Mini lathe research

[tbody321]

Hello, first post intoduction
Found this site trying to research a couple of mini lathes, prazi sd300 and a bolton tool cq9318 mini lathe. I personally own a hvy 10 south bend, bridgeport mill and some othet associated equipment for building custom motorcycles. the mini lathes were my buddys and i have no use for them.
What can you tell me about them?
Quality?
Precision?
Sincerely thank you in advance for your comments, tony

 

[SamI]

I can't tell you anything about either of those machines (had a quick google to see pics but nothing more) but i can tell you that they can be quite desirable but they do have their limitations. If you are willing to accept this then they are more than capable of performing accurate work.

From what i have read about mini lathes in general and my experiences in owning one there is some variance in quality between re-sellers although they are simple machines so i can't imagine one is night and day better than another. I think a lot comes down to after sales support which is important to many hobbyists (which is after all who the machines are aimed at).

Their advantages include low cost, small footprint for a given work piece capacity and relative portability.
Their disadvantages are that they are not as rigid as a larger machine with the same capacity, the motors are often under powered for anything other than light cuts and corners have been cut to bring them in at a price point. Things like plastic gears are prone to stripping (although they are much quieter than metal gears).

If well looked after and with all complimenting accessories present then they should be easy enough to shift I'd imagine. As a buyer I'd b cautious of a machine missing any major accessories in case they are hard to source but as a user I have not found this to be the case. Spares are readily available for them, and in my experience in the UK at least, for the most part spares from one brand will fit another so long as you're careful (some of the gear tooth counts differ slightly between models).

Anyway, I hope that is of some use to you.

 

[markba633csi]

I believe the Prazi is german but I could be wrong, it's a pretty good accurate machine. The Bolton is nothing special, just your typical Asian offering
Mark