MikeMandaville wrote:

..this newsgroup, .. America once dominated the machine tool industry, that China does
now, and that this ****es us Americans off.. we are now.. instructing all questioners to purchase old American
iron, rather than new Chinese iron. What ****es _me_ off..

I believe that one of the great aspects of this newsgroup is that it
helps us navigate the problem:
1) New American or Western European is too expensive
2) Used American may be worn out and hard to get parts
3) Chinese may be junk

The US got it start underbidding the British on manufactured goods in
the 1700s.
Jobs and manufacturing are always moving to a cheaper source.
Making machine tools from cast iron was best done in the US 50 years ago.
As time goes on, that task must pass to Japan, then to Taiwan, then to
China, then to Viet Nam, etc.

I got a used 1967 Clausing and my brother got a new Jet lathe, both the
same size, weight, and price.
My lathe has too much wear, so his is better.
If I had found one not so worn, I could have got the better deal.

If I were to do it again, I would shop the same way: Look at used
American and look at new Asian.
The new Asian lathes are keeping the used American lathe prices in balance.