Total Lathe Newbie Here.

[Swarf_Newbie]

Last used a lathe in 1980, as an apprentice engineer, so I have forgot just about everything I learnt!
Just bought a cheap Chinese 8x16 job, so please bear with me as stupid questions will be incoming!  

Cheers.

Roy.

[terrywerm]

The basics will come back to you quickly and it will go better than you expect.

[Hawkeye]

Welcome, SN. The first thing you should plan on making is scrap. Put a piece of mild steel, aluminum or even plastic in your lathe and try everything you can think of to reduce it to chips.

The most important factor, after a sharp cutter, will be cutting speeds. After I learned that lesson, I made up a chart to help me. It isn't the final authority on the subject, but it works for me most of the time. Nothing wrecks a sharp cutter faster than the wrong cutting speed.

Have fun with your new lathe.

[Dr Stan]

There are a lot of good videos available on YouTube.  Look for Tom's Techniques a member of the forum who has put together some of the best teaching videos I've ever seen.

Another good source of info is the Machinery Repairman 3 & 2 published by the US Navy.  It's available as a free downloadable PDF.