VEVORHigh-quality Metal Lathe, 8 x 16 in, 550W Benchtop Lathe Machine, 0-2500 RPM Variable Speed, with 0.0003 in Spindle Accuracy Metal Gear, for Precision Parts Thread Soft Metals Wood

Fast shipment from the vendor & very professional! I would recommend this machine to any of my friends. It's a great bargain for its size class.The machine arrived undamaged. Everything appears to be working as it should. Tolerances and runouts are as advertised and will not require much, if any adjustment. It's just a nice little lathe! Machines packed for overseas transport are usually covered with clear cosmoline or something similar. This unit was no exception. Expect to get several shop towels saturated wiping off the bulk of it, then use WD-40 to dissolve and wipe off any of it that remains. It's also a good idea to check the gears for detritis like wood chips and styrofoam that popped off the inside of the crate due to stapling of the crate at the factory to prepare the machine for transport. The stiff, brown grease on the gears in the drive train is for lubrication. As long as it's clean, there's no need to remove it. I plan to keep it well lubricated and use Vactra way oil on the various gibs, dovetails, and Morse tapers. Regular oiling of the lead screws and bearings that have oil ports is best practice and the machine should last for many years if you take care of it. Swarf it down at the end of every work session and when you expect to leave it sitting idle for extended periods of time.One thing that's often overlooked by newcomers is shimming the lathe bed. If you want to maintain tighter tolerances and minimize errors, shim the legs of the lathe bed to remove any twists. The rubber feet supplied with the lathe are not helpful in this regard. Bolt the lathe feet to a heavy bench and add shims. YouTube has several good videos showing how to do this.As to the several comments about the motor not running, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!. There are several interlocks on this machine. The plastic cover over the lathe chuck has an interlock to ensure it is closed. The motor will not run if the cover is open. The Forward and Reverse switch on the front of the unit has to be set to the desired direction or the switch will trip out. And ALWAYS be sure to stop the machine when changing gears or directions. This thing isn't like a vehicle. Any time the gears or direction are changed, ensure the chuck is not turning!One other thing worth mentioning is that tachometer sensor under the end cover has to be close (but not touching) the left end of the lathe shaft. The small metal studs must clear the tachometer sensor. But if the sensor is too far away, the tachometer might register the rotational speed as something other than what it actually is. When I first turned on my machine, mine was reading about half the correct value. This is easy to fix by pushing the sensor a little closer to the shaft encoders, the small studs surrounding the end of the shaft.I have also seen a few people complaining about the lathe tools. These are brazed carbide cutters and need to be correctly sharpened before using. As with most brazed carbide cutters, it's up to the user to profile and sharpen them as needed before using them. You will likely also need to shim them in the tool holder to center them up to your workpiece. The lathe tool muti-tool holder will allow several cutter sizes. The ones in the included kit are 10mm x 10mm. If the cutter isn't lined up with with the vertical center of the workpiece, then watch some Youtube videos that explain how to do it. There is plenty of support for these machines on the Internet. If you have trouble finding videos, remember these all use similar parts that are made in the same factories in China.I agree that the multi-tool holder is a bit lacking and perhaps even more than a little clumsy. And depending on the metal you are working with, brazed carbide cutters might not be the best choice. They are typically used for cutting mild steel. Materials like high speed steel (HSS), titanium nitride, or cobalt steel cutter tools might be a better choice for other metals. It's just a budget tool holder with some general purpose tools for those who might not need anything better. There are lots of tool manufacturers with thousands of specialized tools available. Several recommendations are Shars Tool, Harvey Tools, and Tormach.There are several after-market quick change tool holders that will fit this machine with little or no modification. Remember, you are at liberty to add after-market parts and modify this machine as you desire. For small shop and hobbyist work, it's impossible to guess what every end user might need or expect. So watch videos, read books from the old timers, and ask questions. Someone will likely have a solution for whatever you may encounter. Also, remember that the larger the machine, the greater the cost for the tooling and work holding attachments. The cost of tooling and add-ons goes up exponentially with size of the machine. Many production shops that are trying to reduce turnaround time will expect more than the mini lathes and mini mills are capable of. If you expect the small machines to plow through the toughest metals with just a few passes, they just aren't capable of doing so. But most are capable of doing a decent job if you aren't in a hurry, take shallower cuts, use the right cutting tools, and don't have a long line of customers waiting.If you don't believe me, then look at what some of the so-called "model engineers" do with these things and even smaller machines of various brands. A good place to start is with the Home Shop Machinist books by Village Press, Inc if you are here in the US, and with lathe and mill books from Fox Chapel Books if you are in the UK or other countries. Amazon has both available.

Mine came broken out of the box. Turned it on and the fuse immediately blew. Contacted their support, and they sent a new "head box", which was the spindle+housing assembly (which contained the motor coils), for me to replace by myself. After replacing it the control board popped and smoked. They are sending a replacement board as of a few days ago, which will take another couple of weeks to get here. I've had this for almost a month and it's still doesn't work.Btw, they say that the spindle is MT4, but it's not. The max diameter of MT4 is supposed to be 1.2310", the minimum diameter of the spindle bore is listed as 32mm (1.260"). I'm not sure what the actual bore size is. They also don't mention that it can't do some threads within the range they list with the provided gears, it's buried somewhere in the manual *after* you get it.

The late arrived in a timely manner and was packaged very well. It had no broken parts and was easily assembled. The tail stock has obviously been redesigned with a deeper groove for alignment and the alignment was only one half mil out, which was not that difficult to correct. The only issue that I have is that the gears are constantly hitting inside the cover and no matter what I do, other than removing the cover, I cannot get it to stop. Otherwise, the machine works very well and I have used it to make stops for my weld tables. I will say that I did remove the rubber feet because they caused a wobble in the machine that does not exist without them. I would say it would be better to mount the machine to the tabletop to maintain stability.

I read all the reviews and was very hesitant to order this item. But when I weighed the cost to have my few jobs done at a machine shop, the cost would have been about the same. So I said, what the heck, give it a try. Like others, mine came very well packaged (Delivery Proof) with no damage at all. As I unpacked all the parts (Small and large), I found that everything they advertised was there, including Steel and Nylon gears. Got it unbolted from the packaging and on the work bench. At this point, be prepared to spend the next hour or two degreasing the whole thing. But I would rather have that then surface rust. I plugged it in and the on/off switch worked just fine (A common complaint). They say it will turn 2,500 rpms, but mine turns over 3,000 rpms. Mine also seems to be spot on with the shaft line up. I was able to do all this without even opening the instruction booklet. Now one of 2 things with this brand, 1. They have improved them over the last year or two. or 2. Some have no idea about them. I will stick with 1. Maybe I just got lucky with mine, only one way for others to find out, order one. Just keep in mind, it's not a $10,000 lath, and it has it's limitations like anything else in this world. If I get a chance, I will make a video tomorrow.