Importing a Chinese lathe

The way things are going in China today it may be the time to wait a while till/if it all settles down.
I'm not just talking about covid19 either.
Their financial institutions are in a bad way, catastrophic flooding in many parts, bubonic plague, the Hong Kong crackdown etc etc, its a rather large list that deserves a lot more research before going ahead.
 
When importing something from large from China, their 'guarantee' isn't worth the paper (or email) its printed on. Their manufacturing businesses do a fantastic job of cutting corners at every conceivable place. Even IF they stand by their guarantee, they'll likely have some terrible sort of policy, where you have to ship it back to them (on your dime!) and re-pay the tariffs for a replacement.

PM is significantly more expensive for good reason: They need to :
1- Have someone in China that works directly for them to check the specs to catch them cutting corners early enough that you can force them to warranty them.
2- They STILL likely need to do signifcant repairs to 1 in 3.

I've heard lots of people with this plan of importing machinery from a chinese seller like this to 'take the risk', and never heard of anyone that didn't wish they just bought one state-side instead (PM offers financing btw!).
 
they can write anything they want on those inspection certificates. Isn't it amazing that everything seems to be just under the maximum allowances on everything?
Also the bearing specs don't mean the spindle runout is that low.

Joe
 
AndySomogyi said:
My other option is to buy the 10” Grizzly?

I’ve got a finite amount of money and trying to stretch it as far as it can go, and trying to start a business.

I’ve got about $3000 max, so that’ll buy a 10” Grizzly, DRO and bench.

Or a much higher spec machine imported from China.

I don’t know...


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From personal experience, if your trying to start a business, I'd buy the best machine you can with good local support. Just a small failure and then a long wait while you sort it out, if you can, has the potential to destroy your fledgling business. Too big a risk for me. Good luck.
 
I have seen some very capable Enco lathes on Craigslist that are set up for both metric and imperial threads.
Don't forget that Fastenal has an awesome shipping program for people like us buying large heavy items from random parts of the country. I'm working with a nice gent in Iowa to ship him some very heavy truck parts that I had on cl. I will have details on this Monday.
 
If you are really interested in the route, I met a fellow who imports CNC machines from China. He travels to china frequently (or did) and has an employee who speaks chinese. Maybe he could help or point you in right direction. I really don't know much about this fellow otherwise. Smith CNC. Canal Fulton, Ohio. Probably on google / facebook.
 
Owning a custom China built lathe built by the factory for a now out of business tool shop, I would highly recommend not going this route. Even though the company that built my lathe is still in business and it shares lots of parts with other lathes they are still not all the same as it was a custom build. The factory has very little interest in supporting the lathe that carries their name. Its just not economical for them to do, Even though I like my lathe, the supply of parts has been a large issue. I either have to buy parts for a similar lathe and hope they fit or modify them. I purchased this lateh at pennies on the dollar. But unless you have other machines to manufacture parts on I would say that you have the same odds of coming out whole ordering a custom lathe as you would if you choose to buy all those lottery tickets. I think the lottery tickets would probably be the best bet honestly.
 
If you can stretch the budget to buy a Taiwanese lathe, or any machine for that matter. I would highly recommend you go that route.

My Taiwanese built lathe is very good quality, well built nicely finished, with no defects that I can find. I think it cost abut 25% more than a similarly specced machine from china. But I believe that the premium is worth it.

Compare some of the PM machines that are chinese made with similar specs on Taiwanese built machines> Every time I have succumbed to the price pressure and bought a chinese product I have ended up regretting it. So no more for me.
 
I don't know, still thinking about it.

The biggest regret / mistake I ever made machines wise was buying a used American lathe (Clausing). It was a complete clapped out pile of trash, and wasted six months of my life just to get it into a point where I could sell it. Still can't believe they would design it so you have to press out the spindle just to change belts.

Compare with my Chinese Grizzly mill is fantastic, it's accurate, well designed, and just plain works. My Chinese vise, milling cutters all just plain work. About my only real complaint with my Grizzly mill is the head was abut 0.0005" / 6" out of tram in the X direction, and had to shim it.

Talked a bit more with Sumore, and they said I can have an inspector from Alibaba come out and inspect it before it ships, and Alibaba offers a performance guarantee, where you have 30 days after receiving to inspect and make sure it's within spec. They also said they would video the inspection before it ships, and send me the vid.

Anyways, still mulling it over...
 
AndySomogyi said:
I don't know, still thinking about it.

The biggest regret / mistake I ever made machines wise was buying a used American lathe (Clausing). It was a complete clapped out pile of trash, and wasted six months of my life just to get it into a point where I could sell it. Still can't believe they would design it so you have to press out the spindle just to change belts.
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That isn't uncommon on older lathes, one of the reasons those link belts you can break apart have become popular. Your experience is why I don't think vintage lathes are a great choice for new hobbyists. There are advantages to both, with a vintage machine you can get a lot for your money. New is new, it is really nice when you can just call someone up and get them to make things right.

I have no experience with the path you are considering, and it sounds like nobody else does either. Good luck whichever way you go, and if you do import please document the experience here. I know I'm curious and if it works out, it might be an option for others.
 
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