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[essex2visuvesi]

The wife has agreed I can have a small lathe/Mill as we had a good year on the wood we sold

I have been looking around and I'm torn between 2 proxxon models
The proxxon PF/PD230 lathe mill combo
or its bigger brother the PFPD400 combo.... this one is a little over budget so I would have to put some extra cash towards it

For machining of bits and bobs for model boats, RC cars etc what one would you reccomend?

[boatmadman]

This one:

http://www.peatolmac.talktalk.net/lathe.html

Had one for years, very versatile and you can either buy a dedicated mill as well, or just buy fittings for the lathe to enable use as a mill.

Ian

[essex2visuvesi]

Interesting, I will have a good look at them, tho I think postage to Finland may make be pricy... The reason for choosing the proxxon models was they are available locally, are currently on discount and have free delivery lol

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

You've answered your own question Mr Essex.   

I'm also after a lathe so will watch with interest.

[essex2visuvesi]

I have droped Peatol and email.... after reading up on them they seem to be pretty good value for money and I can get more bang for my buck as long as the shipping isnt too bad

[Peewee]

dont forget to add the tooling to your costs, could be easily as much as the lathe/mill itself. 

[Subculture]

I would be inclined to try and get reasonable sized lathe. You can do milling operations on a lathe, but it's difficult to do turning on a mill!

Ian's advice is bang on.  A good secondhand machine will often come with most of the accessories you need.

[essex2visuvesi]

The problem with S/H is my location :(

I can find second hand full sized lathes without a problem for reasonable money as they are quite popular here in Finland, Finding smaller "modellers" lathes and mills is not so easy... A second hand mini lathe holds its price well and can cost more than a full size.

I would like a full sized lathe at one point but untill the barn/Garage/Junk store is restored next year I have nowhere to put it

[giovanni]

You may want to look for a good used Schaublin 102 or a Habegger lathe.
You can pick one up for less than a new Proxxon lathe.
 And much better quality and the lathes have a cult following. :^)

http://www.lathes.co.uk/schaublin/

http://www.lathes.co.uk/habegger/index.html

[Peewee]

from what i can see and have heard proxon are not cheap, at least in the UK.   Arc have a very good reputation here and also over seas on the model engineering forums.  the also offer in house upgrades on the Chinese imports.  http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/default.aspx i have used them for tooling

[irishcarguy]

Hi Essex, my machine head friends told me to buy the biggest lathe I could afford & I had the space for. I took their advice & bought 10x18 Chinese Clone.They are sold under several different company names & paint colours. It is well made, pretty accurate & best of all the tools you need to make it work are inexpensive. Most of the Chinese lathes are made in the same factory in China. I live in Canada & the lathe I bought is sold by a company called Busy Bee & is named Craftex. I am very happy with it & my mate has had the same one for over 4 years without any trouble. Another company that sells similar lathes in the U.S. is Grizzly & they have a good reputation too. What I really like is the range of add ons that you can buy as well. You should check to see if they sell in your country, they are worth a look. I just bought a milling machine made by the same company, model #CX601, but I am still setting it up so I can't comment on it yet but it looks very well made too. Hope this will give you something to think about & any questions just PM me, Mick B. 

[essex2visuvesi]

I have decided to hold off on the small lathe for the time being as one of my father in laws friends is retiring next year he is going to do us good deal on the contents of his machine shop :)

Now to find somewhere to put it all lol