BestEquip Metal Lathe 7" x 14",Mini Metal Lathe 0-2500 RPM Variable Speed,Mini Lathe with 4" 3-jaw Chuck,Bench Top Metal Lathe, Benchtop Lathe, for Various Types of Metal Turning

TLDR: I would buy this lathe again, every day of the week, and twice on Sundays.The Good: All of the critical to function parts of the lathe worked out of the box and seem to be able to achieve the tolerances I expected. I'm not a machinist, but I am a Statistical Analyst, so I speak math. I've only done about 1/3 of the suggestions to improve runout I've been able to find, and I'm already making chips and making projects successfully. My expectation is that as I learn how to use the lathe and use better quality steel, I should be able to at least cut the error in cuts in half by making my skills better, and the tolerances are already good enough(for now).The Average(as expected): This lathe is not a "Hizzly" 7x14 lathe and you are not paying for the hand holding that "Hizzly" provides in their user experience. I was first given incorrect tracking information. The company I ordered from replied within 12 hours and corrected that. The crate the lathe comes in is substantial, but obviously took some whacks in shipping. Several small parts were broken out of the box. None were critical enough for me to return a working machine in mostly good shape. Many of the beginners projects suggested on line are to make upgrades advance wheels/handles/fittings/etc. anyway. Several parts were slightly bent, again, not badly. The lathe required cleaning before use as expected.Summary: This lathe cost me about 1/4 of the price of a similar "Hizzly". I would estimate it to be 80% as "good" as the top brand in function. In my mind that's a huge win. I've already successfully made a Hydraulic Deprimer Punch for Berdan Shells, which required +- 2/100th mm tolerance. Most of the error in the cuts is still me. I'm using HF brazed carbide tooling I sharpened myself as required, and this seems to cut steel just fine with 3/100th mm spring cuts offering a finish that can be smoothed and chamfered with a light file and sandpaper . Bottom line is that what this lathe does it does well, but not perfectly, and I feel like I got more than I paid for. I'll take 80% of the utility for 25% of the cost every time.

What I expected for $550, and then some.I sure didn’t expect a top of the line manual lathe for this price but there was a lot out of adjustment, missing parts or damaged. Here’s my list:1. The carriage handwheel was broken off the machine during shipping. The company requested I return the whole machine for replacement, but I declined and they were kind enough to give me a credit to purchase another one.2. It didn’t come with the right combination of gears needed based on their chart. I’m going to create a new chart later.3. The cross feed and compound feed gibs were loose. Tightening this up helped with the finish on o,d, cuts. The pictures are of making a bushing out of titanium. It did a great job.4. Then I noticed the whole carriage would dive into the part when making more than a .030 deep cut. I inspected the carriage gibs and the one in front is bent allowing the corner of the carriage to lift. I believe this along with the loose gibs as described above contributed to dragging the motor down. I’ll know if I’m correct about this soon.5. The tailstock barrel is about .015” bigger than the spindle and it’s almost impossible to get a drill started and measure how much it’s off center.These mini lathes aren’t plug and play and you need to be o.k. with maintenance and sometimes dis-assembly. After using machine tools for over 50 years I know what will get this lathe back in shape. I also know I will void the warranty with my repairs. But if I sent it back for replacement lathe I could get something in worse condition. Overall it’s a solid lathe and worth the work. I’ll be done soon anyway. I’ll try to do an update.

Well... I've had this lathe for about a year or so and just keep finding new problems.The lathe wouldn't be bad if they would just actually have the smallest amount of quality control. Nothing, I repeat.... NOTHING, on this lathe was checked for quality. Practically ever part of the lathe has had to be fixed or replaced. There is so much slop in everything.... We literally found a nut that is so loose on one of the slides that you can almost wiggle it loose from the threaded shaft. I'm not talking about it just needing to be tightened.... its almost as if they put the wrong size nut on the shaft (but I think they actually just made the nut and their tolerances were off a bit... and by a bit, I mean if they were aiming for the ground... they would've hit the moon first.I'm going to stress again that if you aren't extremely familiar with how to operate a lathe and/or you cannot fix/make every part of the lathe yourself..... Probably should consider buying something else.If you can (and are willing to) make every part of this lathe.... it may actually work well enough to run some projects for fun. It is extremely difficult to produce any parts where tolerance come in to play.I have only run a few parts off that are made of aluminum at this point. Nothing has turned out great due to all the slop in manufacturing. I'm really wondering how well this is going to hold up while trying to work with steel. From what I've seen so far.... I don't have a great deal of faith in this thing..... Guess time will tell!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Let me start by saying.... this is a nice lathe if you know what you're doing.This is not a machine for a beginner. First and foremost because this piece of equipment comes in such bad shape from the manufacturer that you have to practically disassemble everything, fix all the issues and rebuild it. If you are looking to get started on a lathe and don't know what you are doing..... BEWARE!With that said.... if you are an experienced user of metal lathes and know how to dial everything in and setup all the missing details of the machine, it can be a nice little setup for you.Not a big fan of the nylon gears and the fact that in order to change speeds you have to manually swap out each gear everytime.I haven't gotten time to actually turn any projects on it yet due to the fact that we have spent a couple of days just getting everything setup. We had to secure the motor because it was completely loose. Had to add markings on some of the dials because they aren't there from the manufacturer, etc. Once I have had a chance to put some time into making a few things, I will likely update if there are any other major concerns...Seems that it will be a decent little lathe for the price as long as it does what it says it will do.Just know that there is a lot of setup/fixing-up involved to get this machine to a useful state. This would be my biggest complaint up to this point. I wasn't expecting it to be this much of an ordeal to bring the machine up to useful condition.There are also some additional tools/accessories that would be nice to have included, but they can be purchased separately. A quick change tool and a tail stock drill chuck are definitely a plus to order in addition. You can find them on Amazon for around $65 for the two.Have fun turnin' your projects!------------Another update.... when trying to re-gear this lathe for threading material.... good luck figuring out what gear goes where..... Nothing in the instructions..... nothing online that I've been able to find.... nothing labeled on the lathe.... I'd recommend finding another lathe to purchase. This thing has been one frustrating issue after another.