. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Tail stock does not meet specification. It has only 2.5" travel. Technical support is not fully familiar with machine. I recommend buying DRO for this machine. Machine is precision. All Grizzly accessories fit on this machine. Quick change tool holders that comes with machine are not made precision. I bought lot of 200 series tool holders from Grizzly and they work fine.*** Now is 2 years since I purchased this machine. I am still very happy with machine, it works great. Beside lot of tool holders I purchase DRO, 8" six jaw chuck and adapter plate from Grizzly. Now I can do everything manual Lathe can do.Now I am working on CNC conversion. I was looking for the kit but I could not find one. When I am done I will post on YouTube video how to convert this lathe to CNC. I hope I will help somebody.This lathe is A+

Great lathe, wish I'd bought it years ago. I like all its features.

Aside from some chipped paint and the base mounting holes being cast and not drilled, everything came as described and I am pleased with the unit.

Very nice machine for the money. More complete than most lathes it's size and fairly solid. Seems well put together and fit and finish are good as you can expect for a Chinese machine. Plan on having a hoist or forklift to move and set up the machine. It is way too heavy to be man handled into place. Pay the extra for lift gate service unless you have a forklift or loading dock to unload it. It weighs over 1300 lbs crated. Have shims available or buy leveling screws. The odds of the cast iron basses sitting flat on the average concrete floor is not good. Bolt hole size in the base is 5/8".Cons, Cross feed screw is a bit sloppy which makes repeating dimensions difficult. The choice of D1-5 cam lock is one major short coming as this is not a commonly available size and finding aftermarket chucks can be difficult unless you buy the back plate and chuck separately which adds to the cost. Supplied 6" 3 Jaw is to small for a 12" machine but is functional for small work. The supplied quick change tool holder is a cheap piston type and not very accurate. There is no chip guard for the chuck so you need to fabricate one. The paint is very easy to chip.Bottom line, A very good machine for what you pay and an excellent choice for home, farm, or hobby machinist. A DRO is highly recommended if you plan to do close tolerance work.