Your thoughts on a SMTCL CA6236 Conventional Lathe?

[Matabele]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback or advice regarding the above lathe. I live in South Africa and decent lathes are hard to come by here. One company stocks this machine though, and it seems one of the better China made machines. That is my biggest concern though....it's made in China. Are any of them any good? I'll be using it for gunsmithing work and prototyping, job shop type work.

Here is a link to show the machine and give some specs: http://westernmachinesales.com/product/smtcl-ca6236-conventional-lathe/

I have my eye on another machine made in Taiwan, it has similar specs although costs the same as the China machine ex factory...so I'll have to factor in shipping, duty etc. Thats OK though if the Taiwanese machine is going to be a better buy.

Heres a link to that machine: http://www.sunmaster-cnc.com/lathe_rml.htm

Any advice appreciated thanks.

 

[Curtis]

"I have my eye on another machine made in Taiwan, it has similar specs although costs the same as the China machine ex factory...so I'll have to factor in shipping, duty etc. Thats OK though if the Taiwanese machine is going to be a better buy."

The "made in China" items garner a lot of negative comments primarily because of the cheap items that flood places like "Horror Freight" stores as well as nearly all consumer items that one finds in the big box stores here in the US and I assume throughout the western world. They do make a LOT of substandard items simply because these items are made to a price. It is not because they "cannot" do a good job and make quality machines. As a matter of fact there are lathes made in China that are copies of the high-end Hardinge tool makers lathe. Having said that though, I have owned a few Taiwanese made tools, including one Taiwanese drill press and the Taiwanese products are usually head and shoulders above the equivalent Chinese made product. Why is that? I really do not know, but if it were my choice between the two machines that you listed, and I could afford to buy the Taiwan made lathe, that is the one that I would buy if it met my needs. I hope this response is helpful to you.

 

[Matabele]

Thanks for the response Curtis, it was certainly helpful. Your opinion is pretty much in line with a lot of other peoples I have approached on this topic. It's probably worth paying the extra just for peace of mind at the end of the day. Thanks again, appreciate it.