Should You Buy A Chinese Mini Lathe? Find Out What's Wrong With it, Clarke CL300M My Modifications

[@The_Scienceboy]

Goodness. I felt so sad after watching this. Managed to get through to the improvement mods so thanks for that.

[@martinconnelly1473]

Have you tried polished and ground DCGT inserts instead of the blunt coated ones you have showing in your video? I use them on plastic, aluminium, steel and stainless steel and get a good finish on all of them. They are far more tolerant of the cutting speed than standard inserts and allow much finer cuts to be made when aiming for an exact size. As they are sharp they reduce the load on all parts of the turning operation which is probably important on a small lathe.

[@johnbroadbent9034]

I have the same lathe and have no problems with this lathe at all its the second one that I have had sold the first for a much bigger one, and had many Chinese ones the biggest problem with is if you ever take the back off the Chinese lathe, HAVE look at the neutral SOME ARE FUSED ON THIS A VERY NAUGHTY THING TO DO JUST HAVE A LOOK

[@martinconnelly1473]

Use it on a circuit with an RCD regardless of where the fuse is.

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

This entry point is not meant to be a usable straight out of the box ultra precision tool room lathe, nor is it meant to be a legacy tool . That being said... if you buy in thinking of it as more of an assembled, build your own kit, you cannot beat them for the price. Every auto mechanic, millwright, or handyman aught to have one.

[@johnbroadbent9034]

with regards the cross slide back lash, I had the same problem a quick fix is the two screws on the cross slide tighten them up a little and hay presto no back lash, easy fix the nut works loose a " lot "