Help Needed on Lathe

The lathe bears a strong family resemblance to some lathes sold by Chester and Warco.

The fact is that many lathes manufactured in China are made with a wide range of specifications and options, including levels of quality control. Apparently identical lathes can even come from different factories as they are just variations on a standard design.

Some cheap online sources get their stock from buying up machines rejected for export. I have also seen credible reports of examples built up using spares/overstock/reject items from different manufacturers, although to be fair these are usually really basic, crude machines.

My advice would be to consider what value you put on after sales support, ready access to dedicated spares and accessories, a year's warranty and the protection of UK consumer law. Plus if you buy a UK version, you can be sure that other people's experiences of the machine are of the same machine (although don't bear in mind that continuing improvement often means that review of older examples often highlight issues that have since been addressed - the early batches of my two lathes both had some issues that were corrected in later batches).

Obviously if you visit a UK distributor you can see a machine first hand, but don't assume an eBay version is going to be the same, it might be but experience suggests there will probably be detail differences at the very least.

After that, it's your choice - balance the 'known unkowns' against the 'unknown unknowns'.

Neil

These are two reviews from amazon of someone who actually owns the lathe - will not give my opinion as I don't own one.

**LINK**

This appears to be a facsimile of Warco WM180 which is sold aound the world with different names.......however, although apparently cheaper by £250 it lacks the other kit that comes with WM180, namely four jaw, two steadies and some change wheels..... to me this makes the warco better/equal value for money with much lower risk level.

......My WM180 which I have been using for a year is a nice little lathe and I have no real complaints.

Edited By Bob Stevenson on 21/08/2018 23:31:17

Helpful though the Amazon link is, crucially that isn't the lathe the OP has asked for opinions on, because the seller is different. Those reviews are as relevant (and irrelevant) as reviews of the similar-spec lathes being sold by Warco and Chester, for example.

Hopefully, Neil's post will help the OP see that who you buy your lathe from is often as crucial (arguably more so) in determining how good it is for your needs as the spec of the lathe in the first place.

It is the same exact Lathe Bill, brand and all, the reviews relate to the same exact lathe as the OP requested - he wants experience using that particular lathe - he said he's aware buying from ebay or direct from China has it's risk but it appears given the price he's willing to risk it.

I would contemplate doing the same, but only if I were sure the product is indeed a quality built one and the seller agrees to some kind of aftersales service. I purchased a lathe from Warco and had it exported to Malta some 2000miles away, but when I had issues they did offer solutions (short of sending the lathe back)

Comparing Warco, Chester etc machines to the one listed by the OP is not entirely acucrate, as while the lathes may be the same, their build quality may not be the same - from the reviews on amazon, seems like the reviewers had some minor issues....

I posted the Amazon link as the op could save a tenner.

Mike

I really do appreciate that you are all trying to save me from myself and are steering me towards a safe place.

I am a classic evaluator! I gather as much information as possible on all the options before making a decision.

I already have researched the forums, review sites, YouTube, Google etc. But I could find no information on this particular machine.

Hence the request to only post if you have direct experience because I knew there would be 100's of opinions out there about its perceived quality and reliability without any direct knowledge of it!

I have made no decision to buy one of these but would strongly consider it based on its price point if it had good reviews.

Likewise a WM180 and a SIEG SC3 are also on my list.

Thanks for all your spirited contributions thus far...

Sieg SC3 offered by the likes of Arceurotrade...reason....reliabilty of the electrics

That's the rub with modern units, the electrics are a real, and potentially very expensive, lottery

Haha...you think I didn't know what would happen! But I have been polite...i know people can't help themselves.

Apologies if you know all this already!

It would be nice to find someone who had bought this exact model from this exact supplier, but I don't think it would tell you much.

What we know about Far Eastern Hobby Lathes is that a number of similar designs are manufactured by a number of different factories. The designs are competent, but the execution may not be. In particular, because the lathes are made down to a price, assembly and inspection may both be skimped. Mine both arrived in good working order, others have been less fortunate, though serious disappointment seems rarer than it used to be.

I'd suggest the lathes fall into three camps:

1. The larger Western Vendors are more likely to get the best examples. These are people who sell a lot of kit, who can pressure the factory to do better, and have sufficient customer experience to identify and fix generic faults. These lathes are likely more refined than average. Even so, people occasionally end up with a poor example.
2. Ordinary versions, which may be just as good, sold by smaller vendors. These have less influence on the maker (because margins are too low) and it's harder to identify generic faults because the customer base is diffuse.
3. Factory Rejects, and possibly reasonable lathes assembled from cannibalised rejects, sold cheap on ebay & similar. Likely to be less refined than average, perhaps horrible. Except some cheap lathes may be bankrupt stock or have some other genuine reason for being a bargain.

In this market the maker, model and and paint job on Far Eastern lathe don't help much. It's not like buying a traditional Myford, where a single manufacturer produced a consistent product for 70 years.

I think buying a new Far Eastern lathe is more about managing risk than looking at details. In this case, a lathe that no-one has seen, made in an unknown factory, is being sold in Germany by an unknown vendor based in China (admittedly with a high score, 99.4% positive feedback). The vendor isn't a tool specialist, he also sells Doughnut Makers and vacuum Breast Expanders. The price looks good for a lathe similar to the more expensive WM180, but the outfit is smaller. Looking closely at the picture, there are other signs that the MX-180V is a reduced version of a WM108, for example it has no locking screw on the top-slide.

I suggest the way to decide if this, or any other lathe, is good value is to consider what you would do if the lathe arrived damaged, or with an unacceptable fault. If it's OK, you won. Otherwise, the hassle starts. On this one you pay the carriage costs of returning a 68kg lathe to Germany...

It's all about your appetite for risk. A positive review or two might give you a warm feeling, but it wouldn't alter the big picture.

Dave

All,

Thank you for your input.

I just placed an order for a Warco Super Mini Lathe.

Don

GL Donald

Let us know how you get on pls

Must be worth the extra £éà or so for the accessories that come with it and the nicer handles.

Russell