Peter, irony on internet can be shaky certainly when you are not in a conversation in same room. I was not quite sure about Schaublins you were thinking of and I know not much about them, believing there are types very small and unsophisticated. So your pictures about Myfords vs. Schaublins might have been from a strong belief. Methinks there are a number of fanatics in the Myford religion as I have learned in some other places. You could have been one of them as well, same goes for discussions about olde lathe brands vs. Chinese types. I got three Chinese, one from Taiwan, all were new and quite allright for my needs. Two are in the 500 kg class, one is 1600 kg, so most jobs can be done on them. Big snag with industry types from long gone times is the heavy weight as typically you get a base casting with motor and drive in and no bench type. So no way to carry them around, even in split components - and you don´t have much of a benefit from tons of old iron unless heavy roughing is your every day job. Plus, classic lathes got no induction hardened bedways of vee-type, so a used machine will show a lot of wear in a number of places , a real mess in case of dove tail or square type guides, not much hope resp. a biiig job to rectify wear. So myself not keen to have an old used machine . Certainly the classic looks of those collectors machines can be nice for static show but a chore for working with them. My first lathe was not small, but primitive and prewar. But which war, rather pre-first world war most likely. Still think of her in times, giving me the creeps after decades . . . .
What´s sure, you will not find a machine that ticks all boxes of your criteria, so study all features and decide what suits your needs best - same goes with motorbikes . . . .
Vic
