Hey all!
This post is mainly for the purpose of informing canadian people of options when they're looking to buy a mini-lathe, and also to make sure that this info shows up on Google.
I have a 'metalworker' 7x12 mini-lathe that I bought from 'Princess Auto', it is mediocre quality at best... Time has come to upgrade so I have been looking at larger lathes. I'm after a King Industrial 10x22, but the store didn't have any in stock. I wanted to get an indicator of the quality of King lathes in general, so I had a close look at their 7x12 that was on display. I noticed a few things that were interesting about the King version of the 7x12:
- It comes with a 4" chuck instead of the usual 3" chuck (which means you should be able to use the full spindle bore without having to buy another chuck)
- It comes with ball oilers on the carriage, tailstock and compound
- The base of the tailstock is actually correctly machined and finished and can be easily adjusted for centre or turning tapers (unlike the usual 7x12s which are normally covered in paint there where they shouldn't be)
- It has way wipers on the carriage
- The change gear cover, and electronics enclosure are both made of metal rather than the usual crappy plastic
- The paint job looked really nice
- The fit and finish of the lathe overall was miles above what I've seen on other mini lathes
- They specifically say that the bedways on the lathe are hardened... The ones on my crappy 7x12 certainly aren't! And I've never seen another mini-lathe that said they were except the MicroMark...
- It actually has a real E-stop switch, rather than the crappy hinged plastic thing they normally have. This is more important than it may seem because my crappy safety switch has actually failed to function a few times. When you need that switch to work, you *really* need it to work...
From what I've seen the quality of the basic features seems to be really good. It actually has some features that the LittleMachineShop machines don't come with, which quite surprised me... I was expecting another crappy mini-lathe offering and that was not what I saw!
It only has the 350 watt brushed motor instead of the nice 500W brushless that the LMS and MicroMark machines come with, but I have the same motor on my lathe and haven't found it to really be an issue.
From what I've seen this is probably the best way to get a mini-lathe in Canada. The second-best way is probably ordering from LittleMachineShop or MicroMark, but I think the basic iron of those lathes is probably not quite as nice.
Anyone have any hands-on experience with the King 7x12?