My metal lathe is really the same thing as what you are looking at. I will do my best to push you. I am not sorry I bought mine. I prefer it for turning, and finishing my pens. turning requires you make a tool rest for it. they sell tool rests for them but don't waist your money on them they are not strong enough. If you still have to try one e-mail me I have one I will sell you cheap.
now for the bad news. they will come out of the box plenty good enough for making pens, except, the electronics are prone to failing. this is easily fixed by buying quality replacements at radio shack. Little Machine shop sells a kit that has all the upgrade electronics in it. for top preformance of this machine look at the 7X12 mini lahte group on yahoo groups. it has info on being able to fine tune all the parts. Basically you are buying the raw materials to make a top of the line lathe out of. It is not hard to do and was actually fun for me. I have to get the head stock tail stock alignement adjusted on mine as it is out by about .01". Precise and silky smooth is how I would describe turning with it. it is heavy and can be bolted to a bench. I recomend you do, as heavy a bench as you can. the lathe does not try to move around, but the more weight you have the smoother it runs. Finally it is a great price on a double duty tool. I can make better pens with it and make some of my tools like pilots for my end mill, bushings, dead on center drilling etc. Also look for the Homier speedway mini metal lathe. It is the same lathe and can sometimes be found at an even better price.
