Which Lathe

So I have read the "mini-lathe" book cover to cover and am looking to purchase my first miini lathe.

I actually purchased a second hand one but it didn't work and so gave it back and have decided new is the best policy.

The primary purpose is to progress my jewelry hobby (specifically rings).

There are a plethora of them on sale at different prices all with some subtle differences. The mini-lathe book tells me they are all made by chinese manufacturers and are all pretty much the same. I'm trying to keep the cost down but there is no point buying something that wont do what I need it to. As you will see from my options below, I am well and truly confused. Does anyone have any advice for me?

The axminster C2-300 at £638.95 seems expensive with a 250W motor.

The Warco super minit lathe, with its 100mm chuck, 450W brushless all metal design at £668 looks good but is pushing my budget that bit too far.

The Sieg SC2 for £600 with a 500W brushless motor seems like a very good option (from arc eurotrade) however I have also found the following:

**LINK**

It has a 600W motor, all metal gear, digital control, weighing in at an impressive 68Kg but at just £535... makes me wonder if the precision will be crap?

Then there is Amadeal with there lathe packages:

**LINK**

The lathe for which appearsa to be something you can buy from mltiple places on ebay for as little as £430 and reads as perfectly acceptable for my needs.

**LINK**

First advice is that two of those (the eBay ones) are sourced from China. How do you return them if they are faulty?

As to the other choices, as you appear to be limited/guided/dictated by budget, surely only you can decide where to stop your limit?

Hi David,

Many thanks for the response, I obviously didn’t make my predicament clear.

I’m more concerned about the best value for money than I am about how much I spend. I just don’t understand what the additional cost is getting me. The Axminster just seems over priced for no real reason but am I wrong?

is the warco worth the extra £68 over the sieg and if so why?

Then finally, why would I want any of them when I can get a lathe of similar size for less money from amadeal?

Im told they are “all the same” from a book called “mini lathes”. But that doesn’t look to be the case.

Hi David;

You know your budget, what you want to use it for, what space you have etc. looking at the package deals you seem to get a couple of items extra included in the package ... a set of insert tools, can be anywhere from £ 30 - £60 depending on the supplier, 4 jaw chuck, some machines don't come with these, digital calipers, £8 -30 etc. the rest look like standard accessories with the machine. I would ask yourself what is your mean line budget is & put a couple of parameters on say +/- 15%, as for 'all the same' they are in essence, made in the same 2 factories in Shenzhen China, predominantly 'SEIG' ( there are others 'Red Bull' ) & the differences are what the UK buyers state what they want included, colour scheme, ac / dc motors, belt / gear driven et al.

As for recourse for any faults; if you buy from any of the UK dealers you mentioned you have the satisfaction of dealing with them rather than some unknown entity in china, as UK trading acts consider that you have a contract with the distributor/ seller when purchasing any goods in the UK, any faults have to be rectified by them, or words to that effect as I am not au faix with the legalities but you get my drift... look up trading standards etc. so your first port of call would be the seller.

... 'makes me wonder if the precision will be crap'? ... what do you define as 'precision?. all these type of lathes are made to a cost... labour costs, overheads, profit margin etc. These lathes are NOT tool room standard so will in some instances need 'tweaking to get the 'precision you want', I've had to 'tweak' mine to get it to where I'm satisfied with it, as I'm sure many other 'hobbyists' have had to do. as the old adage goes; 'you don't get a Rolls Royce for mini price'.

Whatever you end up getting you'll enjoy; but take into account extra for 'tooling' down the line you'll be surprised!. Good hunting.

George.

The chances are, that most, if not all of them will have been manufactured in only one or two factories, certainly, as far as I know, Seig make at least two, ,if not three, of the machines on the market.

The price difference may be because of different specification, such as the accessories supplied with the lathe.

What comes, as part of the package with one machine, may be an optional extra on another

So decide what accessories you expect to need for the machine, and compare the cost of such a package from each supplier. I E. My big lathe came with a worklight. Another supplier of the same machine, will charge and extra £30+.for it, as an extra.

Different powers quoted for the motor may be that one importers quotes the input power to the motor, whilst others may quote the output power of the motor; which is what drives the Chuck!

Also consider the after sales service.

You may need it if there is a problem, if only for advice. Sadly, not all importers are equal in that respect

I wanted to convert my mini lathe from digital read out to old fashioned manual dials.

The original importer, eventually, quoted a price for the parts, plus half as much again for air freight, that was twice the price from my favourite supplier who delivered within a short time. And, both sell machines from the same source! My favourite supplier, if I want to buy something which he knows is not suitable what I have in mind will advise against it, to the point of declining to supply. He would rather lose a sale than have an unhappy customer complaining to their friends! Which is why I deal with him, and am by no means alone in being happy with, and recommending this company.

Howard

Well, they are all based on the same design rather than identical. Motors are a fairly obvious difference, the tools and accessories you get with the lathe, and whether or not carriage costs and VAT are included or not need a careful look. Some lathes have plastic gears (quieter), others metal gears (maybe stronger). Generally the more powerful the motor the better, and brushless are more desirable than brushed motors. But I wouldn't die in a ditch over motors.

All these lathes are made down to a price - they most certainly aren't assembled carefully by master-craftmen! My perception is the results fall broadly into one of 3 camps. First come those sold by the kind of importer who puts care and effort into getting the best they can from makers. This means establishing effective communication with the factory, and possibly the purchase-volume muscle needed to get the best examples. Second is the importer who just takes standard product from the factory, these seem mostly acceptable but maybe have a higher rate of rough examples. Third is the kind of seller dealing in factory rejects, returns, items not meeting UK electrical standards, bankrupt stock and grey imports etc. What you get from category 3 ranges from bargain to rip-off.

Buying direct from China will get best value for money provided you get a reasonable one. But be aware buying direct is much riskier. Dealing with problems is likely to be difficult and you have little in the way of consumer protection if the seller misbehaves. Getting money back may require the faulty lathe to be returned at your cost - no joke if the supplier in China. Buying from a UK supplier is under the umbrella of UK Consumer Law, and most UK suppliers will 'do the decent thing' voluntarily. Money back or a replacement, but their covering problems puts the price up.

Axminister's costs seem to be highest because they offer an extended warranty. I don't know if Axminister machines are also more polished than their competitors. Warco & ArcEuroTrade both have good reputations. ArcEuro are good for spares. Chester have attracted a bit more criticism on the forum than others in the past. Amadeal are rarely mentioned one way or the other. There are a number of other UK suppliers with low profiles. Lack of complaints about these guys may be reassuring.

When comparing lathes for best value, tabulate side-by-side down exactly what you get and double-check the costs. For example Warco prices include VAT and Carriage, I think ArcEuro prices are carriage extra. Other seller's prices may not include VAT or carriage. If accessories are added, check if you want them, and how much they cost individually if you do.

Dave

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I was in the same position a few months back. I went with Chester initially but they messed me about so I cancelled. I then decided to order from Amadeal as the price/spec was good. They seem like a good company to deal with. The order process was quick and smooth and they even let me choose the colour. 😊 The plastic cover did get cracked in transit but they replaced it no problems. I would recommend. I can also recommend Arc Euro, never had any problems ordering from them.

The larger brushless motors have the advantage of more torque, which helps a lot with the small machines.