Gordon,
The Warco BH600 lathe you are looking at is basically the same as the Chester Craftsman, which now comes with DRO as standard
Here is the Chester unit which shows a better picture and explains things in a more readable form.
http://www.chesteruk.net/store/craftsman.htmI looked at this lathe when I was doing my upgrade. I looked at the Chester version. It seemed like a very heavily built machine, in fact it is basically the same as my Crusader with a different head.
A couple of minus points.
I didn't like the back gear feature, it was VERY noisy, as most back gears are. Twice as noisy as my Crusader (which when wacking it, can get a bit loud) which has a fully geared head. I also didn't like the screwed chuck mount, again a personal thing, I wouldn't want one of those big heavy chucks chasing me around the shop, and doing a lot of damage to the lathe on the way down.
But other than that, a normal build, far eastern machine, that comes with most features and equipment you will need, especially the power cross feed, which to me is a must on that size of machine.
Unless you are considering wanting to do long shaft work, I personally would go with the short bed version, as the spindle bore is a rather nice large size, and any long stuff under 36mm (1 3/8") will go 'up the spout'.
200 squid for a QCTP and a few extra holders will see you well on your way.
Bogs
