Review Time
Parcel reception:
The lathe arrived well packed and protected. A surprise though: I expected a lathe made in the UK but the country of origin is:….China. Well! lets see how things are.
Unpacking:
No surprise there, all non painted surfaces are well protected with a no rust oil.
As a supplement to the original spur and live centres (black) I was well surprised to find very good quality ones nicely machined.
At first sight the machine looks sturdy and well designed.
Getting acquainted:
As I am unpacking all parts within the box, I find that the pulleys plastic cover is broken on the right hinge. Soon contacted, Axminster ordered a replacement right away that arrived a few days later.
Reading the instruction book I came through the belt replacement process and failed to understand it. I contacted Axminter who helped me on that: the description in the book is not really appropriate and, though it is not something you do every day, I suggested a correction in the hand book.
Testing the motor, I am agreeably surprised with the high torque provided by the motor and the variable drive.
Getting prepared for turning:
First I made a stand bolted against a wall to use as little space as possible in my little workshop. Here I regretted that no indication for the correct height is given in the hand book.
Now here is the list of my findings and/or suggestions.
• Spindle indexing: I noticed the absence of a mark on the frame to indicate the position. This is easily overcome with a marker mark but It would be nicer if it was part of the deal (photo).
• Pulley misalignment: running the motor I noticed the belt jumped to the left producing a whistling noise. I realised that the top and bottom pulleys were misaligned. Correcting the problem was not a big deal but I had to move the lower pulley about 2 mm to the right.
• The writing "axminter professional" shows the bottom part of the first S detached from the body (photo).
• The pulley lid hinge screws are not at all secured and could come loose with vibration. A little threadlocker would avoid that.
• Tailstock guide: the tailstock had too much lateral play on the bed. I could solve that by gluing with epoxy, either side of the guides, 0,08 mm shims.
• Tailstock quill: rotation of the quill is blocked by mean of a tiny key (not shown on the parts list) held in place with a hexagonal screw which, as for the pulley lid hinges, is not secured and could come loose.
General impression:
The general design and manufacturing are quite satisfactory but, unfortunately, quality control is not the best part of this lathe.
Axminster Tools is now my go-to company for woodworking tools that I can trust. Their website is easy to use and the they seem to have everything you need for woodworking. I have bought several items from them over the years and the quality has always been superb. I have recently bought a great-value wood lathe from them which was delivered promptly and I am delighted by it. Their communication during the buying process was excellent. So overall I can highly recommend Axminster Tools.
The company promises a lot but fails to deliver. The quality of the items is lacking. The tapped holes in the cast body are oval, and the threads are stripped, making it impossible to fit the guard correctly. The dust extraction ports have varying internal diameters, with one fitting well and the other requiring duct tape to hold it in place. Overall, the quality of what I've received so far is fair but not impressive. The rough edges and loose fittings hinder precise angle adjustments. Packaging was inadequate, and the manuals were printed in black and white on flimsy paper. I paid for next day delivery on two items, but I'm still waiting for the second one six days later, even though both were dispatched together, so I can't comment on that item yet. Customer service didn't provide much assistance with the delivery issues, and I haven't yet raised the quality concerns with the company. I plan to do so once the second item is delivered, assembled, and tested. Overall, a disappointing experience so far.
Kudos to the company for delivering my order to the North of Scotland in just a few days. This is quite impressive, especially with the holiday season approaching. I haven't had the chance to use the scroll saw yet, but I've inspected it, and it seems like a great tool. I'm excited to learn a new skill soon.
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