I have been reading (lurking) this newsgroup for the last year and I'm
actively looking for a lathe now and desperately need some expert
advice.

I live in an area that is not blessed with a plethora of used
equipment of any cost, so finding a used lathe is rather difficult. We
have one equipment dealer a few hours from here (Nova Scotia, Canada)
and their selection is limited. They do have a few new, smaller
Birmingham lathes, but I'm not really looking for a Chinese or
Taiwanese lathe and these seem rather lightweight. Besides they want
$6600 CAD plus tax for a Birmingham CT-1440 with no tooling and one
3-jaw chuck.

I would like something in the 14x40 size at minimum. Ideally, I'd like
a 15x50 or 17x60 for the stuff I'm planning on doing and I want a
decent quality lathe. I've been looking recently at a few lathes at
Machinery Values in New Jersey. They have quite a few machines in the
size I'm looking for but being new to buying used equipment, I
wouldn't know a good deal if it bit me on the ass. They have an
American Turnmaster 15x50 that looks pretty nice for $5500 and a Mazak
17x60 for $6500. Anyone have any advice on these lathes; what to watch
out for etc? The Turnmaster is at:

http://www.machineryvalues.com/xdetails.cfm/QN/130818

the Mazak is at:

http://www.machineryvalues.com/xdetails.cfm/QN/131014

If anyone can help me out or give me any advice on lathes in general
(where to buy, types of machines etc.) it would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob