anorton wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
...

Cydrome Leader wrote:

jon_banquer wrote:
I think this guy has the right idea trying to get home shop machinists
to pay more for better Chinese machine tools:

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/default.php

I've used them quite a few times, they have a nice selection on US made
stuff. I wanted a insert from ar warner they didn't carry so they got
some
and added it to their product list.

They're good folks.

On the Chinese machine tools end, the Seig folks who make the mini mills
and mini lathes are good folks as well. Their products are quite good
for the money and size, and they respond to email questions promptly.
Important to remember that there are some good Chinese companies that
care about their products, and not lump them all in a "cheap junk"
category.

I would modify that statement a bit. I bought a Sieg mini-lathe and minimill
a few years ago and both came with numerous assembly and Q.C issues that I
had to straighten out before using. The mill was a Grizzly brand and it did
have fewer issues than the Pro-Tech brand lathe I had bought earlier. That
said, they are an OK value for the money. I bought them mainly because I
could fit both on one bench in my small shop. I would have paid a little
more for better quality.

I think most Chinese factories can produce high quality, but whether they do
depends on the expectations and inspection processes of their customer's who
resell the product.

Little Machine Shop is a good place and I have bought some Chinese-made
tooling there that was fine.

When I got my X2 mini-mill from Harbor Freight (on sale and 20% coupon)
I had decided from looking at the display model that it would be good
enough for what I needed at the time, a quick CNC conversion for
engraving use. When I uncrated the unit I found it was quite a bit nicer
than the display model. A few evenings of quick motor bracket
fabrication and whatnot and the CNC conversion was up and running, and I
didn't have to "fix" anything other than the expected tramming and gib
adjustment.