--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html
I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Imagine what I could do if
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : I knew what I was doing...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

Steamer sez: "I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?"

I have had an MSC geared head 13 x 40 lathe, #951735 for over 20 years and it has given good
service. Externally, it looks very much like the 12 x 36 pictured in the link given. The MSC model
at the time of purchase was made in Taiwan under the name Dashin Prince from the Yang Sheng
Machinery Co.

My "iron experience" which includes a Comet mill and a mill drill is all with Taiwan stuff. Ymmv
with mainland China - dunno.

Bob Swinney

"steamer" wrote in message ...
--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Imagine what I could do if
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : I knew what I was doing...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

On 05 May 2009 17:58:52 GMT, steamer wrote:

--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html
I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?


Some of them arnt half bad. Most do require that you take it totally
apart and work the rough edges out of the works and the sand out of the
various gear boxes.

Odd thing about Chicom lathes....from about 14" and up...they become
rather nice lathes..under 12".....they are rather poor.
Gunner

"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with
minimum food or water,in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing
clean on him is his weapon. He doesn't worry about what workout to do---
his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him.
The True Believer doesn't care 'how hard it is'; he knows he either wins or he dies.
He doesn't go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the 'Cause.' Now, who wants to quit?"

NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates

I hope you get a lot of good replies. I don't have one of those. But
I have been looking around, too. Our Harbor freight used to have some
of the bigger machines in stock so you could at least touch and crank
them. That helped me personally decide not to go that way at that time.
The reason I say this isn't meant to be a put down, but to me, I'd
never get a mjor machine tool without putting my hands on it and walking
around it for a while. The "specs" do tell you what the machine does,
but not what it doesn't do. They never say things like "cheap, easily
broken off plastis handles" or "has dials the are hard to reset" or
"has a wierd talistock taper".

could the seller of the machine you want be able to furnish a couple of
names of satified or other owners that you could visit? Maybe even
consider it part of a vacation trip?

If you take the Home Shop machinist, this might be a great question to
ask of "The Third Hand" if you aren't in a rush.

Pete Stanaitis
-------------------
steamer wrote:

--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html
I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?

On 2009-05-05, steamer wrote:
--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html
I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?


This is the same "birmingham lathe" that everyone else is selling,
they will put on a reseller's brand sticker on them to make them a
separate brand. This one bears "PrecisionMatthews" sticker.

They are supposed to be not so bad.

i

In article ,
steamer wrote:

--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html
I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?

MHO you will / should be able to do better (bang/buck) looking at used
non-Chinese iron.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

On Tue, 05 May 2009 17:55:47 -0400, Ecnerwal
wrote:

In article ,
steamer wrote:

--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html
I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?

MHO you will / should be able to do better (bang/buck) looking at used
non-Chinese iron.


Depending on where he lives. Here in So California...I can get him very
nice..very nice machines for $3k.

In Podunk Falls...the pickings are a lot leaner.

Gunner

"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with
minimum food or water,in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing
clean on him is his weapon. He doesn't worry about what workout to do---
his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him.
The True Believer doesn't care 'how hard it is'; he knows he either wins or he dies.
He doesn't go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the 'Cause.' Now, who wants to quit?"

NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates

On May 5, 12:58*pm, steamer wrote:
* * * * --Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html
* * * * I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these machines;
are they any good or are they typical Chinese crap?

--
* * * * "Steamboat Ed" Haas * * * * : *Imagine what I could do if
* * * * Hacking the Trailing Edge! *: *I knew what I was doing...
* * * * * * * * * * * * *www.nmpproducts.com
* * * * * * * * * *---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

I have the PM 1340 with the DRO. Have been very pleased with it.
Instructions that came with it are vague at best. Assembly is like
putting a jigsaw puzzle without know what the picture should look
like. Needs a lot of TLC in setting up but once done it operates very
well. I do have to say that several emails to the dealer concerning
assembly questions have gone un-answered.

"steamer" wrote in message
...
--Hoping to get something a little larger than my Myford Super 7 and
this one caught my eye; more for price than anything else:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Imagine what I could do if
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : I knew what I was doing...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

I've just bought a lathe the same as that(minus foot brake, chuck guard,
live center and drill chuck, but a 5" longer bed and of course a different
name lol) for around that price in AU$ but I was able to pick it up myself.

So far its only had one real issue, which was the tailstock not having
clearance to move "into" the carriage. The manual is a little better than
nothing, but not much.
If you want a lathe that's going to work straight out of the box then this
one isn't for you. Its a little "rough around the edges" with lots of
cleaning and burr removal to do. The alignment on the change gears could
use some work. But most things seem to work well enough and its done
everything I've asked of it so far, although that's not a great deal.
I hope to report back in 20 years that all is well

(sorry if this is out of place but my isp's new server seems to drop out
every few weeks and lose all posts.)

Gerry wrote:
well. I do have to say that several emails to the dealer concerning
assembly questions have gone un-answered.
--Thanks; good to know.
--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Imagine what I could do if
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : I knew what I was doing...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

stu no where just yet wrote:
So far its only had one real issue, which was the tailstock not having
clearance to move "into" the carriage. The manual is a little better than
nothing, but not much.
--Yeah; know what ya mean. That's an issue.

If you want a lathe that's going to work straight out of the box then this
one isn't for you. Its a little "rough around the edges" with lots of
cleaning and burr removal to do. The alignment on the change gears could
use some work. But most things seem to work well enough and its done
everything I've asked of it so far, although that's not a great deal.
I hope to report back in 20 years that all is well
--Heh. Not sure I can wait that long.





--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Imagine what I could do if
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : I knew what I was doing...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

Ignoramus6670 wrote:
This is the same "birmingham lathe" that everyone else is selling,
they will put on a reseller's brand sticker on them to make them a
separate brand. This one bears "PrecisionMatthews" sticker.
--Aha! Had a feeling.

They are supposed to be not so bad.
--Hmmm. I think I want something a wee bit better. Got any
recommendations?

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Imagine what I could do if
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : I knew what I was doing...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

On 2009-05-06, steamer wrote:
stu no where just yet wrote:
So far its only had one real issue, which was the tailstock not having
clearance to move "into" the carriage. The manual is a little better than
nothing, but not much.
--Yeah; know what ya mean. That's an issue.

I can sell you guys a Morse 3 to 3 extender adapter.

i

If you want a lathe that's going to work straight out of the box then this
one isn't for you. Its a little "rough around the edges" with lots of
cleaning and burr removal to do. The alignment on the change gears could
use some work. But most things seem to work well enough and its done
everything I've asked of it so far, although that's not a great deal.
I hope to report back in 20 years that all is well
--Heh. Not sure I can wait that long.

On 2009-05-06, steamer wrote:
Ignoramus6670 wrote:
This is the same "birmingham lathe" that everyone else is selling,
they will put on a reseller's brand sticker on them to make them a
separate brand. This one bears "PrecisionMatthews" sticker.
--Aha! Had a feeling.

They are supposed to be not so bad.
--Hmmm. I think I want something a wee bit better. Got any
recommendations?


I do not know that much about lathes. I only had one lathe and am
still learning to deal with bed wear, and such.

i

steamer wrote:
Ignoramus6670 wrote:

This is the same "birmingham lathe" that everyone else is selling,
they will put on a reseller's brand sticker on them to make them a
separate brand. This one bears "PrecisionMatthews" sticker.

--Aha! Had a feeling.


They are supposed to be not so bad.

--Hmmm. I think I want something a wee bit better. Got any
recommendations?


Looks quite similar to my Harrison M300 which is a 13" x 40" and a nice
lathe in my limited experience. Gunner, while I don't agree with all he
says, has IIRC rated them as being a nice machine. Plenty around in the
UK and I think they're available in the US also as I think they may have
a common parent company with a US firm.

On May 6, 11:56*am, steamer wrote:
Ignoramus6670 wrote:
This is the same "birmingham lathe" that everyone else is selling,
they will put on a reseller's brand sticker on them to make them a
separate brand. This one bears "PrecisionMatthews" sticker.

* * * * --Aha! Had a feeling.

They are supposed to be not so bad.

* * * * --Hmmm. I think I want something a wee bit better. Got any
recommendations?

--
* * * * "Steamboat Ed" Haas * * * * : *Imagine what I could do if
* * * * Hacking the Trailing Edge! *: *I knew what I was doing...
* * * * * * * * * * * * *www.nmpproducts.com
* * * * * * * * * *---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

My take, Ed. Any import machine, some work to make it perform is
going to be needed. As far as I can tell, the only difference is the
color and name on it, and if the dealer will stand behind it. Here is
why I stick with Grizzly, I have had some issues, but every one taken
care of with one phone call. They seem to really want to get to the
bottom of any problems and get them fixed as fast as possible. My 12
x 36 is seventeen years old, I've had to buy another motor, and had a
few minor problems over many years, but if I'd get my butt down and
put a new centrifugal switch in the motor, it would still be running
strong and accurate.

(Screw it.) Lennie.