For years, there was the original miniature Unimat metalworking lathe which became a household word to just about every scale model builder. Though one can still find some good used examples of the legendary Unimat, sadly it is no longer made. Lucky for us, there are some very good little machines presently available that seem to have been specifically designed with the model engineer in mind. Specially the Taig with its overall greater workpiece capacity and spindle speed range.
Chatter becomes a big problem with work of that type with the smaller light weight tools.
I had seen, as I'm sure many of you readers have, a small Asian make bench style lathe sold through several mail order companies that I'm sure most are very familiar with. Although I have seen several short comments on the metalworking FAQ about it, no one has gone into any great detail about the lathe itself. Often chastising it rather than giving it a fair chance to prove itself. The weight of 89 pounds from all the cast iron, immediately got my interest and it seemed like I had found exactly what I needed for my medium size steam engine projects. Here was a small machine that not only outweighed my loaded Taig nearly 7 fold but could cut the type of materials that would cause my smaller and lighter weight machines to growl like a bear.