Chinese Lathes

[chris mabbott]

HEY, am I the first post of 2014, Do I get a prize Bob 😆

What do you guys think about the Chinese lathes that are on the market, any experience with them?
I’ve heard that there is one model that is made or finished in Austria or Germany.

Chris

[david pierce]

Chris,
Go to an earlier post called BUYING LATHE PARTS SEPARATELY by Randy which should be at the bottom of this page. If it is not there go to page 2 and it should be there. I have a SINCERE Chinese lathe and I like it for small parts. If you are going to use it for watches it is hard to beat this lathe. if you are planning to work on clocks you would probably want a larger lathe.
david

[chris mabbott]

Thanks for the reply David,
I was thinking of the Vector lathes also, which are finished in Germany I think, they look pretty good for, as you say, watch parts, but I was wondering also if anyone had tried one of these and could provide a little hands on input as to general feel, build etc.

I’ve heard many comments on them on the NAWCC but nothing first hand.
The only info I could find was a few links on youtube…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xDqvW2YLqU

Not sure if I would go with one of these right now as I have my vintage lathes, but with parts and accessories becoming hard to find and ridiculously expensive, it might be a viable alternative in the future. Figured I’d do the study now just in case LOL

Chris

[david pierce]

Chris,
A few years ago I bought a SINCERE lathe off of Ebay for $450.00 new. It came with the cross slide and collet holding lever operating tailstock. In addition to the lathe I also purchased the motor, drill press conversion kit, dividing plates with sector arm, vertical milling attachment and the spring loaded pulley. The lathe is designed to make small parts and is excellent if used for that purpose. The parts comming of of mine are so smooth, they look like the were ground instead of turned. Instead of paying $5000.00 for the German designer label and wooden box, I felt it was better to spend my money on the accessories. As far as the lathe being purchased in China and “finished in Germany” I think that the wool is being pulled over someones eyes. My lathe was perfect and did not require finishing.
david

[chris mabbott]

Thanks Dave, very interesting to hear the opinion of someone that has actually used one of these machines, rather than the usual speculation.

I hear what you’re saying regarding economics, seems that you can pretty well get the full meal deal for the price of a vintage Swiss/German model, this is why I am kinda pondering picking one up. I would like to learn how to make gears eventually, but that would be difficult if going for a used lathe, finding the attachments, tooling etc, seems like there is a feeding frenzy going on at the ebay level these past 10 months. So much for the crisis 😆

Chris

[david pierce]

Chris,
If you go to Youtube and bring up the ROGER SMITH videos you can find one showing how they cut their watch gears. Take note of the size and mass of the machine they are using.
david

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