Intermediate garage machine shop setup

This is the step where a machine shop becomes a real shop. You have run a small lathe for a year, you know what a thousandth of an inch feels like, and you want a mill and a lathe that hold a size. It is the middle rung of the machine shop ladder: the beginner build is the right start for a first lathe, the expert build adds a 10 x 22 lathe, and the setups hub lists all three.

The product choices are researched from grizzly.com listings, Amazon listings and owner reviews, not from our own bench time. The rule for this tier is to buy the second machine (a mill) and to buy it with the instruments to use it. A mill without a dial indicator, a vise and an edge finder is a drill press with extra steps.

The headline fact is weight and floor. The G4000 lists 294 lb and a footprint of 16 x 37 in; the T34608 drill press lists 127 lb and a 19-1/2 x 12 in footprint; the mill class on this list lists a table of about 7 x 27 in. Together the machines weigh close to 800 lb on benches that must be rigid. The layout assumption is the 20 x 20 machine shop layout: one bay is the car's and the other holds a bench wall, a lathe station and a mill station.

Who should not buy this tier

If you have not run a lathe yet, start with the beginner build; a mill is much harder to learn and its tooling costs more than the machine. If your garage is a one-car bay that parks a car, this does not fit at once; use the 12 x 22 machine shop layout to see what does. If you want production accuracy, the expert build is closer. And if you cannot bolt a bench to studs or the slab is cracked, solve that first.

• Both options in each pair. The list names an Amazon and a Grizzly pick for the lathe, mill, drill press, grinder, vise, bench and compressor. Buy one of each pair.
• CNC conversion. Manual first. You will know why you want CNC when you reach for it.
• A 10 x 22 lathe. That is the expert build, with its 432 lb machine.
• A power drawbar, a DRO and a rotary table until you have hit the limit of what the machine does without them.
• 240V. Nothing here needs it.
• A second mill. One mill teaches you what you need.

1. Tooling. End mills, an edge finder, parallels and a mill vise (check the listing for table slot spacing) make the mill earn its place.
2. Measuring. Micrometers and a height gauge beat a bigger machine.
3. The slab and the bench. Leveling shims and a rigid bench improve every cut.
4. Chip control. A tray and a splash guard on the lathe.
5. The lathe. When capacity limits you, step to the 10 x 22: the G0602 fit sheet shows it in every garage size.

A 20 x 20 two-car garage has a 16 ft door and 400 sq ft of floor. A sedan takes about 16 ft of length and 6.2 ft of width plus a 30 in walk-around beside it and 18 in at the ends. That leaves a shop bay about 10 ft wide and 20 ft deep. The lathe goes against a side wall with its long axis along the wall, so its 16 in depth costs little floor; the mill sits near it but not facing it, so chips from one do not reach the other; the heavy bench anchors the back wall. The 20 x 20 machine shop layout draws it, and the G0704 fit sheet and T34608 fit sheet show those two machines in each garage size.

A one-car bay can hold the lathe and the drill press but not the mill and a parked car together. The layout calculator packs your machine list into your bay with and without the car.

The machines draw: the lathe 9 A, the mill class about 12 A on the Grizzly listing, the drill press 5.3 A, and the compressor and grinder on top. They are all 120V, so the plan is several circuits rather than one big one: the lathe on its own 20 A circuit, the mill on its own, the drill press and grinder sharing a bench circuit, the compressor on its own. Under NEC Table 430.248 a 1 HP single-phase motor draws 16 A at 115V, and motor circuits are sized at 125 percent, which is 20 A; Table 310.16 lists 12 AWG copper at 20 A at 60 C. A 60 A subpanel gives you the breaker space. The workshop amps calculator and the machine shop subpanel page do the sum, and the voltage drop calculator checks a long run. Have a licensed electrician confirm all of it.

The lathe arrives by freight at 294 lb shipping weight, the mill on its stand at 372 lb if you choose the G0704. Plan the path from the curb: a pallet jack or a rented machinery dolly, two helpers and a clear route past the car. Never move a 294 lb machine on a loose hand truck. Build the bench first: a bench that flexes will put a taper in your work. Bolt it to the wall studs, level the machine with shims and a precision level, and recheck after a week as the machine settles.

1. Bench and safety. The bench, glasses, ear protection and extinguishers.
2. The lathe and the measuring tools. The caliper and indicator set before the mill arrives.
3. The drill press, grinder and vises.
4. The mill and its tooling. Budget for the tooling at least as much attention as the machine.
5. Air, light and storage. The compressor, the lights, the chest and cabinet.

For tap drill sizes, speeds and feeds and other generic references, see WorkshopCalc; this site covers what fits and what runs in a garage. The setups hub compares all the builds.