lathe choices

[Kevin Panzino]

I can tell you, without a doubt, please do not waste your time with "new" Chinese-made lathes. Resist the temptation to purchase a nice new shiny, pretty painted machine from the multitude of Communist machine peddling companies. The build quality and inability to hold tight tolerances, or make heavy cuts without slop-induced chatter on these machines is well documented... Don't be a sucker... The grizzly chews on wood just fine, but he's not at all up to the task of chewing on steel........

Do you want a hobby lathe to make neat little parts for Radio Control airplanes and cars, or do you want/need a machine to make real parts for real machines? I have both, and indeed, they both have their place.
But before you decide, make sure you know what you are really trying to produce, and how quickly and accurately you need to make it..... Sure you can hold a thou if you creep up on it for the last 10 thou, 1 thou at a time....

But a real machine will take '30 thou cuts, right to the the near end, then finish with a 1-2 thou cut, clean as can be (assuming the part itself isnt flexing).


Spend some time on used equipment sites, auctions, and private listings and find a real, non-third world-made machine, in good shape, and you will have no regrets.


Kevin