Thanks for warm welcome chaps 
The mini-lathe (bought from Warco) maybe isn't the best lathe in the world but it's been absolutely brilliant for me as a starter lathe. Before I bought it I'd had little/no experience turning anything, as such I made a fair few mistakes but learnt a lot in the process & while I'm still not mistake free I'm a lot better now. I still use the mini-lathe - it's my go-to lathe in fact - & I find it ideal for the pens I make (pics soon hopefully). However, I also have a Myford ML7. This is a fairly recent addition to my workshop & is considerably bigger than the Warco .....it's still not a big lathe in the grand scheme of things though! I'm starting to use it a bit more now that I've got it running but I'm used to the mini-lathe so tend to go to that first.
As it happens I also have another lathe - a Toyo ML360 (complete with milling attachment) which I don't use at all I'm afraid. It's a great little machine but it doesn't do anything that I can't do on the Warco. This came via a roundabout route from work where I did, occasionally, use it (I was a science/support technician at a small(ish) university). One day (maybe) I'll start using it again 
