"P Nick" wrote in message
news:SHVpn.10$Jw4.5@edtnps82...
Hi, I'm a pre-newbie as I haven't yet even turned a thing, but I am
definitely looking to get started. There are a couple of 3/4 to 1 HP
lathes I am thinking about here in Nova Scotia and I am wondering if
anyone that might read this has any experience with these lathes.
One is a King Canada model KWL-1443VS.
http://www.kingcanada.com/Products.htm?CD=29&ID=20771

The other is made by Craftex.Model #B2338
http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=B2338

Any thoughts? I would like to turn bowls/hollow vessels. Varying sizes,
so I was thinking a bigger model like these would be better than one with
a 10" swing and/or a 17" (or less) center.

Thanks to anybody who replies

My only direct experience with King products was a miter saw which was so
awful I returned it a week later. I had a look at some more King products in
my local KMS Tools including a bench grinder and a metal lathe. I rejected
them both. Shoddy and overpriced was my impression.

Craftex is the very low end of machinery. I bought their 4x6 metal band saw
on sale, There were a few minor issues with it but it cuts rather well. I am
in the process of assessing their 9x20 lathe. One of the issues I have
discovered is that the description on the web site is incomplete and the
manual (also on their web site) does not correspond exactly to the machine
they sell. Thus if you do decide to buy the Craftex make really sure that
you know what is included.

Then there is the Busy Bee customer service. The opinions vary. I have had
no problems dealing with minor stuff in the past but now I am entering a
process of dealing with some warranty issues and it is too early to tell how
that will turn out.

Grizzly (relative of Busy Bee) now ships to Canada, but only UPS (as per
their web site) and quite expensive. Their customer service is said to be
very good. Personally I do not buy from any US firm that ships only by UPS
to Canada.

FWIW I bought the Delta 46-460 from Busy Bee and so far it has performed
flawlessly.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC