HI Group:
I attended the Inernational Hardware Show in Las Vegas this week saw a "new" version of the Sakai ML 360 lathe and mill. This lathe was originally made in Japan and got quite a bit of press in HSM with Rudy Kaughupt (sp??).
Rudy wrote several articles on the quality of the lathe and mill, and my understanding was that the ML series was discontinued several years ago. Why, I do not know. Price?????
Seem like a Korean manufacturer has picked up the rights and the tooling to manufacture the lathe in Korea. They are looking to revisit the US market.
My question is has anyone in this newsgroup used the Sakai lathe, or have any comments on it?
Is there any interest in a Korean made "mini lathe" that is supposedly has much better quality than the now ubiquitous 7 x 10/12/14" Chinese Sieg mini lathes? Size is basically the same.. 6 x 14.
This lathe will be in the 1500 dollar range, so expensive compared to the Chinese made lathes, , but will be comparable (or better) than the German made Prazi line.
I must admit the lathe and mill (especially the mill) looked and felt very good. The paint color is an obnoxious green, but all the controls were silky smooth.
Anyway, just curious is there is a market for a small precision lathe made in Korea?
Steve Koschmann