Bought an Optimum MB4 from FabricatorsWorld, very happy with it overall considering the price.

Makes the Sieg SX2P I had before look like a child's toy.

X and Y are surface ground and then half moon flake scraped for oil retention, Z is rough milled then flaked.

Mine does make a racket from the head when the quill is extended more than a few inches, but I'm working under the assumption that its due to the low quality single phase motor I bodged onto the top while I sort out an RPC for the original motor. Don't think it's anything sinister.

I did take some time to machine more oil groves into the ways while I was commissioning it, and have installed a full DRO with the Z axis summed.

Probably have a few photos of the setup somewhere

PM has been sent.

Neil

I knew Stefan Gotteswinter had done a video on one a few years ago, so just looked for it to provide a link here.
It seems he's done a more recent follow-up 6 years on.
I've not watched it myself yet, but it may be of interest.
His earlier video is also still available too.

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 05/04/2022 01:34:41

I believe the Optimum range are pretty much the usual Far-eastern models except they claim manufacture is supervised by German engineers. But they're still similar. I remember one thread where a chap had problems with one, but otherwise they don't get mentioned much. Could be they mostly sell to Germans who don't complain on the forum because they don't speak English, or maybe the machines genuinely never go wrong. I don't think anyone knows.

Most hobby machines seem to be reasonable these days, but avoid cheap 'bargains' in case a dud turns up. All my machines were OK, but people do get lemons occasionally. My advice is to buy from a reputable UK supplier. The protection is being able to send hobby machines back rather than one brand being massively more reliable than the others. Best to avoid really cheap and to read the small-print. One web seller I looked at pictured a noticeably rough machine and required dissatisfied customers to pay for returns to be sent to a depot in Germany. Bargain if it's OK, painful if the machine is a dud.

I don't get excited by scraping marks – even cheap machines have them. A century plus ago scraping was a sign of high-craftsmanship, and almost instantly widely faked! Nowadays moons are added by machine to improve oil retention: a good thing rather than a clear signal the machine is special. Hand-scraping is still done for high-accuracy, but not in our price range!

Dave

Stefan mentions that his optimum machine is the Rong Fu RF45 badged and maybe specified by Optimum.

Mike