Folks...
Several years ago, I did after-sale support work for Matt and even helped sell quite a few machines. I did this for a couple years and in that time, several hundred Chinese machines of varying kinds were sold. Just about every single call for help got routed to me. I recall 2 machines having a confirmed manufacturing defect. We also had a case where 10 lathes were shipped with metric leadscrews instead of US. This was not a defective part per-se. It was due to an ordering error because one metric machine was ordered but the factory sent 1 lot (25) because that is the minimum quantity of any given model. There was also a case where 3-4 mills were found to have improperly tightened wire connections in the connector block. In all cases, Matt resolved the issue to the customer's satisfaction.
So, out of about 500 machines (and it was probably more than that) 16 had a problem. That's 96.8% that didn't have a problem. Yes, there's the normal issues that arise such as motor capacitors, weak fuses and an occasional screw, nut or bolt that comes lose with a short time. This happens to just about everything you buy today. My first new American automobiles purchased between the 80's and 90's had 10 times worse problems.
Are Chinese lathes & mills the same quality as Taiwanese? No. Fit, finish and attention to detail on the Taiwanese machines is much better.
Does Matt have to work harder to sell the Chinese machines? Yes! He checks the shipments when they arrive and he sorts-out any significant issues before sending it. He used to check every single machine. I don't know if he still does that or not -but nonetheless, it's a lot of work. Do Chinese machines cut any better? I don't think so. If anyone here has watched my projects, I routinely cut pieces with pretty darn close tolerances. The lathe (PM1236) and Mill (PM45) are both Chinese and completely stock.
How come I'm not doing support work for Matt anymore? A) I'm an engineering contractor/consultant and had to sign an exclusivity agreement on my last long-term contract. B) I could not handle working with a small percentage of buyers who were calling my house at all hours in the morning, afternoon, evening and middle of night (sometimes drunk). The majority of folks here are really quite fine and that's why I hang around here. A great many of the "newby" folks outside of this web site are really confused. People see videos on YouTube of a $400,000 machine doing all kinds of fancy work -and somehow, they think a 500lb lathe is going to hog metal like a Shipley with the precision of a Hardinge.
FWIW, I was raised in a machine shop. Father was a T&D maker. Uncle a metallurgist. My first lathe was Leblond 1554 gear head and I was in full control of it at/around the age of 9 years old. Later on, I ran a 1554 Regal (hydroshift). I've also owned SB, and a couple Atlas machines over the years at times in life where I did not have room for a full shop. If someone wants to know more about the differences between Old Iron, New Iron and Asian Iron and wants to know about what it's really like to service the hobby-end of the retail business. -Just ask. You will get an honest answer.
Ray