TAIG Lathe vs Chineese Lathe

Anyone have any opinions as to the quality of TAIG lathe vs the several "made in China" lathes? I'm one of those guys who prefers to buy American made stuff but I alos listen to reason. Robert

Reply to
Finite Guy
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THe Taig is in a different league than the chinese. If you're looking to do very small, very precise work, it will beat the chinese hands down.

But

It has no power feeds, the slowest stock speed is still a little too fast, and it requires being set up to run carefully, but not outside the knowledge of anyone that reads the instructions that come with it.

If you buy the "basic" machine, you get a bed, headstock and carriage. End of story, everything else is an (reasonably priced) extra.

If you want something to "set on the bench and start cutting", the chinese won't do it either, it also requires a little work to make it run properly.

Dollar for dollar, the Taig is probably a better buy, if you can work within the limitations of the machine. I believe there may be an aftermarket feed and threading available for it, and a countershaft to slow the spindle isn't rocket science. THe attachments for the Taig look simple and crude, but don't kid yourself. They're simple and work well because of it. IF you are only doing small work, it would be excellent, but if you're after something a little larger, I've found the 7 X 12 Speedway from Homier to be a damn nice little machine. I had a Taig for more than 15 years, and always found it to be damn handy, and very accurate, just a little "fiddly" to work with.

Reply to
Lennie the Lurker

They aren't in the same class. The Taig is a precise high speed lathe for doing very small turning. The design is an incredible form follows function bit of work, and the quality of construction is excellent. But, it has no power feeds, and will not cut threads. Neither of those things is a real limitation for the sort of work you'd do on this machine.

The Chinese mini (7x12), tries to be a general purpose engine lathe that shrunk. The design is good, but the construction is crude. It does have power feed, and it will cut threads. It'll also handle larger work than the Taig. But sitting down and turning the cranks on the Chinese machines is not the experience you get when using the Taig.

(Note, you can do precise work with the Chinese mini, but it is neither easy nor pleasant to work to very tight tolerances with it. OTOH, the Taig almost begs you to do precise work.)

Both are good values for their respective niches. I've had a Taig for about 15 years, and I'm not about to sell it. OTOH, I've had several Chinese machines of various sizes during that time. They all served a purpose, often a purpose the Taig couldn't fulfill because of its size, but I didn't consider them keepers the way I do the Taig. The Taig is a really *nice* little machine.

Gary

Reply to
Gary Coffman

Agreed. And some threading, at least, is possible with the floating die holder.

I seem to remember reading that left-hand threads are a problem, however, because it lacks a tumbler reverse such as is found on most of the larger lathes which it is trying to imitate.

Agreed. The Taig does feel nice when used within its limitations.

And even better -- you can get an alternate headstock with a spindle and drawbar for the WW series (watchmaker's) collets. I currently have that spindle on mine, as it is being used for small repeating work. (The presence of an adjustable carriage-stop rod makes that easier.)

The one thing that the Taig WW-spindle does *not* have, which the one for my even older Unimat SL-1000 does, is the external taper used to expand *internal* step collets. (The external ones work well in the spindle, but the internal ones need a special tapered OD on the spindle, and the Taig one (or at least my older Taig) has the same spindle nose thread as the standard spindle. That threaded spindle makes a nice way to use the uncommitted arbor as a protective cover, as it fits over the standard WW collets at least.

I agree. I still have my Taig, *and* my Unimat SL-1000, and there are things for which they are the *right* choice. (And -- they don't take up as much room as others do.) I got the Unimat perhaps around 1972 or so, at a guess -- and the Taig (at a hamfest) perhaps around 1978 or so.

The Taig is much more rigid than the Unimat, but there are things for which the Unimat is better -- and vice versa.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

You're confusing the 9X20 with the 7X12. My 7 X 12 has a tumble reverse, it's just on the back side of the headstock, as is the speed range lever.

Reply to
Lennie the Lurker

Well, yeah, but not under power. (At least I'm not going to try to thread with it under power.)

No, you're thinking about that Chinese dog the 9x20. The little 7x12 does have a tumbler reverse.

Gary

Reply to
Gary Coffman

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