Shop Fox M1018 Combo Lathe/Mill

I have this combo unit and it works well for my hobbies. About the gearing. The gears you can see are metal. The gearing inside the unit for the mill are metal with plastic or acetal teeth. I accidentally crashed mine and had to replace one of the internal gears. Not an easy task

This is heavy! It came in at over 500 lbs fully assembled and packages exceptionally well. I rent an engine hoist to get it up on the workbench. I'm "serious hobbyist" and so far I'm amazed with this machine and the accuracy. I don't see any plastic gears, so maybe that's changed. All of the gears for cutting threads are indeed metal. My only nit is that some little cover plate popped off when I operated disengaged the bed from the feed screw. But the cover isn't functional so I don't really care. I'm using 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" cutting tools in the lathe -- I just shimmed them up with some 1/4" and 1/8" shims to center them. Bottom line --- I'm having a lot of fun making stuff with this machine and it sure seems sturdy to me. Enjoy! NOTE: I also cut a Jacob's Taper #33 (for a Morse Taper #3 shaft I have) and that worked out really well --- I'm making my own live center.

The thing will break in under 30HRS of use , its descriptive status F.P.O.S ! THEY MAY BETTER SELL THEM OFF AS BOAT ANCHORS ! and even then it will neither make the grade :( !!!! I dont know of a single lathe manufacturer that had not gone broke when attempting to sell a lathe with plastic gears ! remember "Unimat" , gears must be hardened steel and overall design must be made to last , not to break working in a few accumulative hours of work ! END

Very cheaply made. I have had mine for less than a year now and probably have less than 40 hours of time on it but the internal gears are already shot. I opened the gear box and found that most of the internal gears are plastic or nylon. Hopefully I can find a replacement gear, and even more importantly I hope that there is a way to even change it out; (the shaft may be pressed in and not normally serviceable). Update- I was able to contact Woodstock International and found out that the gear was covered under warranty. It took a few weeks but i finally have the machine back up and running.

Heavy which is good. Great for holiest who only occasionally need to turn or mill a part.

This is the "real deal." It is mostly cast or machined steel and very heavy - shipping weight was 501#. I used a diesel engine hoist to get it up on the workbench. The workmanship appears to be very good. The vise and beds are very tight and no visible or measurable play (by hand) yet move smoothly. The gears, motor and all drive parts run very smooth and quiet. I have not used the mill portion yet but will update when I do. If you buy one be certain to check EVERY nut and bolt as loosening may occur in shipping. The gearbox on mine was only half full of gear oil. Also be sure to run the break-in process outlined in the manual. It takes about 6 hours to complete so plan time for it. I ran a 1/2"D x 6"L round 6160 and had less than .002 variation over the length.I then threaded the piece and was quite pleased with the consistency and accuracy of the threading. CEVA was the shipper and they were anything but expedient, I had to call them after sitting on in for almost a week at the local dock - CEVA does have tracking on their own Internet page. I have some materials ordered for upcoming projects and will update this when the machine has had more use.

I can't say enough about the quality of this machine. I have cut threads with this unit, I've turned rotors, made a lamp base, made a pulley....I seem to find something I need to make every day now. I'm really not sure how I lived without it for so long. Threading is my favorite. I'm used to doing it the old fashioned way with taps and dies but now this machine does it all for me. The trick is to reverse the motor at the end of your run and never disengage the half nuts. Works like a charm. Something I really like about this unit is how tight everything is. Nothing chatters or wobbles...I've used larger lathes that have that slop in the tool holder. This machine has none of that. It is extremely well made and comes with a very informative manual. I can't say enough about it. Better buy a case of beer when they deliver it because you're gonna need about four or five of your buddies to help you get it into your shop! It is heavy!!!!

This is a good tool for home projects. I am not an expert so take this with a grain of salt. The tool works well so far but I have had some issues. One of the seals on the back plate of the gearbox housing was leaking. I had to take it apart and remove debris trapped between the plate and seal that was causing the leak. The control panel plate is extremely cheap. The plastic laminate pealed at the corners and when I pulled it off the paint underneath went with it. The finish on the indicators is quite cheap as well. I would recommend it for the person that likes to tinker around and do projects around the house.