The thread has expanded to milling machines and such. I looked for an American lathe for a miling machine and lathe for some ten years at machinery auctions and locally. This was before the advent of eBay for finding such things. I sure looked at a lot of worn out machines.
Thus, I was forced to buy Chinese for a lathe. (Enco 13 X40) It's now 16 years old and counting and it's likely it will outlast me.
After searching for some ten years for a decent mill in my area, I finally got a lead to a Webb 4VH (3,500 pounds). It was built in Taiwan in 1987 and, with some work, it's been completely rejuvenated. It will do some rather large cuts.
I thought about buying something used on eBay but I couldn't bring myself to buy something that weighs close to two tons that I couldn't look at carefully first, not to mention paying for shipping on something of that size. .
I did look at a Monarch 10EE that was avaiable in the same warehouse where I got my Webb. It was rather thoroughly worn out and the seller wanted $4,000. I had never seen one up close before but that one needed a good scraping so I passed. .
It's certainly a worthwhile ideal to want all American equipment, but it's not in the cards for most of us. The fact is that good used American equipment is hard to find and the Chinese stuff works, like it or not.
Welding machines are quite different, though. They are readily available new in brands like Miller, Lincoln and Hobart so one can certainly go all American there. I did, anyway.
I don't see a problem with buying Chinese anymore. Most of the items are rather well made, readily available and affordable. If I were trying to make a living as a machinist, I wouldn't be looking at manual machines anyway.
Thus, I was forced to buy Chinese for a lathe. (Enco 13 X40) It's now 16 years old and counting and it's likely it will outlast me.
After searching for some ten years for a decent mill in my area, I finally got a lead to a Webb 4VH (3,500 pounds). It was built in Taiwan in 1987 and, with some work, it's been completely rejuvenated. It will do some rather large cuts.
I thought about buying something used on eBay but I couldn't bring myself to buy something that weighs close to two tons that I couldn't look at carefully first, not to mention paying for shipping on something of that size. .
I did look at a Monarch 10EE that was avaiable in the same warehouse where I got my Webb. It was rather thoroughly worn out and the seller wanted $4,000. I had never seen one up close before but that one needed a good scraping so I passed. .
It's certainly a worthwhile ideal to want all American equipment, but it's not in the cards for most of us. The fact is that good used American equipment is hard to find and the Chinese stuff works, like it or not.
Welding machines are quite different, though. They are readily available new in brands like Miller, Lincoln and Hobart so one can certainly go all American there. I did, anyway.
I don't see a problem with buying Chinese anymore. Most of the items are rather well made, readily available and affordable. If I were trying to make a living as a machinist, I wouldn't be looking at manual machines anyway.