On 24 Dec 2004 22:21:34 -0800, "Snyper1982"
wrote:

Ok, I am sure you guys get asked these questions a lot, so i apologize
in advance. I am totaly and completely new to metal working. I am
mostly curious about making little parts with a lathe. I just dont know
what a good lathe is, and what some good reading material is on using a
lathe.

What are some good brands of lathe? are Jets good, cause i was looking
around a bit and i saw a jet that was about $1,000 brand new. Well
thanks for reading, hope to get some good answers from you guys, as id
like to get into metal working.

Knowing your location would help.

I have seen at least one import that was about useless brand new: a
9" from Enco. Fortunately, we only bought it for making simple stuff
like coil bobbins and spacers, and that was definitely all it was
good for. We junked it when we found a surplus South Bend for the
cost of moving it to our lab.

If you can find a knowledgeable person to help you look, I think
you'd be better served by an old South Bend, Logan or Sheldon as a
first lathe but you need someone to help determine if it's in decent
shape. A good used machinery dealer may be able to help. They
profit by buying well, selling the good stuff at a reasonable profit
and parting out the dogs. You pay some for their experience and time
spent finding and gathering stuff to sell. It could be money
well spent for a beginner. You should be able to get a very nice
used lathe from a reputable dealer for less than the cost of a new
import.

With an import or a USA-made-used machine of unknown condition, you'll
never know if your frustrations are due to your own inexperience or
to inadequacies/faults in the machine itself.