-Aww, man - thank you for letting us all see some glimpses from "the Rewarding Life of a Mini Lathe owner"!
Humor is an absolutely necessary (but not sufficient) trait in getting these "assembled kit lathes" in shape.

I'm having a "Real Bull/ Big Dog/ CJ18A" myself, that just repeatedly surprises me -
and your sharing the progress and setbacks along with your ideas and hypotheses is pretty unusual.
Lots of other YT vids seem to have been doctored not to show any mistakes or mishaps,
just as if machining was a walk in the park.


Your attention to detail and straightforward explanations for how things (ideally should) fit together is outstanding.

Good luck and keep up the good work!

Cheers from Johan