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Shown below are a number of Dashin lathes introduced in the 1970s by the DA SHIN Machinery Company Co. Ltd. Of 4-17 Hsiao Tien Road, Wu Jih Taichung, 408, Taiwan, Republic of China - and still manufactured in various forms today (2022). Probably the most successful - and hence most commonly found example found today are the Champion 750/1250, a direct copy of the contemporary English-made Colchester Triumph 2000; the Studiturn 1430/1440, a copy of the Colchester Student 1800 and the 'home-designed' Prince 750/1000. The Champion is shown at the top of the page and details of the Prince and Sturditurn towards the bottom. In the United States, the lathes were sold by the large MSC tooling company branded with their name and also, in their early years of manufacture, as the "Turnmaster". Also branded as a Dashin was an example of what we might call the "generic" Taiwanese lathe, this being made for many years and sold worldwide with a bewildering variety of name tags. Built during February 1968, at the Company's long-established Essex works, the first production Colchester Triumph 2000 was the second Model in a new range of lathes introduced by the Company during the latter half of that decade. Like the first in the Series, the Mascot 1600 (produced from November, 1965), it was a revolution in styling and specification and (though the new models may have lacked mechanical novelty) were a strong reminder that even machine tools are subject to the vagaries and whims of fashion for, with their distinctive 'square' styling, ergonomically-designed controls and bright finishes, the new lathes made their competitors look distinctly dowdy and old-fashioned. It would be unfair, however, to dismiss the Triumph 2000 as a mere styling exercise for this important and very popular lathe was a tough, well-made machine with a combination of capacity, speed and ease of use that made it ideal as a both general-purpose lathe for industry and, because of its modest price, also affordable by smaller machine shops who needed an all-round workhorse able to handle as great a variety of tasks as possible. So successful was the model that, for some time after its introduction, demand outstripped supply by a considerable margin and used examples were so difficult to find that good ones fetched almost list price. 11 inches (280 mm) wide the bed was induction hardened and ground-finished as standard; it was of the usual Colchester V-and-flat type, with separate pairs of ways for the carriage and tailstock, and available in two lengths that gave either 30 or 50 inches (760 mm and 1270 mm) between centres. Both beds could be had either with or without a detachable gap piece that allowed material up to 23-inches (580 mm) in diameter and 6.125 inches (155 mm) thick to be swung on the (optional-extra) 14 and 21-inch (355 mm or 535 mm) diameter faceplates. Continued below:
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