Importing a Chinese lathe

I think if your interests / hobbies are vintage machinery (and that’s freakin fantastic), AND you have a truck, AND you have a forklift, AND you have a lot of time AND you’re pretty well-off financially, then vintage lathes are a great choice for you.

If however, your business is engineering, designing and fabricating prototype and custom *automotive* performance parts, then a lathe is just a tool, and one that works with the minimal amount of fuss is the best choice.


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.
 
I think if your interests / hobbies are vintage machinery (and that’s freakin fantastic), AND you have a truck, AND you have a forklift, AND you have a lot of time AND you’re pretty well-off financially, then vintage lathes are a great choice for you.

If however, your business is engineering, designing and fabricating prototype and custom *automotive* performance parts, then a lathe is just a tool, and one that works with the minimal amount of fuss is the best choice.
Yep, I definitely understand that, but it is a great way to get a fantastic machine on a paupers budget. Unfortunately, importing cheap from China is REALLY high risk.

I know a guy that does importing from China and says you have to go to the factory and inspect over there (not lathes, solar panels), because if you leave it to them you get terrible consistency. Their 'inspectors' pencil whip like crazy, and even if you have them 'inspect' just your machine, chances are it isn't the machine they'll send you. He said even independent inspectors get bribed quickly enough that you can't count on them.

The biggest problem is even if they have a 'guarantee' or warranty, you actually have to pay both directions of shipping. That lathe will cost you ~500 to ship on a boat (plus customs, drop shipping in the US, etc, you're likely ~8-900 in delivery alone!), and if you need to warranty it you have to ship it back (both ways!).

Companies that import stuff from China end up having enough quantity that it makes sense to pay an American to watch operations and inspect over there, otherwise manufacturing quality goes way down.

If you're looking for some risk for a cheaper price, you might consider checking out a Taiwanese company and doing the same thing. They tend to have higher quality, at only a slightly elevated price.
 
Oh man, what a lot of convincing opinions on both sides! Really makes one think.

I just have a little to contribute. I know a fellow down in Santa Cruz who imported a Chinese power hammer. He had to go through a lot, and many times it seemed that the power hammer would slip out of his grasp. He eventually got it, and I asked him about the experience. He said it wasn 't all that great. He saved a lot of money, but not as much as he first thought. Also, it turned out that many of his hassles were once the hammer arrived in the US. It took a while to get it out of customs. The ordeal took much more than 30 days.

On the other hand, I received a free old US made power hammer. It was beat up hard. The ram guides are worn so badly it forges parallelograms. I only like to run it when the weather is damp, but the ground faults in the century old motor keep tripping the GFI. I know there's little chance of getting shocked, as long as I am not touching my forge and the bar at the same time. Although it is a beautiful piece of old iron, I rarely turn it on. Gets lots of ooohs and aahs from the visitors, though.
 
I was considering a Chinese lathe, the tariffs really annoyed me especially since I live in Canada and the majority of lathes were first imported to the US... so I looked at importing a lathe directly from China.

Spare parts and needing to have it certified electrically scared me off doing that.

One advantage of the tariff was that it made the jump to a Taiwanese lathe less dramatic. Now that its here, I've forgotten about the pain of the jump.
 
The cool thing that the customs broker I've been working with found out for me, is that the machine I'm looking at is small enough that it doesn't fall under the tariffs, and I don't have to pay the stupid 25% regressive tax.

Still not sure, but I just got this shell mill in the mail today, that I ordered from Alibaba for $40. took it into the instrumentation shop at work, and checked it out.

The thing had under a micron runout (about 40 millionths for you imperial types).

Yes, under a micron runout for a $40 mill. Also was dead exact dimensionally accurate.

Every machining related tool that I got from China recently has been freaking phenomenal, and been extremely pleased with the value and quality.

Still mulling it over, but the Alibaba quality assurance guarantee is really leaning me towards buying it. And the fact that the company has been in business for 20 years, they have a lot of sales, and the sales person I've been talking with was very helpful, accommodating, and seems really eager for me to recommend them after I get it.



I was considering a Chinese lathe, the tariffs really annoyed me especially since I live in Canada and the majority of lathes were first imported to the US... so I looked at importing a lathe directly from China.

Spare parts and needing to have it certified electrically scared me off doing that.

One advantage of the tariff was that it made the jump to a Taiwanese lathe less dramatic. Now that its here, I've forgotten about the pain of the jump.
 

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Mmm, maybe you should check with someone who has no dog in the hunt. Your broker, (in my humble opinion) isn't that person.

I had to pay tariffs on a 7x16 mini-lathe last December. It looks like you are buying something bigger than that for about $3K. Did the tariffs for lathes go away? I think the HS Codes for horizontal lathes are 84581100 and 84581900 for NC and non-NC machines respectively. I presume China is no longer a most favored nation, so the higher rate would apply. https://dataweb.usitc.gov/tariff/database/details/84581900
Not sure if that is the correct place to look, but I was able to find the site within a few minutes of searching.

I hope you can get what you are looking for, but trying to dodge tariffs just isn't going to work out well for you. Good luck.
 
The customs broker who I'm working with found out that manual, non-CNC lathes under 1.5 hp are except from the 25% tariff. The standard import duty still applies, but he says because it falls into this category, it's except from the punitive tariffs. And because it's under $2500, you don't need to get a bond.

Mmm, maybe you should check with someone who has no dog in the hunt. Your broker, (in my humble opinion) isn't that person.

I had to pay tariffs on a 7x16 mini-lathe last December. It looks like you are buying something bigger than that for about $3K. Did the tariffs for lathes go away? I think the HS Codes for horizontal lathes are 84581100 and 84581900 for NC and non-NC machines respectively. I presume China is no longer a most favored nation, so the higher rate would apply. https://dataweb.usitc.gov/tariff/database/details/84581900
Not sure if that is the correct place to look, but I was able to find the site within a few minutes of searching.

I hope you can get what you are looking for, but trying to dodge tariffs just isn't going to work out well for you. Good luck.
 
Maybe the rules changed in the past 7 months? My manual non-NC lathe is less than 1.5 hp and I had to pay the tariff in December. It stung. Could have gotten some more stuff!

My comment still holds - your broker is not a disinterested party. Get an alternate way to confirm his statement. You don't want to have to pay "ransom" tariffs, especially if you hadn't budgeted for it.
 
I've decided against importing one. After listing every cost involved with both a Precision Matthews and importing directly, there's only about $500 difference, and MUCH longer time, like 3 months at least.

So, I don't know what to do now.

Maybe I'll shell out the money for a PM and try to come up with an electronic lead screw design that monitors the spindle and screw angles and gives you a light where you can re-engage the half nut.

They also have the same lathe from toolots.com (re-branded as a Bolton) for same prices as I can import one, I don't know, maybe that route???

Still think this is pretty crazy that you can't get a metric lead screw lathe, considering ALL CARS have been ALL METRIC since the 1990's.
 
I've decided against importing one. After listing every cost involved with both a Precision Matthews and importing directly, there's only about $500 difference, and MUCH longer time, like 3 months at least.

So, I don't know what to do now.

Maybe I'll shell out the money for a PM and try to come up with an electronic lead screw design that monitors the spindle and screw angles and gives you a light where you can re-engage the half nut.

They also have the same lathe from toolots.com (re-branded as a Bolton) for same prices as I can import one, I don't know, maybe that route???

Still think this is pretty crazy that you can't get a metric lead screw lathe, considering ALL CARS have been ALL METRIC since the 1990's.

I think you're making the right decision to let someone else deal with the import hassles, there's just too many unknowns going down that path to try and save a few hundred bucks.

Bolton doesn't have a good reputation, if it were me I'd drop the extra $500 if buying new to get the support of forum sponsor PM. That said, I'm going to look at a Bolton this afternoon....

You can definitely retrofit an ELS, or even convert to CNC once you have the machine, but if buying new you're unlikely to regret going with the option for less hassle.

John
 
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