Is this lathe any good.

[Powermyster]

Hi guys, just came across these. Never heard of this mini lathe, is it a rebranded chinese lathe or has anyone any info or experience on them.

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tools/4447613

Also came across these, any opinions?? where would one get the Boxford PC to drive the CNC

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tools/4444892

 

[nodeward]

the first one looks familiar but dont know anything about that one in particular, definately rebranded but i cant think by who, warco maybe?

 

[Shox Dr]

1st one is similar to a MM ml300

 

[Tino]

Hi guys, just came across these. Never heard of this mini lathe, is it a rebranded chinese lathe or has anyone any info or experience on them.

Yes re branded Chinese, probably Shanghai SIEG Machinery Co. I have one and with a few mods and tweaks they work fine for the price. You have to accept its limits, its small but is capable of very accurate work if you spend some time setting and modifying one or two bits before you use it. Lots of info on the interweb, google mini lathe.
Mine in action


Dont know about the Boxford

 

[DrNik]

that looks a great little lathe, depends on how much space you have, if you have plenty of space, search about, i got a colchester student for £300, fell off a pallet, little superficial damage, but works well, you'll always want bigger

 

[brightspark]

that looks a great little lathe, depends on how much space you have, if you have plenty of space, search about, i got a colchester student for £300, fell off a pallet, little superficial damage, but works well, you'll always want bigger

you will be able to make the wheels u require then its not rocket science turning wheels

 

[pedrobedro]

A friend of mine has one just like the first link. He got it from Axminster a few years ago when they had a sale on.

 

[Powermyster]

I haven't got a lot of space and have been on the lookout for something this size. I don't need to turn anything too big at present.

 

[ukracer]

Hi guys, just came across these. Never heard of this mini lathe, is it a rebranded chinese lathe or has anyone any info or experience on them.

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tools/4447613

Also came across these, any opinions?? where would one get the Boxford PC to drive the CNC

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tools/4444892

Well the boxford is sold now!! Not me I hasten to add. lol

But the first one is a toy. unless you are a small modeller its a waste of space. I have a raglan 5 inch lathe and its very good . probably 10 times better than that Chinese crap. But even that is not big enough to go back to after I started using my Colchester with DRO.

I will have it up for sale on here one day so anyone wanting a good medium sized 240 volt lathe with variable speed might like to keep their eyes peeled. lol

 

[Wedg1e]

I had one of theose Boxford TCL125s for a few months to teach myself CNC ... I decided it was a waste of time because without auto feed for the stock, a pneumatic chuck and a turret-changer full of tools, the amount of things I could make with it would be pretty limited... so I sold it, at a loss as I recall

 

[Shox Dr]

I had one of theose Boxford TCL125s for a few months to teach myself CNC ... I decided it was a waste of time because without auto feed for the stock, a pneumatic chuck and a turret-changer full of tools, the amount of things I could make with it would be pretty limited... so I sold it, at a loss as I recall

You weren't expecting much from it then

To be fair, they are what they are. And sometimes it a good excuse to buy another toy, that *won't* take up much room, yadder yadder yadder.

But it won't be long before the rot sets in, and you want/need a bigger one.
I used one for turning spacers for MTB shocks, made me a lot of money, looked after it and sold it to a guy that reloaded, for more than I paid for it, as I had over time modified it, much of which I now see is done to them by others.

Better than no lathe

 

[Powermyster]

It's difficult to get something cheap here and shipping from the uk is prohibitive.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

At least that one has metal gears, so many of these mini-lathes use plastic.

 

[Keith 66]

Regarding the Boxford CNC, price of that one is totally unrealistic, as a dead machine its worth ****** all unless it can be upgraded. They were exclusively sold to schools & colleges, we had one at our college plus a 260 VMC mill & Denford starturn. They all used a BBc computer & became hopelessly obsolete, Boxfords prices for upgrading were in the 7k plus range 10 years ago & then they wouldnt support them at all.
They can be converted to run on modern CNC software like Mach3 but it isnt cheap as you have to gut the insides of the machine & replace just about everything. Worth doing if you can pick one of the Mills up cheap as they are very well made & capable of excellent work.
As for the chinese lathe best used as a mooring sinker.

 

[Powermyster]

Any uk sites I should look out for lathes on???

 

[Fintray]

This one:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/

 

[Perry Owens]

The first one looks the same as my Chester Conquest. Probably made by Real Bull in China, who are generally considered to be better quality than Seig products. They work great once you have stripped them to clean the casting sand etc off and set them up properly and accessories are reasonably priced. UK dealers include Chester, Warco,Machine Mart, SPG Tools, Axminster and Arc Euro Trade. Arc Euro Trade are running special offers on similar lathes at around £345 just now.

 

[Pete.]

Any uk sites I should look out for lathes on???

http://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/

 

[Tino]

Well I'm quite happy with my crap, Chinese toy, mooring sinker. Its does what I want and works well. The clue is in the name, mini lathe. If I need to turn a 10” billet or 5' long pin I can do that at work.

 

[hareng]

I had one of those mooring sinkers for a few years, couldnt do a single thing with it apart from power a flexi shaft with small flap wheel for sanding wood.
Absoluteluy useless even with latest US board in, can easily using thumb and one finger round chuck, stop it from 2500rpm.
Only bought at time for late night menial work,, but couldnt do that.

Do have a Boxford TLC125 as well. Lovely and robust cant be compared to flimsy chinese machines, its the bare mechanics required with modern innards, about £650 to £1100 depending how far want to go.