Creworks Chinese Mini Lathe – interesting

[VicParticipant @vic]

There are two options on the Amazon link in the OP. This one looks quite different.
I’m wondering if it has a thread cutting gearbox?

 

[not done it yet]

On not done it yet Said:

On Diogenes Said:

On not done it yet said:

… ..Compressors were always quoted FAD until the chinese realised they could con the buyers by issuing higher numbers for less money.

…

Sorry NDIY, but that’s just nonsense

…

Why perpetuate conspiracy theory couched in such such offensively racist terms?

 

Maybe those reputable importers did a good job in being transparent, but …

NDIY no doubt means well but his long list of alleged offences assume nothing changes.   The truth is all developing economies follow the same trajectory.   They begin by making low quality goods, often inferior copies of more advanced products.   As there’s very little profit in making cheap tat, and customers don’t like being disappointed, developing economies soon move upmarket.  A few decades make a big difference.

The first country to make low-grade tat was Great Britain, where Birmingham, England was once notorious for cheap rubbish.  By 1890, British goods were far more likely to be well-made.

The second country to start by making inferior products was the USA, notorious for ignoring patents, and exporting poor imitations.  This phase didn’t last long – by the end of the 19th century US quality had improved enormously and many were better and cheaper than British.

Next to enter the market with tat was Germany.  Hence the expression ‘on the Fritz’, because German imports into the US were so shoddy.  Again this phase didn’t last long!

Other European nations with a bad reputation for carp included Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Mittel-europa.   And Switzerland started with crude cuckoo clocks, not Société Genevoise d’Instruments de Physique Jig Borers!

Then Japan and Taiwan.  In my youth both considered the absolute pits.   Like all the other countries above, they too moved up-market.

The quality of goods from communist countries varied wildly.  Products intended for their domestic consumption was distinctly inferior.  But, because they were desperate for foreign currency, they would also sell high-end stuff for less than it cost to make.  Bargains.

Today’s newcomers include many developing nations all doing the same thing.  India and China are big players, making very rapid progress.   China’s performance and improvement has been spectacular.   Before Brexit Europe was the world’s largest economic group, then the USA, followed by China.   Today, China is the largest, followed by the USA who appear to be losing ground rapidly.  EU is third.  Globalisation adds another dimension.   Today, it’s possible to set up modern high-end production, almost anywhere.  In Thailand my  mate lived between a third-world village and a massive factory making world-class electronics.   Reason: the best place in the world to make anything is where it’s cheapest.

What to do about it?   Whinging about quality isn’t the answer!  The customer is always right, and the majority want value for money. Quality is secondary.

No-one making well-made products need fear China provided the price is right.  Unfortunately too many on this forum, and may be firms, focus on ‘quality’ without considering price.  That’s commercial suicide.   Moaning about quality is unhelpful in that it doesn’t address  root causes.   That’s how to produce well-made goods that the paying customer considers affordable.   Hobby workshops are full of nice but elderly British tools, which would be great except most of the companies than made them failed.   Not because the quality was poor, but because their products cost too much.

China and India bashing is toxic because they aren’t the problem.  And if it’s not them, it will be someone else, like Brazil or Mexico.  It’s our job to compete with them.  Our manufacturing has to get the balance between quality AND price right.  If we do, there’s nothing to fear from China.   I’m afraid traditional methods have little to offer: think modernisation and restructuring, not ‘the old ways are the best’.

I’m not saying any of this is nice!  I hate change.   But when the world moves on, we all have to adapt.

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Vic, probably the same as many others. One of those knobs is fwd/rev of the lead screw. The other gives three ratios through the basic “gearbox” so for ant gear train you can get 3 different feed rates or three different pitches. Usual set up is 1:1, 2:1 and 1:2. One downfall of the lathe that is mainly featured is there does not seem to be a tumbler reverse.

This can be a problem with some of these sale listings. The pictures are not of the machine you think you are getting and the specs are not always the same. Take the 3000rpm in one image and 2250 in the description. As for the image of it “drilling” I’ll leave that up to the members to decide. Also the “granular handwheels” may mean it is one of the earlier mentioned machines with sand in it.

 

Lets all try and keep the thread to lathes.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

This confirms what I said above – Fwd/rev and Med/High/Low

[Vic]

On Vic Said:

There are two options on the Amazon link in the OP. This one looks quite different.
I’m wondering if it has a thread cutting gearbox?

 

Pretty sure it doesn’t have a gear-cutting gear-box.  Zooming in on the advert reveals:

The two knobs control the autofeed (leadscrew) only: Forward/Reverse and High, Low, Medium.  And the threading table appears to me Imperial Threads only (TPI), produced by only 6 gears that have to be changed on the banjo.   I reckon the Creworks lathes are variations from the usual Chinese hobby family, simplified for the US market – perhaps gun-smithing.

Creworks look to be worth watching.   It’s a US company specialising in tools, more industrial than hobby.  Not a manufacturer: looks like a rebadge operation.  The tools are Chinese.

Not being sold via Amazon in the UK yet, but for a properly equipped workshop we obviously all need one of these:

It’s a 22HP (16kW) water cooler.   Replace your slow-mo manual lathe and mill with a line of busy CNC machines running so fast they have to be kept cool with this serious bit of kit!

Several other industrial machines on offer like automatic wire-strippers, T-shirt hot-presses and mini-excavators.

Dave

[Lee CooperParticipant @leecooper46013]

Can’t individuals who want to make unfounded calls of racism just disappear somewhere else and let the rest of us talk about a common interest of machinery/engineering like adults? Sick of this politik invading every arena. Certainly took a giant poop on this thread.

Thanks to those who provided constructive comments. I’ve really enjoyed the benefit of your expertise.

Thanks also to Jason for trying to keep it on track. I’ll bow out now because I’m probably part of the problem rather than part of the solution with this post. Just needed my 2 cents! 🙂

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

[…] Lets all try and keep the thread to lathes.

Nice to see the intelligent use of a Poly-Vee belt system and a variable-speed motor.

MichaelG.

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Did not know the good old USA made shoddy stuff once upon a time. Interesting!

[Author]

Posts