Graziano Sag 14 Manual

Greetings, It has been a • long time since my last post on PM. I want to clearly state, that I am not a machinist by trade and know how to operate machinery only as a means to an end. To preface my post, I am a gunsmith and have learned how to operate equipment well enough to do my work, so please forgive my ignorance. I have torn down, cleaned and repaired some small lathes over the years, so I can follow most of the posts here, but now I am poised to take a stab at what will hopefully be my 'last' lathe. I finally feel that my import 14x30 (bought used 3 years ago), lacks the stiffness and accuracy, although it has been adequate, but I always hoped for a stouter unit.

Jan 8, 2018 - Hello Nick, The SAG 14 is the inch version of the SAG 180. Supposedly, they are the same lathe. There is a little about them.

I will be looking at a Graziano SAG 14 with the 60' between centers bed. I had studied up on the SAG 12 about 3 years ago and felt it was a very likely candidate, but there relative scarcity and prices, kept them out of reach, when I started rebuilding my garage shop. When the SAG 14 popped up, I quickly did some research to find out more about that variant. I found that the few opinions running around were positive and never heard of any weaknesses. I know that the elctromagnetic clutches are discussed regarding wear/failure issues with some regularity for the SAG 12, but no one mentions the SAG 14 having any recurring problems. I will be going to see it over the weekend and would be grateful for any items that I should focus on particularly. I will look the unit over for any obvious problems and the machine is under power, so if it sounds like a coffee can full of rocks, I will know to run far away.

I am not looking for a mint condition lathe, but I am wanting a solid serviceable unit that will hopefully be the last one I need to buy. I am not afraid of working on it, if something needs attention and I will do a thorough job of routine maintenance before I put it into service in my garage shop. Free truss analysis software download.

I will be glad to hear any and all comments about these units and look forward to having people that are skilled as machinists chime in. As a gunsmith, I know that what the masses accept as gospel as to how great or horrible a given firearm is, often times does not reflect reality. For the same reason, I am coming here for the information and opinions of those with more knowledge and experience in this field. I suppose I should clarify, that I realize I am definitely looking at an example of over-kill if I get this unit, but I follow the old adage of better to have and not need, than to need and not have. Thanks in advance.

As with any purchase of a used machine tool actual condition of the unit in question is key. There are good ones and bad ones. However, from an overall perspective, the SAG 14 was/is a fine machine. We bought one for our shop about 1990 and used it till '98 when we down-sized and got rid of it. I'd jump at the chance to get another one if the condition was decent. The machine we purchased came out of a production shop in Ontario and had significant wear in the first 18' of the bed. We had the bed reground and also took the time then to replace the headstock bearings--pricey but the seller split the cost with us.

If I remember correctly by the time we were done we had about $11,000 invested in it but after proper and careful bedding and setup you could turn a 24' long shaft with virtually no measurable taper. I loved that machine and I still kick myself for ever letting it go. The really sad part is that the fellow we sold it to had great plans for it and I thought it was going to a good home but the last time I saw it--about ten years after we sold it-the lathe was sitting in his yard wrapped in a tarp. I could have cried when I saw that and I sure as h*ll don't want to know what happened to it after. We look after our stuff and if I had kept that lathe it would still be sitting in our shop waiting to become the centre-piece of my soon to be home shop. LKeithR, I guess I keep waiting for someone to crop up and suddenly claim that it will burst into flames, my hair will turn white, babies will be born naked and rust will plague me to my dying day.

I am very fortunate to have even these couple of feedbacks and I thank you. I will be looking at the machine early tomorrow morning and from my previous discussion on the phone with the owner, he states that the machine will hold to.0002 accuracy.

I would be lying through my teeth if I said I could really test that claim, so I will have to just have a comfortable feeling when I check the machine out. In my world, most of the time, I am delighted to see consistency to.001. I just want to have a machine that will remove any excuses for error, if something goes out of whack, I want to be certain it is the loose nut operating the machine. This is is how I work with firearms, remove the mechanical excuses and you are left with the failings of the operator. I am willing to train myself in the full range of operating the machine correctly, so that when I am faced with the need of those various features, I won't harm my equipment.