Pictures are he

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Monarch-vs-Polamco/

Right now, my "shop lathe" is a Monarch model AA 16x54 lathe. The
amazing thing about it is that it is almost brand new (!!!) and has no
wear whatsoever. I know that it is weird, but it is true. Somehow or
other, it escaped the usual fate of these lathes, it was made in
1944.

It has only two problems:

1) It is slow, top speed is 500 RPM
2) Someone told me that the lubrication system in the head may not be
working right, based on what he saw in the sight glass.

I recently purchased a AFM Toolmex or Polamco lathe. It has about the
same size, and its top speed is a respectable 1,600 RPM. It does have
wear, unlike the Monarch, but very little. It also has a removable
gap, which we do not care for too much.

There is two people in my shop who use a lathe, me and another guy. I
told him that we can now pick the lathe out of these two.

So, I wanted to solicit some opinions as to what lathe is better. I
know that I can get good money for either of them, so money is not the
issue.

Another option is to keep the Monarch and add a small Hardinge HC for
working on small stuff at high speed. I bought three small hardinges
for $200 each two weeks ago.

I will appreciate some intelligent comments. Thanks

i