Researching a Lathe Purchase

[Scott Hackler]

How'd you turn that cat? It looks real!

LOL .. Kyle that made me laugh out loud!

[Nick Mastropietro]

Does anyone have an opinion about the Turncrafter Commander? Looks like a feature rich affordable lathe Penn State has it on sale with bed extention for $459.90 I would appreciate comments concerning this lathe.
Thanks

[Glenn Weathington]

Does anyone have an opinion about the Turncrafter Commander? Looks like a feature rich affordable lathe Penn State has it on sale with bed extention for $459.90 I would appreciate comments concerning this lathe.
Thanks

Well Nick, It appears to be a good buy, maybe some members that have had experience with Penn State's other lathes will chime in. It looks like a Rikon mini with a different paint job and a variable speed motor w/ digital read out and adifferent tailstock. If I were in the market for a mini-lathe, I'd wait until it was released. The price difference between this and the Delta 12.5" is a pretty large. Of course with the Delta, you pretty much know what you get.