Going crazy(er)

I have Never seen or used or repaired any of these small Chinese lathes, so my opinion doesn't carry much if any weight.
I have read many post on the issues of these peices of.....equipment and wonder why someone wouldn't just buy an old Atlas, Craftsman,Southbend small lathe.
At least when you get done repairing and improving it you have something of value.
 
sdelivery said:
I have Never seen or used or repaired any of these small Chinese lathes, so my opinion doesn't carry much if any weight.
I have read many post on the issues of these peices of.....equipment and wonder why someone wouldn't just buy an old Atlas, Craftsman,Southbend small lathe.
At least when you get done repairing and improving it you have something of value.
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They're definitely bad. I consider them apartment lathes. Something you can carry up a couple flights of stairs and put on a workbench next to your bed. Not ideal but at least your turning. Try that with a 300lb SB 9.
 
sdelivery said:
I have Never seen or used or repaired any of these small Chinese lathes, so my opinion doesn't carry much if any weight.
I have read many post on the issues of these peices of.....equipment and wonder why someone wouldn't just buy an old Atlas, Craftsman,Southbend small lathe.
At least when you get done repairing and improving it you have something of value.
Click to expand...

Speaking for myself it comes to down two main factors as to why I have an "asian" 7x (7x16) mini lathe and not a better quality, older, used machine.

1) Money. Some (Many?) older lathes still hold more value as used machines than a new Asian lathe, even here in the UK.

2) Size and space. Speaking for myself, I do NOT have the space for any other form of lathe at present. A 7x is right on the cusp of the size machine I can comfortably place in the space I have and even that is pushing things to the limit. Even if I DID have the room, I have no way to move a much heavier machine. The 7x is close to the limit of what I can and will comfortable move on my own without aid of cranes/engine hoists or help of a second person.

If I had the money and the room? Sure, I would look at a Boxford or a Myford, but no chance of that happening any time soon.
 
JackBrush said:
I did notice a lot of these SIEG owners were Aussie or Brits.
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That is, sadly, because Sieg is the best of the "bad bunch" of "asian" lathes and mills that we have available to us.

If we had companies like PMM? it would be a different story.

Yes, we have Warco, but they are STILL Sieg machines of a different colour and various "optioned" upgrades as standard.
 
GrifterGuru said:
Yes, we have Warco, but they are STILL Sieg machines of a different colour and various "optioned" upgrades as standard.
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Not quite. Leaving aside what they refer to specifically as mini lathes, for their WM range Warco seem to import Weiss machines rather than Seig. Different factory, slightly different design (notably for their Chinese models, PM also seem to use Weiss too; guessing Weiss must do something better or PM would be selling Seig machines ;))

They also do their GH range, starting from the GH600 (11x24) along with the more easily size-intuited GH1230, GH1236, GH1330, GH1440, GH1640 GH1660.

Honestly, I wish I knew about Facebook Marketplace and lathes.co.uk classified section and also thought to look at eBay sold listings to see what ML7's actually sold for rather than what their sentimental owners thought they could get away with.

I'll continue to try to improve my Weiss WBL1835 (similar design to the Seig SC3 in many ways but sold by Amadeal as their AMA714) and make it the best it can be, but I will get an ML7 the moment I can afford to correct my mistake. ;)
 
SouthernChap said:
Not quite. Leaving aside what they refer to specifically as mini lathes, for their WM range Warco seem to import Weiss machines rather than Seig. Different factory, slightly different design (notably for their Chinese models, PM also seem to use Weiss too; guessing Weiss must do something better or PM would be selling Seig machines ;))

They also do their GH range, starting from the GH600 (11x24) along with the more easily size-intuited GH1230, GH1236, GH1330, GH1440, GH1640 GH1660.

Honestly, I wish I knew about Facebook Marketplace and lathes.co.uk classified section and also thought to look at eBay sold listings to see what ML7's actually sold for rather than what their sentimental owners thought they could get away with.

I'll continue to try to improve my Weiss WBL1835 (similar design to the Seig SC3 in many ways but sold by Amadeal as their AMA714) and make it the best it can be, but I will get an ML7 the moment I can afford to correct my mistake. ;)
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I was referring to the smaller machines, not the larger lathes offered by Warco.
 
I have a LMS 7x16 lathe. Why did I get it? I wanted a small lathe that was a little better quality than the usual Chinese one, that was reparable and had parts availability. LMS supports their products.

Why such a small lathe? Because I really didn't have room for much bigger, and had no idea how to move larger ones by myself and I wanted to reduce the chance of buying a lemon used one. I learned a whole lot with it. Don't regret my purchase a bit.

Later, I had both the opportunity and additional knowledge to be able to get a slightly larger, used 10x22. I wouldn't have been able to evaluate used equipment without the previous experience. Have used my 7x16 to make parts to fix my 10x22. I use them both, because sometimes the little one is better for the job, or I don't want to disturb a set up.

If circumstances were different, maybe I'd get a larger one, but currently, with the small basement shop that I have, this is the best I can do. If I move to a place with more space for these activities maybe I will upgrade again. Or maybe I'll be happy enough with what I have. We'll see.
 
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