Let me preface this by saying I’m not a lathe guy, I’m a mill guy.
I’ve been using the same micromark branded sieg c3 for more than half my life to pretty good effect because I’m usually only making smaller shafts and specialized fasteners under a half inch, but lately my needs have grown to include motorsports axles and super charger rotors which won’t fit on a 7x14 lathe.
I originally wanted to get a precision matthews pm-1236t, but since the time I’ve been considering it to now the price has risen 3000usd from it’s original 4000usd price to 7000usd and I can’t justify it anymore because of how infrequently I actually use a lathe.
I ended up getting one of the super-extended sieg c4’s, an 8.5x31.5 with an electronic lead screw. I’m mostly making this post because I don’t see anyone else on the internet reviewing/testing it.
I’ll post more thoughts/tests in the future but so far:
Pros:
- Came very well crated with no damage
- Only weighs ~150lbs which means I can move it by myself
- Initial inspection of all ways indicate good grind and minimal dings
- Has oil ports
- Has electronic lead screw (no more changing out gears!)
Cons:
- The MT5 spindle bore is not deep enough to hold the MT5 test bar I bought
- Very very slight surface rust in spindle taper
- Only weighs 150lbs, the “real” lathe guys will say a lathe this size needs to be atleast 800lbs
- All the leadscrews are metric
- Spindle motor shaft keyway is undersized for the key (key falls out)
- No power leadscrew dust cover
In the future I’m definitely going to get a quick change toolpost, I’m leaning toward the Indian QCTPs instead of the Chinese QCTPs. I’ll also look to remove the metric leadscrews and dials and replace them with Inch to improve usability… the rack on this thing is graduated into 90 0.25mm ticks per revolution… who thinks that way?