An old man and a New Vevor mini lathe

[Old Everything Tech]

I guess we all fail to go by the old adage: You get what you pay for".
The Vevor lathe was only $310.00 discounted from $500.00
I am old enough to know better!

 

[dabear3428]

I guess we all fail to go by the old adage: You get what you pay for".
The Vevor lathe was only $310.00 discounted from $500.00
I am old enough to know better!

IMO that adage should read "you very rarely get more than you paid for, but will often get less".
Vevor is like buying things at walmart, no one there knows anything about the item other than what the add says (if that), spare parts are not available, the quality is hit or miss (in the case of Vevor and lathes more miss than hit). you can overcome some of this buy saving the case it came in, checking it immediately, start squawking immediately and be prepared to return it immediately. most times when something is wrong they will do a couple of things like just send you another. you have more leverage with someplace like Ebay / Amazon with free returns spelled out if you pay attention/comply with the rules they are very interested in making you happy if they are about to eat the return shipping.
It is a different buyer experience and you have to do a lot more work thru them than say a PM or Grizzly but you can get what you want if your want is reasonable and you put the effort in, you are not going to get a south bend heavy 10 or a hardinge HLV so if that is your expectation then you need to look elsewhere. If on the other hand you want a hobby machine and are willing to play the returns game you can get a fun hobby machine for little money.
with all that said Vevor would not be my first, second or 5th choice for buying a lathe.
I have bought a lot of things from Vevor and have been happy with most if not all of the items, from hose reels that came in broken and after i squawked loudly they just sent me a replacement and told me to keep the first one, which i fixed and it now works fine. to a dividing head that works fine for my use etc.

My advice if i were in your shoes is start squawking and see if they just send you a replacement with you keeping the original you may end up with what you originally ordered and a lot of free spare parts.
I would not volunteer to fix it or install parts, it is their responsibility to get you a working item. I originally did not catch that you had purchased this thru Amazon, that being the case it just got easier for you just just start asking for a return on their dime and see what happens, i bet that they can then look up the batch codes for themself

 

[markba633csi]

Have a backup plan in case the motor or speed control goes out- we have seen a few issues like this
Hopefully your machine isn't one with integrated headstock motor- if that one goes you are really SOL
Probably for liability reasons but the company doesn't provide any electrical diagrams or servicing info

 

[Old Everything Tech]

I am in a pickle. If I return the lathe, handling it is difficult.
First, I have to get a sheet of plywood. $30.00
I have to get help lifting it to put it onto a plywood base.
Then build the box around it.
Get help getting it out of the shop.
Then comes the fun part...
Do I take it to UPS? or have Amazon pick it up?
This brings on more lifting help.
So, I might as well just keep it and use a weight to keep the machine running.
$300.00 is not going to break the bank, and it does run, and I can make it work.
See picture and my weight to hold the start PB.
Sooner or later, I will devise a hold in circuit to keep it running.

 

[dabear3428]

I am in a pickle. If I return the lathe, handling it is difficult.
First, I have to get a sheet of plywood. $30.00
I have to get help lifting it to put it onto a plywood base.
Then build the box around it.
Get help getting it out of the shop.
Then comes the fun part...
Do I take it to UPS? or have Amazon pick it up?
This brings on more lifting help.
So, I might as well just keep it and use a weight to keep the machine running.
$300.00 is not going to break the bank, and it does run, and I can make it work.
See picture and my weight to hold the start PB.
Sooner or later, I will devise a hold in circuit to keep it running.

or option 3 tell them that you want to return it and let them try to help you keep it.
BTW more likely than not a wire popped off the back of that switch and it is an easy fix but that is not your problem. Amazon has free returns that the seller has to pay for and more than likely they will just send you a replacement lathe and let you keep this one. just keep an eye on the return policy rules from amazon and do not get afoul of them.

BTW that yellow switch has the hold in circuit built into it, should be an easy fix, but at this point let them fix it or refund you money or both.

 

[Smithdoor]

I buy a lot of stuff from Vevor, but i'm not brave enough to buy a lathe from them.
PM or Grizzly is your best bet for a known product that will require a min of tinkering to make it serviceable.
My solution was Ebay and an MX-600A. i documented my journey here:

MX-600A 9"x24" mini lathe

well i bit the bullet and bought a MX-600A (1100w brushless 8.7X23.6 with a F/R H/M/L gearbox and a 1.5" spindle bore, shipps with a steady rest, a follow rest and a dead center) off of e-bay, after getting it and turning some steel (does a decent job IMO). I got this expecting a box of lathe...

www.hobby-machinist.com

good luck but i would avoid Vevor for the lathe.

I think just a color change in the paint job.
I spent 3 months going through everything on mini lathes.
The biggest thing is change the tool post to Aloris

Dave

 

[dabear3428]

I think just a color change in the paint job.
I spent 3 months going through everything on mini lathes.
The biggest thing is change the tool post to Aloris

Dave

Sorry ????

 

[Huub Buis]

My mini lathe behaved the same after 10+ years of use. I replace the On/Off magnetic switch and that solved my problem.
I replaced my switch with this one (5 connection)

This magnetic switch is also connected to the chuck safety guard. Maybe that switch is not activated (closed) when the guard is down.

This magnetic switch has 5 wires, one of them is going to the chuck safety guard. Maybe this (thin) wire is lose or not connected.

 

[SouthernChap]

I think just a color change in the paint job.
I spent 3 months going through everything on mini lathes.
The biggest thing is change the tool post to Aloris

Dave

Sorry mate, that's just plain wrong.

The Chinese factories that make mini-lathes will make whatever quality of machine tool is asked of them (obviously limited by the fundamental design constraints, you can't make a titanium hogging machine tool with a 7x mini lathe design). They'll QC to whatever standard they're paid for.

For some reason Vevor appear happy to pay sensible money to have tooling and accessories manufacturered and QC'd to an acceptable enough standard, but when they source lathes, they're seem happy to accept the 'QC reject bin' from these factories.

From what I've seen in pictures and read in user 'reports', the cheaper end of the LMS, Grizzly, ArcEuroTrade and Chester 7x mini-lathes range are hardly beautifully made and rigorously QC'd but they're, well, cubic zirconia in the rough, if you like. They can be fettled and adjusted into usable machines with not a gargantuan effort. With some medium hard work and a bunch of upgrades, they can be really quite good.

The reports of the Vevor 7x mini lathes are more often than not a lot less positive.

As in most things, if a product is notably cheaper than competing products, there will be compromises, sometimes severe ones. If those compromises don't matter to someone then fine, but if they are severe enough (and it seems that with Vevor mini-lathes, they are, more often than not) then most will not find those compromises acceptable and regret their purchase.

 

[Old Everything Tech]

@ Huub Buis: You sir are so right!
I removed the off-on switch # KJD 17 and used the ohm meter to see if the contacts were closing.
The contact that connected the solenoid that holds the contacts closed inside the off/on switch to the 120 vac was not making contact.
I actually put 120 vac on it after I ohmed it out.
I just had to find the solenoid, but I lacked the location until I had the switch in my hand.
I asked the customer service to send me a switch, but as much grief as I have given them, I doubt they do.
I flagged your sw. source.