Some good, some, well, not so... let's start with the not so.
The tool rest hole in the Banjo was too small to take the shaft of any tool rest, including the one that shipped with the lathe. It took over an hour of work with a round file on the hole to get all the tool rests to fit. Interestingly the last one to fit was the provided tool rest. The really bad part is Technatool's QA sheet says this was inspected.
The tail stock is 1mm out of alignment with the headstock. Both down and back. The adjustment method for the tailstock is to loosen 4@5mm machine screws. One problem, the screws were so tight I twisted a 5mm Allen wrench trying. Obviously I have not gotten that done yet. One additional issue, from reading the instructions. They want the tail-stock "locked" when you tighten the screws. Small issue, the screws aren't accessible when you tighten the screws. Looks like you would have to suspend that part of the lathe to reach under, or maybe (???) remove the basic bed extension to reach the screws.
The basic lathe bed consists of one "mother" section, that the head stock mounts on, and one standard extension section. While the machined surface was clean and smooth, the cast transitions on each side didn't match. This is, fortunately, just cosmetic. But on something running $2K, I don't expect cosmetic issues.
Lastly, the manual is well written, but it is written by and for someone that knows the lathe well. It is not written for someone that doesn't know the nomenclature and location of every item. I say this as an Engineer, that has spent too many years writing and editing technical instructions and I recognize the issue, one I have to watch to keep from doing myself.
Now the good.
Very heavy, all required action is smooth and easy. The lathe operation is solid and easy. Speed control is excellent. Vibration is almost unnoticeable.
Bottom Line:
A good lathe, but one that could due with some tighter QA
TTFN Ralph
The tool rest hole in the Banjo was too small to take the shaft of any tool rest, including the one that shipped with the lathe. It took over an hour of work with a round file on the hole to get all the tool rests to fit. Interestingly the last one to fit was the provided tool rest. The really bad part is Technatool's QA sheet says this was inspected.
The tail stock is 1mm out of alignment with the headstock. Both down and back. The adjustment method for the tailstock is to loosen 4@5mm machine screws. One problem, the screws were so tight I twisted a 5mm Allen wrench trying. Obviously I have not gotten that done yet. One additional issue, from reading the instructions. They want the tail-stock "locked" when you tighten the screws. Small issue, the screws aren't accessible when you tighten the screws. Looks like you would have to suspend that part of the lathe to reach under, or maybe (???) remove the basic bed extension to reach the screws.
The basic lathe bed consists of one "mother" section, that the head stock mounts on, and one standard extension section. While the machined surface was clean and smooth, the cast transitions on each side didn't match. This is, fortunately, just cosmetic. But on something running $2K, I don't expect cosmetic issues.
Lastly, the manual is well written, but it is written by and for someone that knows the lathe well. It is not written for someone that doesn't know the nomenclature and location of every item. I say this as an Engineer, that has spent too many years writing and editing technical instructions and I recognize the issue, one I have to watch to keep from doing myself.
Now the good.
Very heavy, all required action is smooth and easy. The lathe operation is solid and easy. Speed control is excellent. Vibration is almost unnoticeable.
Bottom Line:
A good lathe, but one that could due with some tighter QA
TTFN Ralph
