Opinions: Osama lathe on eBay by Reliable

Pondering buying an engine lathe, Reliable Tool has a 14x40 Osama lathe that looks decent, and tooled enough to just about get going right off, outside adding some tool holders.

Anyone know anything about this make? Better yet, has anyone actually seen this lathe in person? Last item I bought from them was an SRD drill sharpener, and the motor was hosed, as was the drill holder block. Got a reasonable rebate back due to motor issue, and overall it sorta came out OK. But no way I can get down to inspect myself, and a tad leery of buying another machine sight unseen. (recalling my CNC mill from a Nevada seller fiasco a few years ago...)

Waiting to hear back on a few questions. Kinda want more than 4 days to research/ponder, but if this really is a good brand and/or someone's seen it and vouches for it's overall condition, I might take a shot at it.

Thanks,

Jon

Reply to
Jon Anderson
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What happened with the CNC mill?

Reply to
Ignoramus14242

Oh lordy... First the seller had it listed with a Fagor control. What showed up in the poorly lit warehouse photo was a nice shiny Chevalier head. Being a 40 taper, I knew this meant larger XY travels. A nice machine, but more than I could afford. Nobody bid, so he relists it sans control. Now I'm interested, I could just move the motors and all from my then current mill, to this one. It was just over the border in Carson City. Would have taken me just over half a day to go look. But, I'd had a real good year, it was mid December, and I wanted one last tax deduction, so bought sight unseen outside of pictures.

Upon showing up with truck and trailer, I knew from 100 yards I'd screwed up. It was a Chevalier head on an old XLO frame. Up close it was even worse, the Z drive nut bracket was loose on the quill and the Z drive cover was missing. Seller had assured me he was using it just weeks before listing, making brackets and such for some monster CNC bed mills he allegedly made. He couldn't find the cover, but said he'd keep looking and ship soon as he found it. After many weeks of calls and polite emails, on the phone one day he just went ballistic on me and started cussing and swearing. I'd had enough by this time and tried to get satisfaction via ebay, but I'd waited too long. This process however, really sent him over the edge, accusing me of harassing and threatening him, and he repeatedly threatened to 'turn me in to the cops'. Needless to say, I never got the cover. I did manage to fix the Z drive setup, and even improve it, and made a cover that works but is ugly as sin. It has more Y travel than the old CNC, but no more in X than a BP, and that was what I'd most wanted. It's far more rigid, and overall I'm pleased with it, but the headaches getting to this point....

To add insult to injury, when I went to leave feedback, I left my comments, then out of habit (since I've only negged a couple people in

10 years), I clicked positive feedback! Back then, soon as you clicked one of the selections, eBay processed. AARRRGGGGHHHHH.

Hell, my first engine lathe was a Victor 16x60, bought from a former co-worker and someone I was doing medical prototype work for. Didn't take long to discover the spindle was bent! And this was from a guy I knew and trusted. As it turned out, while he'd been in the bay area for many months, someone had come in to use it, and crashed it, unknown to him. So one never knows unless one inspects... (btw, he did buy a new spindle for it)

There are a few people I'd buy something from on their word, but buying sight unseen from an unknown seller or one with a previous bad experience, is very risky.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Anderson

JA:

Best of luck with RT is all I can say. I'd want to know that I'm asking every question that will occur to me when I see the tool in person.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

Reply to
Edward Hennessey

Still no answer from RT. It could be a screaming deal, but having been burned twice, I'm not up for an impulse buy. There was a Siamp lathe nearby some months ago. I'm going to go see if it's still available in an hour or so. It wasn't cheap, but it was nearly pristine, and well tooled.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Anderson

no opinion on the lathe, but, I've dealt with reliable a fair amount, less now that they only sell via e-bay. This is my observations RE their ebay sales

  1. they get a higher price for the same goods than other sellers
  2. I have gotten items that were NOT suitable for use - in every case they have taken them back without a problem - however these are small items
  3. they are quite willing to show you the item if you drive over there and look
  4. they do a superficial check. They have few (maybe one?) skilled mechanics, and a larger group of "cleaners" who make the stuff presentable.

I would make a list of questions and call and ask specific questions - I have found that they answer questions honestly

Reply to
Bill Noble

Hey Jon,

I have to agree with Bill. I haven't been out to the store lately, but they were always good to deal with there and on-line.

Brian Lawson

Reply to
Brian Lawson

Bill and Brian,

Still no reply to email, and I only had a couple very basic questions. Time is way too short to go look and I've decided not to gamble again sight unseen. Just had a nice long talk with Leigh at MarMachine, and it looks like he's got something interesting. But still probably going to invest the time to go look first.

Thanks,

Jon

Reply to
Jon Anderson

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