The ubiquitous mini-lathes coming out of the Middle Kingdom generate a real love-hate relationship. People love them because they are affordable, whilst others hate them for being ‘Chinese junk.’ A whole industry supplying tooling and improvements has sprung up.
Does anyone know how many are sold here and in Europe/UK annually?
I am not trying to be a smart-alec, but when I first saw a picture of a Sherline, my immediate comment was – ‘that’s a cleaned-up Unimat.’ My thoughts for the Taig were similar.
Other than patriotism and the fact that the machines are probably ready to run out of the box, who chooses a Sherline/Taig over the mini-lathe?
Neither the Sherline nor the Taig are cheap, so is there a reason no-one here(in the US) or even in the UK has tried to build a lathe to compete with the mini-lathes? Little Machine Shop has a line of its own which I assume were designed here to address all the faults of the Siegs, but I am sure Chou-en-Lai’s grandson is building them.
What makes Sherline/Taig viable here but not an improved mini-lathe?
Does anyone know how many are sold here and in Europe/UK annually?
I am not trying to be a smart-alec, but when I first saw a picture of a Sherline, my immediate comment was – ‘that’s a cleaned-up Unimat.’ My thoughts for the Taig were similar.
Other than patriotism and the fact that the machines are probably ready to run out of the box, who chooses a Sherline/Taig over the mini-lathe?
Neither the Sherline nor the Taig are cheap, so is there a reason no-one here(in the US) or even in the UK has tried to build a lathe to compete with the mini-lathes? Little Machine Shop has a line of its own which I assume were designed here to address all the faults of the Siegs, but I am sure Chou-en-Lai’s grandson is building them.
What makes Sherline/Taig viable here but not an improved mini-lathe?