It would be interesting to know how such an exact copy of the Hardinge HLV (and other Hardinge Models) came to be built - were they sanctioned in some way by Hardinge--or just cribbed ? The maker, "Fair Friend Company Limited", was based at 11/F No. 665, Tun-Hwa South Road, Taipei, Taiwan with a factory at No. 805, Chung-Shan Road, Shen-Kang Shiang, Taichung-Hsien, Taiwan.  Also manufactured in Taiwan, by the Sharp company, was another beautifully-made copy sold as standard with a hardened bed and 5 h.p. Japanese Yaskawa drive. Sharp also made the "Acra", a lees well finished model with a soft bed and minor changes to cut production costs.  Another HLV-H copy was made or marketed by a company called ProMach, who labelled their version the "Prolathe"  with sales continuing until at least 1995 - and possibly later.
Whatever the reasons for the Feeler's manufacture it was certainly a very well executed machine - with certain specification improvements over the Hardinge including the fitting, as standard, of dual metric and English micrometer dials and a combined metric and English screwcutting gearbox. One satisfied owner reports faultless performance and perfect accuracy - so, this might be one Taiwanese lathe well worth considering - if you can live without the cachet of the Hardinge name, that is.
Accepting standard 5C collets, the headstock spindle had an infinitely-variable speed range of 135 to 2955 r.p.m., ran in precision, preloaded ball bearings with a TIR (total indicated run-out) at the nose guaranteed to be better than one hundred millionths of an inch (0.0001"). A lever-operated collet closer was fitted as standard and the spindle nose fitting replicated the well-designed "twist-on" bayonet type used by Hardinge for many years.
Fitted as standard, the crewcutting and feeds' gearbox was able to generate English threads of: 11, 11.5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.5, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 35, 36, 40, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 60, 64, 70, 72, 80, 100 and 108 t.p.i. And metric of: 0.275, 0.2875, 0.3, 0.325, 0.35, 0.375, 0.4, 0.4375, 0.45, ..5, 0.55, 0.575, 0.6, 0.625, 0.65, 0.675, 0.7, 0.75, 0.8, 0.875, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.15, 1,2, 1.25, 1.3, 1.35, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.75, 1.8, 2.0, 2.5 and 2.7 mm pitch. Additional changewheels were available to extend the threading range.
Like the Hardinge, the carriage was powered by a separate variable-speed motor, so allowing the spindle speed and tool-feed rate (both along and across the bed) to be independently controlled. If the textbook setting for the particular combination of workpiece diameter, material and tool angles in use at the time did not produce perfect results then, by experimentation, adjustments could be instantly made to one or both of the controls until things improved. (Another important advantage of independent drives is a reduction in the number of gears involved in the transmission of power - gear drives are bad news for surface finish, they induce vibrations which, while often hidden in the "roughness" of ordinary turning, become much more evident in the finer finishes that high-quality machines are able to produce.) A most useful feature was the fitting of an automatic disengage not to the carriage power  feed as might be expected (the operating rod can be seen running parallel with the bed) but to the leadscrew, during threading operations. The drive train of the gearbox is engaged with the upper operating lever just left of the lead screw; the stop-rod strikes a pin on a bellcrank to return the lever to the neutral position. The automatic nature of disengagement allows threading at both higher speeds and to a shoulder with ease. It's possible, for example, to cut 1/4 20 t.p.i threads up to a shoulder at 600 r.p.m. The adjustable stops on rod are located on both sides of the carriage, allowing left hand-threads to be cut from left to right and to a shoulder. In order to reduce friction, and allow a more sensitive adjustment to be made to the gib strip, the underside of the saddle was lined with Turcite B plastic; on the FTL-618E and 618-EM models pressure lubrication to all three slideways could be ordered as an optional extra.
Heavily constructed, the double-walled, oil-bath apron held power sliding and surfacing feed engagement and overload clutches - of a spring-loaded design first used long ago on top-class English CVA and American Monarch and some Rivett toolroom lathes. The clutches were a friction type, operated by a positive lever action and designed so that, should they slip, it would indicate to the operator that the machine was being worked beyond its capacity. For more details, compare this lathe with the Hardinge original.
With a travel of 3.75", the tailstock spindle was fitted with a No. 2 Morse taper and graduated in 1/8" divisions. The micrometer dial inboard of the handwheel was of the same dual metric/English type fitted to the compound slide rest..

Feeler FTL-618 Precision Toolroom lathe. A straight copy of the Hardinge HLV in this case fitted as standard with a dual metric and English screwcutting gearbox.

A plan view of the compound slide rest clearly showing the lever fitted to the top slide that operated a "quick-withdrawal" mechanism. This useful accessory helped to ease the sometimes difficult task of screwcutting. As the tool reached the point where it must be disengaged from the thread, instead of having to wind off the cut - and loose the setting - the entire slide could be pulled back out of the way with a flick of the wrist and the carriage returned to start the next cut. The lever pushed the slide back into its previous position, a little more cut was applied and the process repeated

The standard screwcutting gearbox was able to generate English threads of: 11, 11.5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.5, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 35, 36, 40, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 60, 64, 70, 72, 80, 100 and 108 t.p.i.
Metric threads included: 0.275, 0.2875, 0.3, 0.325, 0.35, 0.375, 0.4, 0.4375, 0.45, ..5, 0.55, 0.575, 0.6, 0.625, 0.65, 0.675, 0.7, 0.75, 0.8, 0.875, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.15, 1,2, 1.25, 1.3, 1.35, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.75, 1.8, 2.0, 2.5 and 2.7 mm pitch.
Additional changewheels were available to extend the threading range.

The tailstock spindle had a travel of 3.75", carried a No. 2 Morse taper and was graduated in 1/8" divisions. The micrometer dial inboard of the handwheel was of the same dual metric/English type fitted to the compound slide rest.

While perfectly clear - and of an acceptable commercial standard - the quality of the engraving on the Feeler's micrometer dials did not reach the standard that might be expected on a first-class machine tool.