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Originally Posted by sanddrag
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First, let me say that I have no actual experience working with this particular HF lathe (#44859) however I would tend to shy away from it not because of it being a HF lathe or low quality as much as the design of the machine. From what I understand about this machine:
1) It is belt driven. Which makes it a PITA to change speeds.
2) I am not sure if it has reverse but I don't think so. Reverse is useful for cutting left hand threads.
3) It is an odd ball machine and finding parts and accessories for it will be very difficult.
For the same $400 or less you can get a (slightly) smaller but more capable cheapo benchtop machine from several places (HF, Homier, Cummins, Grizzly, Others). Look for the 7x machines. The 7x machines are gear driven, have variable electronic speed, reversible spindle, and parts and accessories are easy to get.
www.mini-lathe.com has tons of info on these type machines. All of the 7x machines are made in China by Seig. They are cheap and out of the box they run but are not very accurate or precise. If you like to tinker with them to make lots of mods and improvements, only have a limited amount of shop space (say a small home garage), are on a limited budget, and only need to make small stuff then the 7x machines may be good for you. Think of them sort of like a pre-assembled lathe "kit" that when you get it you will need to take it completely apart (not hard at all), clean it up (it ships with tons of red goop grease on it), reassemble it, and make lots of adjustments to it to "tune it". I wouldn't even turn it on until I disassembled it, cleaned it, and reassembled it. If that sounds like a bunch of trouble then stay away from it all together. If all that sounds like a lot of fun and a cool project then go for it. This is price you pay for a cheap made in China lathe. Consider it unfinished but you can do the rest and save some money. If you purchase a "finished" American lathe of this size new it would probably cost 10x as much. There are tons of mods you can make to the 7x machines to make them better and there is lots of support on the net for guys like me that use them. Parts and accessories are no problem, just go to
www.littlemachineshop.com. All of the Seig 7x machines are made in the same factory in China and are of equal quality. HF are red, Homier are blue, Cummings are yellow, and Grizzly are green. Micromark sells a red one with a digital tach, larger motor and some other stuff for a bunch of more money. Be aware that the HF 7x10 is really a 7x8 (really short) and so I would stay away from it. I think Homier sells the 7x12 lathe only of $299 but are out of stock right now. Cummins sells the 7x12 for $399 but with about $150 worth of accessories so I think it is the best deal right now. There are other places that sell the 7x (Northern Tool, Wholesale Tools, etc) as well. There are several good Yahoo groups for 7x mini-lathe owners to discuss mods, tooling, etc. Keep in mind that with any machine (lathe, mill, etc.) the machine is only the base cost and you will quickly spend more than the cost of the machine on tooling. A good place to look around is LMS (
www.littlemachineshop.com). Chris at LMS is a great guy and will help you with any needs you have although he does not sell whole machines just parts and accessories. FYI: I have a HF 7x10 mini-lathe that I have upgraded to a 7x12 with just about every mod and accessory I can think of and a Homier mini-mill that I have converted to CNC. Oh yeah, and a HF micro-mill that I never use since I have the CNC mini-mill. Also, I saw your post about the $199 Homier mini-mill but it is an altogether different beast. Unless you just want a heavy bench top drill press with an XY table don't bother. It has a round column and is next to impossible to do any accurate milling on from what I hear. Again, I don't have one just what I hear. If you want a small mill again look at the Seig type mini mills that HF, Homier, Grizzly, etc. sell. They are around $400 and the same rules apply. Consider them a "kit" that can do great small work if you are willing to spend a lot of time "tuning" them. If you go for a mini-mill I would recommend getting one with a R8 spindle rather then an MT3. R8 tooling is cheaper and more common.
Any more questions just ask!
Chuck