METAL LATHE 12IN. X28IN. WITH DIGITAL READOUT CX701

As an experienced machinist I decided on the cx701, one of my concerns was the accuracy. I’ve had it for about a month now and improved the accuracy enormously. When I first got it I took a light pass on a 10”X 3/4” bar to check the run out and it was easily out at least .020” the chuck jaws were off as well. What I did to improve the accuracy I levelled the ways to remove any twists by putting 123 blocks on the flats and using a machine level. I also bought a mandrel to level the tail stock and bought a set of collets. After making these changes the same 10” bar was remachined and the runout was only a couple of tenths out. I really like this machine now that it’s running true, I recently ordered a quick change tool post as well.

I've been running mine for almost a year now and put it through about every task I can think of. It runs great and is tight. I've only noticed 2 small problems, when cutting threads. The first is that the plate with the threads per inch is not always accurate, it took a couple tries before I noticed that sometimes the left and right columns on the plate are reversed. The second is that gear changes are not always straight forward, sometimes the gears are tight enough on their shafts that the rotation unscrews the shaft. In general, I would recommend this machine.

I bought my CX701 a couple of weeks ago and so far haven't had a great deal of time to play with it, but here are my initial impressions: While uncrating it, I noticed a small fuse holder and fuse in the bottom of the crate. Odd, I thought, until I noticed it was the same type used on the lathe. I figured they must have given me a spare and also noticed a pill-bottle sized metal can in the crate that I assumed must be either touch-up paint or they just tossed the garbage in the crate when they finished. Still not sure about the can, but after uncrating and carefully crane/slinging the lathe onto it's new stand, I got it ready to plug in and test. That was when I discovered it was completely DEAD! No power, nothing, despite everything I tried. That's when I thought back to the little fuse and noticed the small black hole next to the on/off switch. I retrieved the fuse and that's when I discovered it wasn't a spare but the missing fuse from the hole. "No big deal, just toss it back in and good-to-go." Except, it wasn't just removed, it was actually broken. The outer cap that screws into the lathe's female end was somehow snapped off. These threads are required to keep the fuse inserted and without this 2 cent piece of plastic, the lathe doesn't work. Luckily, I was able to crazy-glue the part back together and the lathe then worked fine. Easy fix, but when you spend $3 grand on a lathe, you don't expect to need crazy glue to make it work. I also noticed that the backspash was bent slightly, however it's thin sheet metal and was easily bent back straight as new (well, almost, but not really noticeable). Other than that, there were no real problems found so far. The metal casting process used on every chinese machine is always mediocre at best- not observable on the visible surfaces, but when you look at the base, you can see the rough surface from the sand-mold. This doesn't affect the operation of the lathe and you have to look to see it. Not really a problem, and when you aren't paying $12,000 for the same lathe, you have to expect these little issues. Everything else seems good- the ways are fine, one little nick but not a problem. Handwheels and all controls, including the variable speed work perfectly. I have yet to make anything with this (other than a few pointy metal rods- lol) but so far, I'm pretty happy. In fact, after comparing some nice american made lathes (and the outrageous price) and other lesser chinese-made lathes, this one is pretty amazing for the price. Generally only the Taiwanese made lathes (as opposed to mainland China) are of this quality when talking imports. Again, I've yet to get serious with this lathe (and will report back afterward) but initial impressions are very, very good!

For the price and features, I am quite satisfied so far with this machine. Did not require much tinkering andhas been quite accurate since the first cut. I did have an issue with the crate, where one of the legs had fallen off, but Bil in the warehouse fixed it before it was loaded. I will know more after a few more months of use, but overall I would recommend this to any serious machinist.

I only had it for a week and it quit working, when I called for help with it I was told to test the wiring for voltage, when I did the wiring started to fall out of the terminal blocks, falling out of the wire crimps. After all that I still have to take it for service, I wouldn't recomend this unit it might be good after the bugs are worked out.

This is an excellent that has performed above my expectations so far. While I am using this primarily for hobby work, I have put a considerable amount of time on this machine and the tolerances are tight. I also purchased the stand which is a good addition. So far I am pleased and would recommend this lathe to someone who is looking for a serious machine above the hobby level.

It's termed a 12x28 lathe, however even going by the published 11.5" swing and 27.5" between centers, it is an 11x27 lathe. To be considered if you're comparing lathes of similar size. Please ignore the 3 star rating I gave it; I had to choose one of the options to post this.