If you are into using old American iron, I have a 9 X 20 South bend that
came from the estate of actor Steve McQueen. It's 99% complete and works
and with a dis-assembly and re-paint or powder coat would look new- Others
on this board say its worth 6-800.00 As a long term investment its probably
a better buy than a Chinese unit, but you would have to spend a week or two
getting it spruced up before you could start making parts.

"Harry" wrote in message
news:8b53f$40281dcf$4523d552$27694@allthenewsgroup s.com...
I am going to buy a small lathe for fabricating some R/C parts. This is my
first lathe purchase. I am considering the Central Machinery Precision 7 x
10 mini-lathe. I stopped and looked at one at the local H.F. store and it
seemed, well, just okay....for the price($400), I think it will do what I
want. I then spotted the next model up- a geared head 9 x 20 for $600.
What
is the groups opinion of these machines? Would I be better off to spend
about a grand($1000)? Originally I was going to buy a 3-n-1 but decided
that
I would be better off buying separate machines(lathe,milling machine etc).
I
am on a budget(aren't we all?) and am willing to trade long term
reliability
for a cash savings now. I am only going to be making parts for myself and
a
couple buddies. Any advice will greatly appreciated!