I'm sure many of you have done the research and looked at various websites that discuss the pros and cons of Asian vs. used domestic equipment. Well here's my "2 cents".

Look around on ebay or any equipment auction and you'll see lots of domestic equipment for sale. Equipment from venerable makers such as Hardinge, Cincinnati, Clausing, Monarch, Bridgeport, Rockwell, etc., are up for auction at what seems like reasonable prices. Just to do a bit of research I inventoried 15 ebay listings for domestic lathes and mills that were ending today and the bids were in the $900 to $1800 range. If you're a regular reader of the discussion groups, they'll most often advocate the purchase of such used equipment over Asian equipment. The reasoning is often based of the fact that the Asian tools are not manufactured under strict quality controls and that the fit and finish of these tools leave much to be desired, hence they're not as good.

Truth be told, there is some merit to these claims. Fit and finish is not up to domestic or European standards, BUT here's the rub -- as amateur/hobby machinists we don't know enough to care.

Next time you check out one of these discussion threads, look at who's doing the complaining. It's mostly professionals, or highly experienced amateurs who were trained and/or worked all their life with top notch machines. These people are perfectionists and when they have to work with imported tools their machining technique suffers and they get frustrated very quickly. Hence they favor used American or European machines and claim that even this used equipment is far better than new Asian imports.

What does that this advice mean to you and me? Not much. First of all, if you're like me, you wouldn't know what a good machine feels like since we have never worked with one. Secondly, we can't take full advantage of the quality nuances associated with these machines because we don't have enough experience and skill to appreciate those quality issues (i.e., my piano playing sounds the same whether I play a $100 piano or a $12,000 Steinway).

I'm a hobbyist and I need to learn on equipment that suits my budget, my available shop space and most important of all, my skill level. Used domestic equipment might be a good alternative for a professional looking to equip his home shop, but it's a stretch for me because it's too big, too worn out and too complex. Also, please remember that these low ebay prices are usually for 30-60 year old equipment. My needs are very basic: I need to be able to move it at will, get cheap replacement parts because I'm going to make mistakes and break some things along the way, and most of all -- it has to fit my meager budget.

There is a payoff to owning an Asian machine tool (besides the cost savings) -- it forces me to be very organized and careful in my machining tasks in order to get the accuracy that I want. Sure, with a Bridgeport I could get to better tolerances much quicker, but with this Chinese tool I need to learn to measure carefully and to take my time in setting up and machining the work.

For a learning exercise and to provide an introduction to the art of machining you can't beat Asian equipment. These are not just my opinions, I have several friends who are professional machinists and who have bought those used Bridgeports and Clausings for their home shops. They have spent many thousands of $$$ refurbishing these tools (because domestic replacement parts are outrageously expensive). They also agree that for a "newbee" like you and me, the Asian equipment is the way to go.  --- "nuff said"