I'm guessing that a few of you have contemplated owning a mini lathe for small parts fabricating- well at least I have! The fact that they're small was important to me as space is limited. I researched many of the mini lathes after getting pricing for some machine work I needed done- When you need to spend almost a thousand dollars for what I considered minimal work it became a necessity to afford one for all those small tasks that are needed all the time. I ended up buying a 8.9" X 16" Vevor (made in China) for just over $1,000. w/shipping included. That's only the beginning of the cost to own one though
You need tooling for whatever you're going to make- I bought lots of extra stuff for about another $1,000. You probably won't need that much but expect to spend upwards of $600. for most basic needs. "Bangood" has incredibly great product for very little money- more about them if you're interested.
The pic below shows the model I bought- my needs were specific,this is a tool not a toy for me. I bought one that has a 1100watt motor,1-5/8" bore (hole thru the chuck) the 8" models use a 5" chuck verses the 7" mini lathes use a 4" chuck. I don't know where they get the 8.9" of swing as only 8.1 will fit on the chuck to the bed
when calculating the usable length- subtract 1/2 for material beyond the chuck (if 14" then about 7" of space to actually tool) The next pic shows how small it is and it fits really well on a rolling tool box (HFT $400. very stout box)
I couldn't be more impressed with the machine
right out of the crate it was usable, no clean up & the best crate for not getting damage to the machine I've ever seen. I checked all the nuts & bolts and gave it a good inspection to find it's extremely well built. Quality is excellent- very smooth surfaces and close tolerances, all the important items function they way they should without much tightening.Very powerful motor (hard to bog it down) I've been using it about a month now and I use it almost as much as my vise! If for no other reason but to square up cuts tubing/pipe.
The Pandemic made this possible with the stimulus checks (I hate I didn't spend it in the US). Our family was lucky, we never missed a beat with finances.
Just for examples sake I took pic's of my attempt to make an intake manifold for my Honda TRX200's (no one makes an after market one & used ones will fail) I have 3 other motors that have bad ones & that makes them unusable. I couldn't believe all the aluminum chips created from this project.
If this lathe/tool interests you & have questions I'll provide an opinion.