To recondition or to buy new, that is the question

And £1600 to add TWO scales .... I'm not charging enough :)

That's for the conny sewer version - a shade less than that for the super 7 sigma...a snip at 7K...

Regards, Tony

Same situation here, this is the smallest and cheapest South Bend, the Light 10:

Heavy 10 like I have was over $10,000 until discontinued a few years ago. Mine barely survived 20+ years in a trade school. Every small fitting had been broken off and the tailstock spindle used as an anvil horn. Luckily they didn't use it as a lathe very much, so it had relatively little wear.

Even good lathes succumb to multiple careless or destructive users. OTOH the 15" lathe from India that I learned on was in a high school shop run by a stern and watchful instructor and had remained in good shape except for the wad of chips embedded in the camlock spindle taper.

This leaves the budget hobbyist who may not ever cut his weight in swarf with the choice of old, worn and questionable or new, cheesy and questionable.

From what I've seen of the imports, a careful owner/user can get good service from a decent example, but they don't tolerate abuse well.

jsw

I've only just realised that if you want any of these 'new' models in Myford Grey it's another six hundred quid extra"