Used or new is an endless debate with good points to both. Used can be significantly cheaper, it can also be frustrating. Even if you buy well you may spend a lot of your time getting it up and running, hunting down desired tooling etc. In some regions the cost difference is quite large since there is a large supply of quality machines available holding used prices down. In other areas there is not a lot available so selection and savings are much less. You would need to ask around to find which you are in. Another benefit to used is the depreciation has already occurred, so if you decide to go bigger, smaller, different you can sell for roughly what you have into it. New you will lose 40•50% even selling in never made a chip condition. If in good condition many older machines are just nicer. Although most are long out of production parts and accessories for many of the bigger names are still available, although often at great expense.
For someone with little experience new offers many benefits #1 being no guessing if you are getting a good machine or a used and abused one. If you have issues, a quality dealer has good service available. If you need parts / accessories you have a ready source for them. New machines generally come with a warranty. Particularly at the smaller / cheaper end new machines may have better features than older machines.
Something that doesn't get brought up much but may be worth thinking about, is multiple lathes are handy to have. When you really don't know what you want or even what you will do with it, then starting smaller / cheaper with an 8-10° lathe may be a good idea. It doesn't take up a ton of room as a second lathe, and even if you sell it you are out a lot less than buying bigger and finding you didn't buy the right machine the first time. It can also buy you time. Buying something like a Grizzly 9x20, or older US 9-10° lathe will set you back $1000-1500, not $4000-6000. This size machine typically has all the features of a large lathe, unlike most mini lathes. Used it to learn, maybe find it is all you need, or maybe find you really want a 14-40 and you can wait until that is in the budget but keep working and learning until you can get that bigger machine.
Much the same can be said for mills. Lots of people are happy with a 9° lathe and mill drill which new are still cheaper for both than you are looking at in just the cheaper of the PM lathes. Mill drills like the dreaded RF-31 make a very sturdy drill press that can mill when a larger mill enters your shop.
Your comment about buying a smaller lathe knowing that it will be replaced was something I hadn't thought of. I'll have to think about that. I guess the old adage "Buy once, cry once" doesn't really apply if your first purchase doesn't make you cry. I saw one episode on clickspring where he took the headstock off his Sherline lathe and put it on the cross slide of his larger lathe - this let him do some milling work directly on his lathe. Kind of a cool idea.
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