Bonus points for quoting Boris the Blade :D

3:56 Chinese lathes are made from rejected parts. This is the WHOLE thing. I bought a 7x12 inch lathe. It is a Wen. I got it on sale at $510 on Amazon. That's $330 off the regular price of $840. $500 is about what you'll pay for an equivalent Vevor lathe. As previously stated the Vevors are made from parts rejected by Wen, Harbor Freight, Little Machine Shop etc. Also, the Vevor will have steel gears and a lever activated tailstock. The Vevors DO NOT HAVE a two speed gearbox or a threading indicator. Those rejected parts will include beds, tail stocks and head stocks with huge slag inclusions, holes drilled crooked or not at all and parts that generally don't fit together very well. Also, at about $840, you at least have to think about the Sherline. Somewhat smaller capacity and no compound slide or threading capability(of course, they're available at extra cost) but capable of ten thousandths of an inch accuracy straight out of the box! I want, someday, to buy one of the larger capacity lathes like this gentleman, but for now, I'll use my 7 x 12. Hope this helps anyone looking to buy a mini lathe.

Chinese brands range from legit brands that offer quality service to reject brands that buy reject parts and older models to sell to the market.

And it’s difficult to know which is which if you don’t know Chinese and able to search them in Chinese.

Even if you find a quality one it’s just difficult to service without a local dealer as in any product there will always be a chance that defective parts go through the QA process, which is why traditionally brands usually make deal with local suppliers to handle the servicing or be the middleman to servicing.

I bought from Amadeal 6 years ago. No problem so far

Very helpful video! I've been having some trouble with my "Vevor" Chinese lathe. I intend to use the info from your videos to help me figure out the positive and negative features of my lathe, and hopefully improve it! Keep up the great work!

Very nice lathe on your workbench.

Nice video as usual. Thanks

Alternative: look for used "Emco compact" on classifieds. These are very high quality 80's Austrian made lathes. They fit on a desk and are surprisingly rigid and accurate for their size.

I got myself a little SB9. Wasn't expensive and, unlike every chinese lathe, it looks amazing. And has everything I need. Gearbox and two feeds. It doesn't have a fancy speed knob. But it has torque at low rpm.

This is so helpful. thank you.

Very useful video, thanks for making it!

Thanks FWF, this is really useful information. subscribed today!

Great video. Than you.

Thank You

I bought Vevor 220x600 lathe; 1100W brushless, 38mm bore. Bought in december 2025, from EU warehouse, for a bit less than 1000€. I bought some upgrades immidiately, like multipoint QCPT, independent four jaw chuck, put work light on it... But most important was initial set up. I spent close to 30 work hours just on detailed dissassembly, cleaning, adjusting and assembling parts back. I put many small but important "upgrades" on it - felt and rubber ways wipers, sheet metal cover for apron gears (they are open all all chinese lathes it seems), spring cover for lead screw etc. Notalby, I had to remove a ton of sharp burrs, big amount of rust inhibitat (chinese goo :) and adjust - scrape and refine - a lot of details on sliding surfaces etc. Still many upgrades remain, but I am very satisfied with what I have. It is a capable machine, it has very good torqe in low RPM-s, parts steel without chatter, leaves smooth finish and it has electronic brake (it is sooo good to have it). It has factory installed tapered bearings (I expected to upgrade those, but did not have to). It has real 38mm through bore... One bad side that I will have to live with - it has no hardened ways. And it has few additional defects to be worked on in the future. My verdict - it is absolutely worthvile to buy it. Definitely moderate amount of work has to be put into it before it can be run, but for the price difference, I have multifix, 8 tool holders, new set of knife holders and indexable inserts and 4 jaw chuck for price of "brand chinese" lathe. I do not expect to upgrade to different lathe in a long time.

My $500 South Bend 9A from 1950 can easily do a 5mm cut (10mm total reduction) in 4140

I have the same machine, painted green. It has a brushless motor, which makes it much quieter when running.

Here what I know about how the Chineese make and sell this stuff. They make the castings, quality inspection and sorting. They machine the castings, quality inspection and sorting, they do more machinning and assembly, quality inspection and sorting. Finally branding according to clients. Almost everything is sold. That is the reason a PM lathe with same casting ie better than a Grizly, better than one bought at Princess Auto, better than the VEVOR you buy online. They apply this to everything.

QC in China? 40" is still a mini, but better versatility.

Thank you, I'm looking for an upgrade for my mini lathe (110x125).
I will keep your recommendations in mind.