o.k. then, i bought the chester conquest nearly 3 yrs ago and it ha
been used but not a lot. it has had 2 sets of bedway adjusting clamps but i gave up and made my own heavy duty versions. the originals we cracked when they came out of the box but chester sent a new set FOC.
as delivered there was play in everything imaginable.i read about th lathes on the internet and it said to basically go over everything wit a fine toothed comb, i am glad i did. i stripped it to the last nut an bolt and started again, there was not a trace of grease in th headstock and it houses a 2 speed gear and a dog clutch.i spent a wee of nights fitting and filing and got it up and running.once this ha been done you have a half decent lathe , but my problems were far fro over.earlier this year it burnt out both the motor and control boar costing just over £200. it has also stripped the adjusting thread hole on the cross slide nut and one hole in the cross slide where th vertical slide fits on.
there is no carriage lock so i drilled and tapped it for a bras locking screw. that has marked the bedways, leading me to beleive the are not hardened.
as the lathe stands it can produce accurate work and variable speed i a godsend, but it needs constant adjusting to keep going.
for the price you pay they are acceptable bu if you buy one treat it a a kit of parts that needs proper assembling.
does anyone have any experience with the warco 918 and 1016 as comparison
-- bolma
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