Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and to lathes for that matter so please go easy on me.

I'm looking at purchasing my first lathe with a budget of around $3k for the machine alone. I've opted against second hand and I know you get what you pay for generally which is why I've stretched the budget a little to get the best I can. I would rather get something I can grow into than sell and upgrade later. I have set aside a tooling budget already so I'm really only looking at your thoughts on the machine.

After a bit of research and comparing specs/reviews I've narrowed it down to a couple which I think would suit my needs. Gaswelds Toolex BL330E, Unbranded CQ6133 from QLD company and HAFCO's AL320G. When it's all said and done, the specs and price of each machine seem to be all on par with each other, and as I visit QLD regularly, getting each to my door wont be an issue with extra cost.

I was wondering if anyone had any feedback or experience with the BL330E in particular? It's the only one I can't seem to find any reviews on. The limited specs provided by Gasweld all seems pretty good but I can't seem to find any first hand info on them. It appears to be Pan Sino brand rebadged as Toolex. I found a lot of favourable info regarding the quality of Gasweld's Toolex CQ6230 and this is steering me towards the Toolex one over the other two. Had the CQ6230 not jumped up considerably in price to $3700 it probably would have been my choice to begin with too.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Nate


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