"snakeriver" wrote:


I was looking at that little Red penn state lathe the other day. I
could be wrong but it looks just like the Jet mini that I already have.
Makes you wonder if it's built by the same company that makes the Jet
in China or something. Anyone out there have this Penn state mini
lathe?




Pretty much all the Chinese companies sell "knock offs" of the products
they manufacture for the Names. I've got a $23.00 plunge router that is a
Makita 3612 Clone - so much so that the parts are interchangeable and I
downloaded the Makita manual because Makita hired better translators. And,
after a bit of tune up, it works just fine. What you do not get is the
better motor and the tighter specs required by the Name. What you do get is
a tool useful for occasional use or rough work and lots of dollars saved to
spend on other stuff.