VEVOR Mini Metal Lathe 8"x14" Compact Lathe Machine 2250 PRM Variable Speed

When buying a low cost mini-lathe appreciate you are buying a starting point that will need adjustment and some upgrades to build into a precise shop tool. The Vevor MX8-14 has exceeded my expectations for the money, knowing I would need to do this work. I have extensive experience on larger machines. I am using my MX8x14 in my home shop to machine steel and getting good results. Upgrades I would strongly recommend: - Disassemble, clean and file off any burrs on the ways, grease (not just oil) and adjust each stage as firm as possible - Add an OXA Tool post 250-000, allows correct tool height adjustment and significantly increases stiffness - Indexable 3/8" 10mm carbide shank tool set - necessary for steel. The HSS tools that come with the unit are not great. - Vevor welding table with wheels - 36" x 18" - makes it easy to roll into place and setup (requires drill 2 holes to bolt on) - Electronic digital dial with magnetic base. fits perfectly on the tool stage, for precise depth adjustments. When properly setup I find this a very useful and capable mini-lathe, if you are realistic about what it can do and how it needs to be operated. Also - bonus, this lathe works great for starting die threads on posts - see pic. I am building a mini e car suspension and doing a lot of machining and threading of steel rods. In the video I show how I am able to precisely machine steel with my MX8x14. Some positive points on construction. All metal gears!! Many low cost lathes use nylon. Direct drive to spindle, smooth and effective. Digital variable speed adjust (not a series of belts and pulleys to adjust) SOO nice!! Head stock is solid, good locking mechanism. Other upgrades I made: live center, drill chuck, I removed the back cover and chuck safety cover (big machines never have this) - much easier to work on the machine. when open. If you appreciate setting up and learning to machine on a mini-lathe is a project, this Vevor lathe can be a very capable and enjoyable tool to work with at a fraction of the price of larger and more expensive mini-lathes.

Seems pretty decent for a hobby or beginner, I don't really care for the tooling that comes with it. I'm just getting into this, so a lot of that could just be me. The shield was missing a screw when I opened the crate, I didn't see it in there anywhere, but can be easily replaced with a small machine screw.

Original Review (July 2026):I originally bought this tool hoping for a decent starting point, but out of the box, it was an absolute joke. Zero quality control. The carriage wiggled back and forth, the gibs were completely unadjusted, and the cheap little washer on the bottom of the tailstock caused ridiculous flex against the rail. The cast iron is so soft that the gib locking screws strip out under minimal pressure. The manual is unreadable. This is priced for beginners, but a beginner would be completely lost and instantly discouraged. I decided to keep the tool and go through the entire thing and fix the failure points, and I'm starting to regret that decision. 30-Hour Rebuild Update (September 2026):Instead of returning it, I spent roughly 30 hours of intensive mechanical work completely disassembling, rebuilding, and modifying this machine to force it to operate the way a metal lathe actually should:Electrical Overhaul: The factory electronics are a major failure point. I ended up frying the stock control board and had to wire in a different motor and control system. The stock motor is still underpowered and should be bigger, which also forced me to modify where the belt travels on the gear assembly.Tightening the Tolerances: The loose carriage and wobbly tailstock required a total overhaul. I had to shim the carriage with feeler gauges to eliminate the loose run, and I heavily modified the tailstock assembly to stop the flexing and wiggling against the ways.Headstock Rebuild: I tore down the main spindle headstock assembly and replaced the cheap factory radial bearings with high-quality angled taper bearings to fix the spindle runout.Because the gear assembly is such a hassle to realign with the modified belt path, I decided to bypass the change-gears entirely. I don't plan on turning threads with this machine anyway, so stripping all that out actually helps save power on an underpowered motor.I now use this lathe strictly as a dedicated station for small-engine modifications. I use it to turn chainsaw cylinders, shaving the cylinder bases to tighten the squish clearance. Because space is incredibly tight inside a small two-stroke cylinder, I actually machined a specialized custom cutting tool from scratch just to reach up inside and cut the squish band accurately.The Verdict:Do not buy this if you expect a working tool out of the box. You will spend more time rebuilding the tool than cutting metal. However, if you treat it strictly as a "rough casting kit" and have the advanced technical knowledge to swap bearings, build your own custom tooling, and completely repower the unit, you can eventually force it to do specialized work.

Let me say first of all that when I rate a product that I've purchased online, I take into consideration the performance, quality, features, and price. I add all of those things up and come up with a rating. This Vevor metal lathe seems well worth the money to me. It's a lot of machine for the price. It's been performing well for me and seems to be well made, for the price. I think it will hold up and last for a long time if taken care of. I rarely need exact machine work in my knife making hobby but this machine has done what I asked of it so far, and done it well. Is it the quality and level of preciseness of a much more expensive lathe? No, it's not, but it's not really intended for that, although with some tweaking it can be made to perform very well. It's primarily intended for someone like me that does hobby work and sometimes needs to manufacture a small part. It does all of that very well. A plastic tool box full of extra's was included: HSS turning bits which aren't the best quality but work pretty well except on steel; A bunch of extra gears for changing the automatic feed speed, tools, an oil bottle, etc. Everything seems to be decent quality except that the plastic tool box got pretty much destroyed in shipping. The lathe has a variable speed control and forward/reverse switch that both work as they should. I managed to break the belt first thing by doing something I shouldn't have and had to change it to a new one. If that happens to you, you'll need to watch a video on changing the belt. It took me awhile the first time but from now on it should only take a few minutes. No extra belts are included but they aren't expensive if you shop around. All in all, I'm pleased with this little machine. I think it's money well spent and I would buy it again.

The Good: Relatively low price for the size and features Lathe is well packaged in a wood enclosure, secured at the base, and Styrofoam blocks used on both ends. Delivered on time General appearance good Tailstock lock/unlock works nicely Nice tool box with accessories included Variable speed with good power RPM display is bright and easy to read Chuck is a good size and works well The Not so Great: Inch indicators look cheap and are hard to read On/Off button E-Stop cover is fragile and you have to open every time to turn on machine Noisy carriage rack and pinion gear mesh when moving carriage Noisy motor and gear train during operation Catch pan is small Owner manual is a Xerox copy Mounting locations different from other mini lathes Dents in gear cover – Not from shipping. The Unacceptable: Carriage power feed knob not accessible unless gear cover removed – This is a safety concern. Carriage power feed cannot be turned off, so the lead screw is always turning - There is no neutral position Carriage power feed control lever loose and cheap feeling Tailstock knob has slop in the bushing, making is loose and cheap feeling No room to add a carriage lock – This is a much needed upgrade on these small lathes

This lathe is great for beginners, but also remember what you're buying. This is a project dressed up as a lathe, it has many problems that you can actually fix with the lathe itself, you can turn it's own parts for it fairly easy. Out of the box you need to clean up everything, tighten gibs, oil ways and gears. as the lathe comes, everything is loose and sloppy, but you can tighten gibs and screws to make it pretty tight and rigid. I've turned brass, aluminum, copper, mild steel and stainless steel with this thing and it's pretty accurate out the box, my tail stock was perfectly dead center when it arrived which was great. I didn't replace the motor or any large modifications, the lathe itself can turn all this. But if you get a new motor and replace the spindle bearings with angular contact bearings, it can take MUCH larger Depth of Cuts and just be all around even better than original. These are on my todo list. You'll spend more in tooling than you will the lathe, trust me, but if you want something to tinker with and learn from, this is the lathe for you. At the end of your journey of fixing it up, removing slop, making parts for the lathe itself, you'll be left with a very useful tool that you won't regret. But it's a rough road at first, especially without tools. The tools I got are: Tail stock tools: • Woodworking MT2 Heavy Duty Live Tailstock Center $20.27 • Accusize Industrial Tools 5pc ANSI M42 (H.S.S. + 8% Cobalt) Center Drill Set, 0556-5500 $25.62 • WEN LA164K 5/8-Inch Keyed Drill Chuck with MT2 Arbor Taper $17.08 ______ Cutting tools: • Gluwoer 1/2" SRACR/L1212H06 Lathe Turning Holders Lathe Turning & Profiling Tool Holder,12PCS Kit-2PCS Metal Lathe Tools Holder 10PCS RCMT0602 Round Carbide Milling Insert for Metal Steel $26.35 • Carbide Lathe Tools -Lathe Threading Tool Turning Holder - Boring Bars SNR0008K11 / SNR0010K11 / SNR0012M11 with 3 Indexable Carbide Inserts 11IR A60 for Lathe Turning Tool $26.99 (interal threading tools) • Carbide Lathe Tools -Lathe Threading-Tool Bit Set 15pcs - Lathe Cutting Bits Lathe Tooling 5pcs 1/4”~1/2" S06K/S07K/S08K/S10K/S12M-SCLCR06 Turning Holder Boring Bars / 10pcs Golden CCMT060204 $35.99 (Various sized boaring bars, very useful) • Zouzmin CCMT21.51 CCMT060204 DCMT21.51 DCMT070204 Carbide Turning Inserts $24.01 • Gluwoer Indexable Lathe Turning Tool 1/2" 12mm Shank 21PCS Kit-7PCS Metal Lathe Tools Holder 14PCS Carbide Insert for Turning Boring Grooving Cutting Threading $44.82 _____ Replacing the tool post OXA Tool Post Set 250-000 Wedge Type Quick Change Tool Post Set 8 Inch Swing Dia 6Pcs $116.90 For most mini lathes, you WANT the OXA.

Machine is made quite well however it cuts a taper from left to right at 10,000s of an inch

Not the very best top of the line leave you could ever buy but it works for me

Bueno