This is the shops Realbull 7×14 mini-lathe, Serial Number 033. At the time it was purchased (spring 2008) Realbull lathes in the United States were not nearly as common as the Sieg models. I had read about some of the design differences and thought the Realbull would be a nicer unit but since it wasn’t imported into the U.S. I was ready to purchase a Sieg unit from one of the many vendors who import mini-lathes. About that time a U.S. distributor appeared that was importing the Realbull models so one could actually be purchased. The unit was purchased and received in May of 2008.
In comparison to most of the other stories I’ve heard about sloppy workmanship and quality control on the Chinese mini-lathes, both Realbull and Sieg, this particular unit has been a true nightmare. It took the better part of ten months, many hours, and an extra large dose of help from a friend who has a mill to get this lathe into service.
In truth the lathe never should have left the factory. In truth, I probably should have returned it. In my defense all I can say is that I expected some fixup, as that is common in this class of machine, however the extent of the next problem never really became clear until the previous problem had been solved. I had no idea, until I was at the end, how much work I was setting myself up for. As far as the factory quality is concerned, I can’t come up with any excuses!
You will find on this site posts detailing the many steps that had to be taken to make this unit perform as it should. At the start, I had very little experience using lathes but by the end I have come to understand how a lathe works very well. Perhaps I should be thankful that I had such a dog of a lathe at the start.
Having to machine just about every major part of this lathe helped me greatly to understand how the lathe comes together and just what it takes to get a good fit on the moving parts. As a result I find I don’t have any nervousness about making any changes to the lathe that come to mind. After all, it’s already better than it once was!
It is my hope that other hobby machinists will find these articles interesting academic reading and that they will never have to make any practical use of this. I should admit though I very often find my hopes dashed . . .
Next post in series: Fixing the Lathe Bed