Advice in whether to return this lathe?

[PDW]

I won't get involved in knocking a people, but I understand how Chinese made products are viewed, and while I understand it, I do think companies in China are trying to make better products.

China can and does make truly *excellent* products.

Small lathes like that one are not one of them. It is what it is - if you're going to keep it I'd suggest stripping it right down, looking for the lost motion and seeing what you can do to adjust it out. Preferably by asking for advice elsewhere than PM.

FWIW I just took delivery of a Chinese made IP67 waterproof touch screen with 1000 cd/m2 brightness to install in a data display on a boat. Open deck area. It wasn't cheap.

You can get good Chinese made machine tools. But you'll pay for them. Substantially less than EU prices (the USA doesn't make anything even vaguely useful in new small/medium manual lathes so doesn't count). But you will pay.

FWIW my Emco Maximat 11 lathe, made in Austria, was $AUD 4000 over 20 years ago and worth it. Nice to use, adjustable nuts to minimise backlash on all screws and accurate.

PDW

 

[rons]

Can anybody advise on if I should return the lathe, and for what reasons?

If you can return it then that is one option. If you can hang onto it for a few days and do a slight dis-assembly on that dial from the first movie and try to adjust things.

Just make sure that you don't put a scratch on anything. A little hand waving and it will work right. That's how it's done at my place.

My last resort is to threaten to ship my lathe back to where it came from. That would be the scrap heap and I know that scares the hell out of it.
For your lathe you have to threaten it with shipping it back to China. Very frightening indeed.

 

[john.k]

The Hercus 9" AKA South Bend 9 was $6800 when last sold in 1986....that was the last Oz made lathe,and chucks were extra,.....the price of a mid size sedan car.....So Id think the Chinese are doing pretty well to sell anything resembling a lathe for $1000 or whatever.

 

[52 Ford]

That bought a machine in their price range. I think it's fair to assume they know what they're getting into with a China import "mini-lathe".

A mini lathe is a helluva lot better than no lathe.

It looks to be a pretty good one, as far as that type of lathe goes.

Obviously a Maximat 11 or something like that would be way better (look at what Stefan Gotteswinter does with one), but for small parts, especially in plastic, brass, and aluminum, it very well could be just what he wanted.

Go to YouTube and look up JohnnyQ90. He makes small engines for RC stuff and he has a lathe like that. Pretty sure he's working out of a space smaller than a single bay garage, too. He does good work.

 

[pippin88]

What multiple of your weekly wage did it cost?

A lathe used to cost many week's wages.

You bought to your budget. Your budget did not reach to a high quality machine.

You can still make good parts with it. There are countless articles and videos on improving these cheap lathes. It is polishing a turd at the end of the day however.

 

[Ultradog MN]

What size is your lathe,
Some of the guys here who have big old Monarchs, Lodge &Shipleys, Reed Prentice and the like could probably help you.
They could chuck that mini lathe between centers and turn it into chips.
There is no backlash in chips.