Does this company sell a higher grade of Chinese lathe than the usual
run of the mill Chinese machinery?

I've owned one for a year actually,now that I think about it, time
flies, and I think it must be. I really fail to see any room for
improvement. And Bob Bertrand is the greatest guy you could wih for.
Really.
For 679.00, nothing can touch it. I'd love to compare it to a Hardinge
HLV :-)
I'm in love with mine.

Ben wrote in message ...
I've owned one for a year actually,now that I think about it, time
flies, and I think it must be. I really fail to see any room for
improvement. And Bob Bertrand is the greatest guy you could wih for.
Really.
For 679.00, nothing can touch it. I'd love to compare it to a Hardinge
HLV :-)
I'm in love with mine.

I looked at their Website coupla weeks ago
don't you find having to change a gear to cut towards the tailstock
to be a bit inconvenient?

Dale

No, and the lathemaster is not any higher qaulity machine than the HF,
Enco, Grizzly etc.

In fact, for more money, you get less features on the Lathemaster.

I have an Enco (since 1998) and a friend bought the Lathemaster a few
months back. He has since realized that he paid too much for a
machine that lacks several of the features of the other machines...

The only advantage of the lathemaster is that it comes with a 5" chuck
vs the 4" on the other machines... It does not have the QCGB and you
must use the half nuts for carriage travel.... not a desireable
feature.

Lathemaster claims their machine is "heavier", If it is, we couldn't
tell it...

Also Lathemaster does not have the "clout" with the shipping companies
that Enco and the others do. Shipping is quite expensive with them vs
Grizzly or Enco or HF.

If you have a HF store near by, you can save on the shipping and
actually see the machine you're getting.

HF occaisionaly offers these machine on sale for around $650






(ED ROGERS) wrote in message ...
Does this company sell a higher grade of Chinese lathe than the usual
run of the mill Chinese machinery?

My local HF had the 9x20 on sale for (I think) $599 last week. They also
had their RF30 clone on sale for $799.

Peter
"kaferhaus" wrote in message
om...
No, and the lathemaster is not any higher qaulity machine than the HF,
Enco, Grizzly etc.

In fact, for more money, you get less features on the Lathemaster.

I have an Enco (since 1998) and a friend bought the Lathemaster a few
months back. He has since realized that he paid too much for a
machine that lacks several of the features of the other machines...

The only advantage of the lathemaster is that it comes with a 5" chuck
vs the 4" on the other machines... It does not have the QCGB and you
must use the half nuts for carriage travel.... not a desireable
feature.

Lathemaster claims their machine is "heavier", If it is, we couldn't
tell it...

Also Lathemaster does not have the "clout" with the shipping companies
that Enco and the others do. Shipping is quite expensive with them vs
Grizzly or Enco or HF.

If you have a HF store near by, you can save on the shipping and
actually see the machine you're getting.

HF occaisionaly offers these machine on sale for around $650






(ED ROGERS) wrote in message
...
Does this company sell a higher grade of Chinese lathe than the usual
run of the mill Chinese machinery?

I had a look at the Jet BD920 and was not impressed with materials and
workmanship.Jet has a reputation for better fit and finish,but not this
time.The HF,Enco,Grizzly appear to be made by the same people as the
Jet.Probably make the 4 hour drive to Grizzly to see their machines past
the 9x20 stage.

I don't know about the lathe but the Zay dovetail column gearhead mill
that Bob sells has the Rung Fu dovetail beat hands down. I ended up
with one when my neighbor was given a choice between the mill and a
divorce lawyer. :-)

Definitely not Brigeport quality but good value for the price. Had a
little problem with the relay but Bob paid for a new one and sent some
extra tooling for my trouble. Not bad considering I was not the
original buyer.

Ben wrote:
I've owned one for a year actually,now that I think about it, time
flies, and I think it must be. I really fail to see any room for
improvement. And Bob Bertrand is the greatest guy you could wih for.
Really.
For 679.00, nothing can touch it. I'd love to compare it to a Hardinge
HLV :-)
I'm in love with mine.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Not at all. In fact, you change a gear, you add a gear by screwing it
in.
I did a LOT of research before buying the lathemaster. The 9x20's all
have problems endemic to the basic design. I don't know why, but they
do. What's really cool is the precision of the lathemaster. .0002 TIR.
I mean, I really was going to get a 4000 dollar Prazi SD400 and
decided to give this a try. I'm glad I did. I'm serious when I say I'd
like to compare mine to an HLV. Of course I'd rather have the 16,000
dollar HLV, but I doubt if there is much functional difference, at
least not 15,000 worth.
But don't take my word for it, go he
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe..._7x.htm#lm8x14
My problem with the lathe is it's too small. I really need a 12x30 at
a minimum.
Heavy? They had to put it in my car with a forklift and I had to
totally disassemble it to get into my apartment. They say it weighs
190lbs, and it weighs every bit of that. It's not noisy at all. 3am
turning projects and no one notices. The motor is really powerful so
beware leaving the gear cover open if you've got little ones running
around. It won't stop for fingers.
I really love it. If it were a woman its hair would be all in a dander
and it would be glowing.
It is a real lathe. If they've got lathes on nuclear submarines where
space is tight and demands are high,I figure this would be it. Made in
China to boot :-)