I plan to see this lathe tomorrow, but I don't know what model it is and would like to do a bit of research first. I can't find one like it in the normal searching. Any thoughts?
-Bruno
The lathe in the pictures look nearly identical to a 9x20 Enco, Bruno, not an EMCO.
I could be mistaken, and it's often said tht the Enco and other Chinese lathes were copies of the famous precision Austrian EMCO lathe, but this one has many identical features of the Chinese model.
If it really is an EMCO, it (very likely) won't be there tomorrow for that price.
OTOH, if it's a 9x20 Chinese lathe, it might still be worth that price.
There should be set of gears with it, bout 8 pieces, maybe, and possibly some other loose parts.
If there are more accessories inluded, I'd say it's definitely worth that price, since the Enco 9x20 is about $800 or more presently.
My first thought is that he really meant Enco, but not sure. I called him today (Sunday) and the machine is in his shop so he could not tell me anything more about it and the shop is not open until tomorrow morning. So it will be around until then, but hard to say after that.
If you've been looking for your first lathe, or a second machine for your workshop, the 9x20 is a decent starter lathe.
As long as one has realistic expectations of a machine like this one, they can gin a lot of experience with a 9x20.
As prices go, all of the 7x12 mini lathes sell for over $400, and while a lot of guys do some incredible work with them, they are really the starter lathe for first time lathe buyers. One charateristic of the 7xX mini lathes, is that they usually have all plastic gears.. at least the 9x20 has iron gears (with the exception of 1, which is meant to be sacrificed to save the other parts of the feed train).
Aside from the change gear set which aren't shown in the picture, the lathe appears to be complete, and there aren't any very expensive parts on a 9x20 Chinese lathe, so if it might need some replacement parts due to wear, they wouldn't cost much.
Some of the good 'ol American machines have a lot of $200-500 parts that wear out or break.
If your examination of the advertised lathe shows you that the the bed is clean and not beat up, the main components are free of rust and move smoothly, and the present owner can show you that it does run, then it would likely be a fairly good purchase.
If the machine is actually an EMCO, I'd hand him the cash immediately after saying Hello.
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