What I expected for the price was something that was basically sound but had been shoddily assembled, was probably unusable as delivered but with fettling could be turned into a decent bit of kit. That is exactly what I got! About 5 hours later and it’s pretty good, perfectly sufficient with a drill press and OK for light milling.
Non existent quality control resulted in an excellent price. Rough edges, nibs, wobbling, paint overspray on running surfaces, hand wheels incorrectly sized meant that bearings and calibrated wheels didn’t work. Oh, and no grease anywhere so although easier to clean, hardly surprising that everything felt rough.
However, cleaning, filing, sanding, deburring, scraping off paint and lubricating worked wonders. The hand wheels needed touching up on the lathe…the tolerances were wrong so rotating parts were either too tight or too loose. I couldn’t have done it without a lathe but it wasn’t difficult work with one and everything now runs smoothly and accurately. The cast iron is quite soft but that makes it easier to tweak. The only thing I’ve yet to do after installing on my drill press is to check the horizontals of the table. I expect it to be out but it should be easy to simply shim it up to get everything square.
So if you want to use it out if the box…awful….but if you’re happy and able to put in a few hours setting the thing up properly, you’ll have a decent xy table with no side play and smooth operation for a very good price. Am I happy that I bought it? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes…with the above provisos. Overall rating ** as received, but ***** after fettling.
Nutcase DIYer 
Alan Wallington 
