Mini Lathe Comparison

[David King]

I have experience with the Chinese machines.....unfortunately.  After struggling with them for several years I gave up and sold it all to a man more interested in 1:1 automotive work....at a huge loss.  I did have some success making a few parts for my R/C hobby, but they were useless for scale modeling.  I may save up my pennies and get a Sherline set up some day.  I'm personally very hesitant to buy a used machine.  If you are not experienced with machining it's much better to buy new, that way you know the machine is in good condition and functioning correctly.  If you don't know much about machining and buy a used machine and then struggle with it you don't know if it's your lack of experience or a problem with the machine, and if you decide it's a problem with the machine it's unlikely you'll be able to resolve it on your own.

David

[narrowgauger]

Philip

if you are looking at Sherline I would suggest that instead you focus on Taig for 2 reasons, including far superior basic construction (read long term accuracy) and operational simplicity.  Sherline have endeavoured to match Taig, but as result have managed to turn it into a Mickey Mouse machine.

Taking into account the new price for a Taig lathe don't bother with a second hand Sherline or new Chinese lathe.  If buying second hand it is important that it be a high quality German unit where the pervious owner would have (most likely) been sympathetic to the machine, unlike the Sherline in the photograph which clearly illustrates the lack of care and a useless motor.

Taig also offer a Bosch (German) motor on their lathe together with a ER16 spindle (an absolute MUST have)  If you go to Carter's web site he offers an even better speed control module for this precision motor.

In summary: Proxxon is the pack leader by a long way, Taig is a good US made alternative; buy new even if more basic machine; buy Taig in preference to Sherline. (Taig is used in the aero industry, which is a great reference)

Also keep in mind that the Proxxon 230 comes complete with full thread cutting capacity, which is NOT available on Taig & Sherline as standard.

Hope this helps

Bernard

[Hauk]

In summary: Proxxon is the pack leader by a long way, Taig is a good US made alternative; buy new even if more basic machine; buy Taig in preference to Sherline. (Taig is used in the aero industry, which is a great reference)

Also keep in mind that the Proxxon 230 comes complete with full thread cutting capacity, which is NOT available on Taig & Sherline as standard.

Hope this helps

Bernard

Bernard, you dont have any tips for fine-tuning the Proxxon 230?  Or links to sites with maintenance information?
I am afraid I have not been very kind to my 230, and it needs some adjustments in places.

-Haavard

PS: I googled around a bit for the taig, and these links might be of interest:

http://lathes.jrbentley.com/taig.html

This set-up might be overkill for modellers, but it looks kond of cool:
http://microscope.modelengines.info/taigmicroscope.html