Shop Fox M1018 Combo Lathe/Mill

I have this combo unit and it works well for my hobbies. About the gearing. The gears you can see are metal. The gearing inside the unit for the mill are metal with plastic or acetal teeth. I accidentally crashed mine and had to replace one of the internal gears. Not an easy task

This is heavy! It came in at over 500 lbs fully assembled and packages exceptionally well. I rent an engine hoist to get it up on the workbench. I'm "serious hobbyist" and so far I'm amazed with this machine and the accuracy. I don't see any plastic gears, so maybe that's changed. All of the gears for cutting threads are indeed metal. My only nit is that some little cover plate popped off when I operated disengaged the bed from the feed screw. But the cover isn't functional so I don't really care. I'm using 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" cutting tools in the lathe -- I just shimmed them up with some 1/4" and 1/8" shims to center them. Bottom line --- I'm having a lot of fun making stuff with this machine and it sure seems sturdy to me. Enjoy! NOTE: I also cut a Jacob's Taper #33 (for a Morse Taper #3 shaft I have) and that worked out really well --- I'm making my own live center.

I had hopes this machine what just what I was looking for in a small Milling machine for light duty use.It seemed to work fine on the Aluminum piece I was milling, after about two hours the milling head locked up solid.I am returning it.Fortunately, I had not had time to pitch the packing and could re use it.

Very cheaply made. I have had mine for less than a year now and probably have less than 40 hours of time on it but the internal gears are already shot. I opened the gear box and found that most of the internal gears are plastic or nylon. Hopefully I can find a replacement gear, and even more importantly I hope that there is a way to even change it out; (the shaft may be pressed in and not normally serviceable).Update- I was able to contact Woodstock International and found out that the gear was covered under warranty. It took a few weeks but i finally have the machine back up and running.

Heavy which is good. Great for holiest who only occasionally need to turn or mill a part.

This is the "real deal." It is mostly cast or machined steel and very heavy - shipping weight was 501#. I used a diesel engine hoist to get it up on the workbench. The workmanship appears to be very good. The vise and beds are very tight and no visible or measurable play (by hand) yet move smoothly. The gears, motor and all drive parts run very smooth and quiet. I have not used the mill portion yet but will update when I do. If you buy one be certain to check EVERY nut and bolt as loosening may occur in shipping. The gearbox on mine was only half full of gear oil. Also be sure to run the break-in process outlined in the manual. It takes about 6 hours to complete so plan time for it. I ran a 1/2"D x 6"L round 6160 and had less than .002 variation over the length.I then threaded the piece and was quite pleased with the consistency and accuracy of the threading. CEVA was the shipper and they were anything but expedient, I had to call them after sitting on in for almost a week at the local dock - CEVA does have tracking on their own Internet page. I have some materials ordered for upcoming projects and will update this when the machine has had more use.

I can't say enough about the quality of this machine. I have cut threads with this unit, I've turned rotors, made a lamp base, made a pulley....I seem to find something I need to make every day now. I'm really not sure how I lived without it for so long. Threading is my favorite. I'm used to doing it the old fashioned way with taps and dies but now this machine does it all for me. The trick is to reverse the motor at the end of your run and never disengage the half nuts. Works like a charm. Something I really like about this unit is how tight everything is. Nothing chatters or wobbles...I've used larger lathes that have that slop in the tool holder. This machine has none of that. It is extremely well made and comes with a very informative manual. I can't say enough about it. Better buy a case of beer when they deliver it because you're gonna need about four or five of your buddies to help you get it into your shop! It is heavy!!!!

The unit arrived with the wood crate all stoves in. Upon opening the unit there appeared to be no damage. The unit is well made and the centers lined up perfectly without having to adjust them. Plus the fact that all the scales were in perfect alignment made this a great buy. Everyone states that the unit leaks oil but mine is a non leaker. One has to believe that Shop Fox is better made or better finished that their Grizzly equivalents. The biggest problem ai have come across if drilling the workbench so as to bolt the unit to the work bench. There are threads mounting holes on the bottom side but they are not thru drilled thus making it very hard to lay out where to drill the holes in the workbench. Too bad that Shop Fox could not provide a mounting templet.