Greetings from Norway.
My first lathe arrived today after years of drooling and lurking on forums.
I had two choices,-either buy a used lathe or buying a cheap China manufactured lathe.
A used lathe: Not many small lathes here. This is not the US or the UK, this is Scandinavia, and the only options for used lathes are leftover industrial machines.
Good luck with worn ways and lead screws and freighting heavy equipment long distances. Add to that installing 3-phase power in your home.
A lathe produced in China: You get what you pay for. Some large warehouses here have had chinese lathes in their inventory until most of what they sold were returned
due to very low quality. These warehouses have given up on selling these lathes.
One particular warehouse on the other hand has sold the same brand for 20 plus years and still going strong, which tells me that these lathes are perhaps quite good.
So I ordered one,-a 10X16 benchtop lathe weighing 260 pounds . . . weight matters.
No plastic handles or wheels, all steel/cast iron, even the chuck guard is made from solid steel.
Apron and cross slide moves super smooth with no slack or binding.
Compound rest wheel has a very slight tendency to bind at one spot every revolution. I'll look into that.
All gears are made from steel/cast iron,-no plastic.
Lathe bed is induction hardened.
No electronic speed control (less parts to fail). Speeds are chosen by placing the belt on the desired pulleys. 6 speeds by the way.
At this point in time the lathe appears to be a solid piece of machinery . . . I guess time will tell.
The lathe came with a three jaw and a four jaw chuck, live center, a large jacobs chuck for the tailstock, steady rest and nine carbide insert cutting tools.
They also threw in two bags of extra inserts, replacement gears and a toolbox with spanners etc. plus a bag with some stuff that I haven't figured out what is for yet.
I paid 2.400 $ with shipping to my front door included.
Next weekend will be quality time with cleaning and lubricating . . .
My first lathe arrived today after years of drooling and lurking on forums.
I had two choices,-either buy a used lathe or buying a cheap China manufactured lathe.
A used lathe: Not many small lathes here. This is not the US or the UK, this is Scandinavia, and the only options for used lathes are leftover industrial machines.
Good luck with worn ways and lead screws and freighting heavy equipment long distances. Add to that installing 3-phase power in your home.
A lathe produced in China: You get what you pay for. Some large warehouses here have had chinese lathes in their inventory until most of what they sold were returned
due to very low quality. These warehouses have given up on selling these lathes.
One particular warehouse on the other hand has sold the same brand for 20 plus years and still going strong, which tells me that these lathes are perhaps quite good.
So I ordered one,-a 10X16 benchtop lathe weighing 260 pounds . . . weight matters.
No plastic handles or wheels, all steel/cast iron, even the chuck guard is made from solid steel.
Apron and cross slide moves super smooth with no slack or binding.
Compound rest wheel has a very slight tendency to bind at one spot every revolution. I'll look into that.
All gears are made from steel/cast iron,-no plastic.
Lathe bed is induction hardened.
No electronic speed control (less parts to fail). Speeds are chosen by placing the belt on the desired pulleys. 6 speeds by the way.
At this point in time the lathe appears to be a solid piece of machinery . . . I guess time will tell.
The lathe came with a three jaw and a four jaw chuck, live center, a large jacobs chuck for the tailstock, steady rest and nine carbide insert cutting tools.
They also threw in two bags of extra inserts, replacement gears and a toolbox with spanners etc. plus a bag with some stuff that I haven't figured out what is for yet.
I paid 2.400 $ with shipping to my front door included.
Next weekend will be quality time with cleaning and lubricating . . .