Mini Lathe Question

[Hal Peeler]

I looked at the mini lathes at the Atlanta WW show this past weekend. Does anyone have any experience with the General? Priced about the same as delta and jet but fit and finish appeared to me (fwiw) to be better. Thanks in advance.
Hal

[Don R. Salisbury]

I have no experience with the General. Be aware that General woodworking machinery is made in Canada, is generally very good and usually priced accordingly. General International is their Taiwanese import line. The quality is comparable with other Taiwanese imports and also, priced accordingly. I bought their 48"x6" belt/disc sanding machine (import) and find it similar in quality and function to the Jet import. I'd suggest that you compare specs on the General (Taiwanese or otherwise) to the other mini's to see how it compares that way. Perhaps someone here has actual experience with the lathe that you refer to.

I hope that this helps. Just my 2 cents worth.

Happy turning ...

DRS

[Tony Shaftel]

I'm very pleased with the General. It's heavy and solid. the headstock and tailstock line up well, it's easy enough to change speeds. I originally had a very early one (January 2002) that had some problems but the dealer, Eagle Tools, replaced it for me. The new one had an improvement or two, so the manufacturer apparently listened to feedback on the early models. I would buy it again.

Tony

[George Troy Hurlburt]

Why not consider the Vicmarc line of lathes. They have a full line starting with Vl100 Mini lathe. A rugged well built machine. You can read about the Vicmarcs on this group.
http://groups.msn.com/VicmarcOwnersGroup

[Angelo Schembari]

FWW did a review of Mini lathes in their sept/oct 2002 issue.

Nova Mercury won out, but the General did well too.

The General is also the heaviest of the minis, FWIW.