Hi,
I am inexperienced at metalworking and would like to get into it. I have
brought myself a basic book ("Model Engineering : A Foundations course"
by Peter Wright) and would like to purchase a basic lathe, Mill , drill
setup to practice and have fun building model R/C aircraft piston/jet
engines.

I would be greatful if you could post your experience or knowledge about
Harbor Freight's mini lathe-mill-drill combo (item # 39743-1VGA) . I
have read a couple of online cautions about combo's mentioning them to
be inferior in quality . I am looking for an inexpensive (around 400$)
set up that is portable by one man and is sturdy. As I understand
the minimal lathe dimensions for my (aeromodeling) purpose are 200mm distance
between centers and 120mm "height over center" . I think "height over
centers" means swing over bed (I am quoting Thomas Kamps book on Model
jet engines here.) Do correct me if I am wrong.


Do you have knowledge of other alternative hobbist machines that meet
these requirements (like say those of Grizzly) . Would you please
recommend any . Shereline seems to fit the requirements too but are
a bit pricy and I wonder if they are worth it for a newbie.

sincerely
B Thomas