I can't tell if you guys are pulling my leg or not as to whether this is a
good
machine for a lathe newbie.

This machine certainly falls in the class, "One of the finest lathes ever
built"

As to the question, is this my best choice? What is your project interest?
This machine is best suited to make small accurate parts - If you repair
farm equipment or steam locomotives - its too small. If you're only going to
turn a couple a parts for your son's pinewood derby car, its too much
machine.

Another consideration is tooling. You might buy the lathe again getting it
fully tooled with all the chucks, tool holders and attachments. Buying a
fully tooled machine will save bucks and headaches finding everything.

It might help to compare against another lathe in this class, the Monarch
10EE. (I'm TOTALLY biased here - proud owner) Its a little bit larger in
part size it can handle and tends to be a little cheaper to purchase.


You might also consider hiring an experienced lathe operator to check out
the condition of your item of interest. A worn out , beat to s%^$ machine of
any name will give you little joy.

Karl