Mini Metal Lathe Machine DIY Tool Benchtop Wood Lathe Woodworking for Hobby Sience Education Modelmaking, AC110V-240V50/60HZ

Great for tiny masterpieces. Not for big works, but just for what is needed for me.

The motor always failed when the lathe was turned on. It also has a lot of slack on the table, difficult to do something that requires precision.Don't recommend!

I'm not sure where the previous reviewer said it can only turn a piece that is only 3 inches, the unit that I received is capable of turning a piece that is 4-3/4" long. Perhaps he didn't think to adjust the location of the head and tailstock along the bed. Although the description says that you can do threading on this machine, you absolutely cannot, without some dramatic modifications; there is no lead screw, as just a beginning.A CNC lathe? Not out-of-the-box it isn't.This metal lathe suites my purposes just fine for finer turning work than I can do on my Atlas engine lathe. For hobby work, it is suitable for model railroading. The instructions are absolutely useless. I plan on modifying it for adding some more usefulness; one of the virtues of a lathe. I have not experienced the motor overloading, when turning aluminum, that others have complained about. The cross-slide assembly has more slop than I want, shimming is in the works as well as machining a better method of joining the assembly to the bed.In terms of price, it is much less expensive than my Atlas was, but I can use it on my desk to turn a few spur-of-the-moment parts that my Atlas is too large to turn efficiently.If you need to turn a few small parts, as one-offs or to use for making a mold, then this is just fine. With a little thinking and a couple of 2" extrusions, you can use this for turning wood or plastic parts, just less than 6" in diameter. All you have to do is look, unscrew a few pieces and think about it. It's not that difficult people.While it is not what it is claimed to be in the advertising, it is still useful.REVISION: While this lathe was okay with softwood and plastic rod, for a model railroading task, it is a major fail at metal. I picked up some brass rod at my local hobby shop. This lathe was terrible at trying to simply perform a cut-off with. Cut angle checked, cutting blade shimmed appropriately, purchased an adjustable power supply to slow it down, but there is simply too much flex in this unit to do any metal working.

As in other reviews, the lathe is non-functional with the provided power supply. The 12 volt 2 amp transformer does not run the lathe for more than 2-3 seconds at a time. It then cuts off and starts again after several seconds. This is not acceptable for a power tool. Plan on spending another $10 for a power supply that will run the unit. I'm going with a 5-amp unit that others say works fine. Instructions are a nightmare. Lists parts with no figure to reference. Language translation very bad. Only single cutting tool provided, a disappointment. Otherwise, construction looks good and sturdy. Keep in mind, the entire machine is only about 10-inches long, not something that needs a lot of workbench top space like the images might lead some to believe.

This mini lathe is very well made with high quality light weight materials. It will need some tuning and adjustments but will last for many years of quality service for a fully evolved human being with a good mechanical aptitude. The only complaint is that the included power supply unit is too low of an amp rating to run this lathe. It provides only 2 amps of power and repeatedly trips and resets every five seconds. I have purchased three of these lathes and they all do the same thing. If you purchase a power supply unit with a 3-5 amp output they run just fine even under a reasonable load. Thank you for providing these high quality mini lathes!

Impossible to get centered with stock under 3/8". Lathe wobbles when turning resulting in inaccurate cuts even after shimming. The guide bolt seems to be slightly off which is a shame because a second guide nut would solve this problem but the manufacture went cheap on the most important part! Looks nice but a lathe that will not center is completely useless.

It's far too small of an area to work with. I was expecting small but it's minuscule.

Compact, can purchase some mini accessories. Nice value, but needs some things tried up to run without the part eobble