Lathe advice pls

[Retrobug]

We deal with Toolquip quite often and came to the point where we requested them to state country of origin on all quotations.
90% Chinese
10% Other
We have never bought a machine from them because of this.

[Manny]

Hi Tony,

Toolquip & Allied I refer them as TQA for short.
As Retrobug mentioned we also request the country of origin when going out on quotes with TQA....90% Chinese..... nowadays what is not manufactured in China????
I will definitely not purchase any off their carbide cutting tools, pay a bit more and get decent cutting tools, ISCAR/SECO my favorite Mitsubishi carbide (local supplier Multitrade Distributors)
I think it is important to understand that their are some good second hand machines it helps to know if you know the previous owner but besides that it is a huge risk.
As for a DRO even though I am old school I still use my verniers, clocks and mics ( MOTO: check and check and check again) but damn! what a pleasure to use a DRO, it makes matters so much easier and it is pretty accurate.
I will also be acquiring some machines over the next two years both my lathe and milling machine will be equipped with DRO, the work I have planned for the machines, I will be going Chinese.
I must admit you have a difficult choice to make.
If I can suggest when choosing a supplier look at the reputation, check what guarantees they offer and what spares they keep also what accessories is supplied with machine, I will not be surprised if both machines are from the same factory in China. If possible try out both as suggested.

[Tony Z]

Thanks again.
I'll make a plan with Seco tools. I bought some ages ago for my current lathe - a whole 28kg worth of machine. It has come in handy and saved the day a few times, but as i didnt have somewhere to put it, I needed something I could move onto a shelf when I was done using it. The Seco tools do seem to last pretty well.

I have asked the suppliers for the contact details of some people who have bought the machines they are trying to sell me. So we'll have to see how this one goes.

Both lathes cost the same (within a grand of each other). If they both come from the same company, I'll probably go for the Toolquip unit as this one has an extra 40mm over bed and weighs about 200kg more.

Coastal reckons they are receiving stock of reconditioned machinery this week. So maybe I'll have a look into that too when I get home?

I'll have to think about the DRO.

[Retrobug]

We use Seco for U Drills and turning boring bars
Iscar for grooving and indexabe milling tools
Mitsubishi for the rest of our turning tools.
And Guhring for all our solid carbide tooling.
Took the best of each supplier ofter plenty testing and still testing as new products are launched