King 7x12 Lathe
Hey all!
This post is mainly for the purpose of informing canadian people of options when they're looking to buy a mini-lathe, and also to make sure that this info shows up on Google.
I have a 'metalworker' 7x12 mini-lathe that I bought from 'Princess Auto', it is mediocre quality at best... Time has come to upgrade so I have been looking at larger lathes. I'm after a King Industrial 10x22, but the store didn't have any in stock. I wanted to get an indicator of the quality of King lathes in general, so I had a close look at their 7x12 that was on display. I noticed a few things that were interesting about the King version of the 7x12:
- It comes with a 4" chuck instead of the usual 3" chuck (which means you should be able to use the full spindle bore without having to buy another chuck)
- It comes with ball oilers on the carriage, tailstock and compound
- The base of the tailstock is actually correctly machined and finished and can be easily adjusted for centre or turning tapers (unlike the usual 7x12s which are normally covered in paint there where they shouldn't be)
- It has way wipers on the carriage
- The change gear cover, and electronics enclosure are both made of metal rather than the usual crappy plastic
- The paint job looked really nice
- The fit and finish of the lathe overall was miles above what I've seen on other mini lathes
- They specifically say that the bedways on the lathe are hardened... The ones on my crappy 7x12 certainly aren't! And I've never seen another mini-lathe that said they were except the MicroMark...
- It actually has a real E-stop switch, rather than the crappy hinged plastic thing they normally have. This is more important than it may seem because my crappy safety switch has actually failed to function a few times. When you need that switch to work, you *really* need it to work...
From what I've seen the quality of the basic features seems to be really good. It actually has some features that the LittleMachineShop machines don't come with, which quite surprised me... I was expecting another crappy mini-lathe offering and that was not what I saw!
It only has the 350 watt brushed motor instead of the nice 500W brushless that the LMS and MicroMark machines come with, but I have the same motor on my lathe and haven't found it to really be an issue.
From what I've seen this is probably the best way to get a mini-lathe in Canada. The second-best way is probably ordering from LittleMachineShop or MicroMark, but I think the basic iron of those lathes is probably not quite as nice.
Anyone have any hands-on experience with the King 7x12?
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Get an 8x12 lathe from Harbor freight. It's a real machine and the quality is fantastic, by comparison. I don't know who makes them, but I bought one when they were on sale for 439.00 a few years ago and I couldn't believe what a turd it made the 7x lathe look like. My 7x12 actually had a twisted bed. It was a POS - same with the X2 I had.
Better yet - get a 10x22 from Grizzly. They advertise that they now ship to Canada.
I forget what the name is, but there are basically two main factories and styles of mini lathes - Sieg, which makes the princess auto, harbor freight, etc lathes.. And the other one, which makes, among others, that King lathe. Real Bull or something?
I had one of those king lathes and it was great! Sold it to buy a 12x46 Clausing, but should have kept it for a second machine.
I hadn't seen anything about shipping to Canada on the Grizzly website, I'll have to have a look at that and see what the prices are like!Originally Posted by Winnfield
I'l probably still go with the King 10x22 though... I know the guys at the local dealership pretty well and they're really good on warranty and parts. King also have mobile service guys in canada that will come fix the lathe if anything goes wrong. Not sure I'd get that service from anyone else.
Yeah I remember hearing the same thing, but I don't remember the name of the other factory either... I know there's another company (Weiss) that makes different lathes and the BF20 mills. Those things really look good.
I'll do some research and see if I can find the name of the other factory.
Also: I hear you on the Sieg 7x12 quality... My one is rubbish. I can't get the gibs tight enough without jamming the carriage because the fit under the carriage is rubbish. That means I get all sorts of leadscrew noise in my finishes. The motor control is constantly varying the speed which also messes with my finishes. To top it all off I think the bearings in my spindle are rubbish too... When I'm using the hand crank every once in a while the spindle will suddenly feel 'tight'... In operation this leaves occasional deeper lines around my parts.
Looking forward to using the 10x22, and having to spend less time finishing parts!
Looks like it is Real Bull that makes the King lathe (please note this is still speculation!)
Here's a link to their mini-lathe page: YANGZHOU REAL BULL MACHINERY CO., LTD.
Note the machining of the tailstock base-plate, and the acorn nut on the tailstock, both of which are the same as the King machine. The one on their website does not seem to have oil ports, but I'm sure that's just something that King would have requested...
The good news is that it can likely be scraped in by somebody that knows what they are doing. There is a guy in Michigan that will do it. I will try to find his name/number. It will be like an entirely different machine. I thought I had pictures of mine after it was done, but I couldn't find them. I actually sold that lathe for a profit.
Given that I'm looking to replace it anyway I was actually going to use it as a project to teach myself scraping at some point... It would require a lot of work to make it into a 'good' lathe, but given that it was my first lathe, and it made me money, I think it probably deserves to be treated well!
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