Yet another lathe question

[oklahoma red]

Although the subject of lathes has been heavily flogged, here's yet another question.
Does anyone have experience with or knowledge of the SC4 bench lathe sold by Travers Tool Co. (or perhaps the same lathe by another name/company)?
I'm aware it is on the low end size-wise but it has a few nice features. The motor is 1000 watt, brushless, digital read out on spindle speed, quick-lock tailstock clamp and the cross slide is powered which may or may not be of value in pipe making. And if one is so inclined you can add a milling head.
I'm just trying to sort thru all the Chi-com boat anchors to find the best bang for the buck.
Thanks in advance for any input.
Chas.

The only stupid question is the one that didn't get asked.
Believe in the "P" principle: Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.

[KurtHuhn]

That's a typical import lathe, virtually identical to all the others of the same size.

For pipe making they are of very limited usefulness. They're far too small to mount briar blocks in and use it to drill and shape.

By and large, these lathes are passable if you were to use it only for turning tenons or cutting soft materials - no harder than bronze in my opinion.

If you're looking or a high quality small lathe, a Sherline or Taig is a much better choice.

[oklahoma red]

That's what I was afraid of. Looks like I need to bite the bullet and get a larger machine from Precision Matthews. More s***t from the Commies but I think they've sifted thru the pile and found the better ones. I already have a Taig which is well made for it's size but I've been bitten by the churchwarden bug and I need a good size hole thru the spindle and I want to spin some wood! You offered good advice on my stem thread last week about using delrin in a churchwarden pre-mold. I'll try to get some pics up this weekend.
Chas.

[Tyler]

Pretty sure the Travers is from China too.

[oklahoma red]

They are all from ComChi. They ran all the American makers off years ago. Some are better than others and some dealers try to overcome the crap with great service.
Some are from Taiwan where a few of the companies have embraced ISO standards. Fortunately pipe making does not require three and four decimal place accuracy.
These lathes are not going to last forever anyway. The wood dust is murder on bearings.
I'm just feeling around to see which of these turds float to the top. If I had the time I'd make my own.
Sigh.

Chas.