steel city lathe opinions

[JasonB]

Have any of you guys had any experience with the Steel City brand? Namely their benchtop lathe? I was at woodcraft with my buddy on friday cuz we were looking for some tools for his new lathe (holy cow! expensive!) and I saw this little beaut. for $200. I'm really wanting to buy it. The guy at Woodcraft told me it was a decent lathe, but I don't really like to trust someone who is trying to sell me something. And I haven't really found any bad mouthing on this lathe.... but not much praise either.
Keeping in mind that I am a beginner-woodturner, I think this would be a good investment. If I decide I like it, I can then upgrade to a Jet or better. Right?

Heres a link to a pic.

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/savtoolhouse_2019_2464211

So what are your opinions?
Looks sturdy and true, nice "feel" to it too.

[Don]

Looks like a cool little lathe. Lathes are really simple machines and there's not too much that can go wrong except bearings, provided they are made hearty enough to begin with. I think you can pretty much trust anything that Woodcrafters sells since they are dedicated to woodworking. This one looks beefy, but I don't have any experience with it. My guess is that it would last a lifetime.

Strange how times change, I remember when a Jet machine was "from overseas" and regarded as junk. The playing field is pretty much level now. I began my career on Sears equipment then Rockwell was the standard by which all others were judged. The cabinet saw in my own shop is a Grizzly and it's as good in every way.

By the way, you might want to check Grizzly for lathes. Adequate machines for the money.

dawjr

[old_guy]

The Steel City Lathe is relatively new -- my Woodcraft doesn't have it yet, and I notice it isn't on their website either. It comes in 2 flavors -- one where the speed changes are done with pulleys, and the other has a speed control (in addition to pulleys). The picture you referenced appears to be the later one -- if you can really get that one for $200 -- grab it. I suspect that one costs more than that however.

Steel City makes respectable tools and the lathe has reasonable specs and appears to look decent. I would suggest that you also look at the Rikon mini lathe at Woodcraft. It is on sale in October for $299. It is a solid machine with a 1 inch bigger swing over the bed (you can turn bigger bowls). It also has a bed extention available (not sure if Steel City does) which would allow you to turn full size spindles. Finally try changing the speed pulleys on the Steel City( from the picture it appears you have to do it from the back) -- then do it on the Rikon. Imagine doing it a few hundred times and I'll guarantee you that you'll start thinking that maybe it's worth a little extra money for the Rikon.

IMHO -- the Jet & General mini lathes are over-priced for what they offer.