The Little Machine Shop

[LeeWay]

I will say the mini lathes are capable of making some parts. Not as precise under CNC with all the original stuff, but quicker. The only thing that I did not tweak on mine was the bed. Everything else I considered a starter package that needed work. Much the same with some of the items I bought from LMS. Not many mind you. I bought a replacement spindle that would not accept the chuck plates. Not LMS's fault. Crap! It was on a lathe. Perfect machine to do minor adjustments with.
I truly think it is simply the mindset of the buyer and the expectations, however high they may be. LMS certainly does and has provided me with what I expected. Never any issues with them as a middle man for needed sub pro parts.
The OP, if you have read some of his other posts, is a bit negative toward many things. That is his prerogative. I will say though that we may have somewhat free speech in the US, this is an International forum with rules. After so many posts, we are just getting to the fact that you did contact LMS. It would have been a shorter thread had you stated such facts initially. This and most Forums have rules against flaming and liableous accusations. Until you told the rest of the story, Freedom of speech just doesn't apply here and you were the bad guy. Simply my take on an unnecessary situation. It could have been resolved with just a bit of understanding and an email or two. Instead, such drama.

[Donkey Hotey]

Actually, I just did go through some of his other posts. Now I'm more confused than ever. He rebuilds and blueprints Chinese mini-machines so he absolutely has to know what to expect with this stuff. One recent post was a gearbox rebuild where he rebushed the whole whole thing and put bearings where there were none, all because of the low quality and poor fit of the parts from the factory.

[dertsap]

trying to take out the competition ?

[LeeWay]

I recently bought a rebuilt Delco alternator for my 87 Chevy pickup. All American made stuff I reckon. I had to swap the pulleys even though this was for the one year they had different belts, however it was labelled an 87'. No sweat. 10 minutes and I was in business.
I ship my product in FREE USPS boxes. That does not mean they are labelled correctly. By no means correctly. They are, however, a bit covert and saves the end customer money.
I always pay shipping to return a product if you are not satisfied with it, however I MUST wait on it's arrival to initiate the transaction. Just sound business practice in this day and age. If I could shake everyone's hand, I would hold them to it, however, I can't, so your word is only as good as the shipping company you chose to return goods with.

[jalessi]

Digitalmdj,

When you find a better quality live center for less than $24.00 please post the vendor's name and contact information.

Anything constructive would be a pleasant surprise.

Jeff...

[digitalmdj]

This is a before and after of my craftsman 6" lathe . Also a picture of the part of the tool post incorrectly machined allowing to much up and down clearance on the A2Z tool post. It will have to be fixed tomorrow. Still waiting for the new 1/2 hp 3 phase motor to run it on a VFD drive I have. The machine cost 200.00 dollars . It has a new spindle and spindle gear. Also new bushings in the spindle pulley and counter shaft pulley. New gears and half nut and cam in the carriage. It doesn't matter where it is made as long as I don't have to fix it when it arrives. It seems allot of stuff these days is shipped machined wrong. Quality control is a thing of the past.

[jalessi]

Digitalmdj,

Your restoration looks meticulous, very nice.

Jeff...

[blades]

Freakin' BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[LeeWay]

Originally Posted by digitalmdj It seems allot of stuff these days is shipped machined wrong. Quality control is a thing of the past.

I do agree with this. A lot of stuff, especially cheaper stuff doesn't go through much if any QC. I guess where you and I differ some is that I don't mind fixing it if I saved a bunch of money as long as the end result is usable for my intentions. This is why I have a machine shop to be able to work on and make things.

That is a fine looking lathe, BTW. Nice job. That is certainly a step above my 7/12 mini lathe.

[digitalmdj]

I bought this lathe to do the bushings and small stuff for my shoptask . I need to finish this lathe to finish the other. I have to have a machinist fix everything I purchase it is starting to wear on me. I paid enough for the tool post for it to be correct and not in need of repair . If I have to send everything back that needs repair it starts to get expensive. If the box is labeled one thing and the tag says different that's false advertising flat out. Weather it is heavy duty for the machine or not . If the manufactures says it isn't then it isn't. I can machine the adapter plate but it would have been nice to know that at the time of purchase not afterward. I purchased a set of boring bars on eBay it was a great deal but they left one of them out. They have to spend more that its worth sending me the one that is missing. I purchased a compound table on eBay and the bearings were shot and it was brand new. I will have to fix it at a later date shipping was half as much as it cost so I would lose if I sent it back. It will be a nice table as soon as it is repaired. If you don't say anything these companies will continue until someone stops buying the product but someone has to let us know the problem with the product. If I owned a business selling tools like this I would inspect every item so make sure this doesn't happen.And send back what doesn't meet my standards. I would not leave it up to the consumer to make that determination.

[escott76]

Thanks to the mods for editing my post. In the future please just delete it, and don't change the intent.

[praetor]

I have had some dealings with LMS and have experienced the same exact thing as digitalmdj I ordered QCTP (http://www.littlemachineshop.com/pro...2461&category=), the same exact duty live center, a tailstock drill chuck set and [headstock] collet set and found ALL of them to have flaws the QCTP had the wrong hold down barrel (made for Sherline, I have a mini-lathe 7 x 12), I ordered a heavy duty live center, not only did i recieve the wrong duty type, it was a 3 MT, my tailstock is 2 MT and the collet set had .008 run out. after spending the money and time waiting for the order to come in, I was just furious but I knew to call LMS immediately about it, I didn't take, or rather waste, the time expressing my grievance on cnczone.com and though it took a little bit of being snarky, they replaced everything with no problems...I didn't have to pay for shipping, either (at the time, couple years back) I can't say I don't experience such anymore and have met people who gave up on them...I still order from them because it's the most affordable, convenient and readily available POS items, I know. I understand what I am getting when I purchase an item and from them, to boot, and I'm fine with it. But digitalmdj you shoul've done the most responsible thing as a customer, because the customer is ALWAYS right. and for the rest there is not one person here on cnczone.com that hasn't experienced the same, specially from LMS and if you haven't believe me it will happen, it's suppose to. Mostly because most people taking the orders don't know what it is your ordering, and take it among themselves to give you the wrong items...correctly because they may not like they're job, are not into their job, maybe listening to an Ipod or texting at the same time...but mostly because they are not experienced or even know the machining language, so, if possible ask the person you're ordering from (or complaining to) if they knowledgable, don't let them pass it on to a young pissant.