Shorty,
The work I did for you was done on a deluxe, and altough I have not tried one, I imagine the mini versions are decent for tip jobs and such. It uses a taig platform also, which has some advantages.
I have never tried those either, so maybe good, Not knocking the lathe mentioned, but I could probably build something like that from a ryobi wood lathe and some parts I have laying around here.
The import lathe I have seen people use with some success- I had modified one years ago after meeting a guy at a show with one done that way, but found for me that little lathe is better suited for making & modifying joint pins, mandrels, and what ever other metal work may come up. I also have one of the mini mills from the same factory that I use for rough fabrication or modifying of tooling mostly.
A wood lathe is also good to have for cleaning & refinishing , but not for putting on tips & ferrules. I have 3 or 4 of those with only one actually setup at this time. It is better then using Your good lathe because refinishing gets a lathe really filthy. You want to keep your metal lathe in tip top condition, and save it from the grime as much as possible. Good Luck.
Greg
