How to buy a lathe (mini)

[Jay Kir]

Hi guys.
I am in the market for a mini lathe (I'll be making tool handles and short things like that, and I might get hooked onto faceplate work, but I know it's a slippery slope). I have a large lathe on which I haven't done much turning, and which I'll be selling at some point. So, now I have my sights set on the Rikon 70-100 mini that Woodcraft has on sale at $260 till the end of the month. I've seen some posts that described some problems (2006) with this model, but I assume they have corrected them by now.
Well, besides runout (which I guess you can evaluate at the chuck headstock end), how can one find out if the tailstock and spindle are co-axial? Is there anything one should be looking for, say, for example, if I happen to a _used_ mini lathe?
Jay

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Finding out of they are coaxial really isn't that difficult.

Put a live center in the tail stock and a drive center in the spindle. Bring the tailstock up close, lock it down and then run the quill out and see if the points on the live center and drive center line up.....and I mean really line up...split hairs.

[Scott Conners]

If you already have a full size lathe and want to get started with a mini, I'd try to hang onto the full size for a while. Almost everyone that gets into the hobby with a mini eventually upgrades to a bigger lathe.
Keep in mind that most minis only have 14-16 inches between centers, so if you want to do handles longer than 12-14" you'll need a bed extension or use your big lathe.

I've heard a lot of good things about the little Rikon recently, it's supposed to be a pretty decent little lathe.

Out of curiosity, why replace a big lathe with a mini?

[Jay Kir]

Thank you for your replies. The reason to downsize is that I might be moving soon, and won't have the space for a full-sized lathe (classic Delta VS). (In the future, I might be adding extensions (yes, it's weird, I know.)

I thought about bringing the tailstock to the drive center, but that would only check if it's co-axial right at the drive center area. If the bed is at all askew, the first check wouldn't apply to a distance of say, 15" or longer, or does it matter? Do we have to measure co-axialility (sp?) away from the drive center?

Is there any other test I should subject a newly purchased lathe (new or used) to, and how much use would it take to find out if it's a peach or a half lemon?

Jay