Ps...it's a type 1 latheBill Mains wrote on Feb 27^th, 2023 at 4:41pm:

It's a type 1

I started my journey in turning in 2010 with a very small 'starter lathe'.  A couple of years later, I decided to upgrade, and one of the options that got serious consideration was the Delta 46-460.  I had seen one used in a demonstration, and it struck me as being exceptionally well designed, and with 'fit and finish' that was better than many of the others in the midi-lathe segment.  It struck me as a really pretty machine!  Ultimately, I decided against it because of two reasons.  One was that I had a space limitation, and the footprint of the Delta was a few inches more than I could easily accommodate in my shop.

But another factor was that I had read a lot of reports of people having problems getting parts for the 46-460.  Delta used to be a very reputable power tool brand - I have a Delta table saw and jointer that's got to be at least 60 years old and still going strong.  But the brand has been sold multiple times, with Stanley Black and Decker the owner for a while, but in recent years it has been owned by a string of Asian 'marketing' companies - which means companies that basically buy and sell stuff made by someone else, but with no engineering or manufacturing expertise.  More importantly, at some point in its history, one of the several buyers bought the rights to sell new tools under the Delta brand, but did not buy the Delta renewal parts business.  As a result, owners complained that if something went wrong, they were unable to do repairs because parts were not available.

This issue has been discussed a length on the pen turning forum, with the power switch probably the item that has gotten the most air time.  A complicating factor is the very convenient but also very proprietary design of the switch;  Bill mentioned that his machine has the older Type 1 switch which probably dates it to 2010 or earlier.  Newer machines have a Type 2 switch which is equally neat/proprietary.  The general consensus seems to be that if either switch design fails,  it is easier to just add generic switches in separate box rather than try to cobble together stuff that fits into the original rocker mechanism in the headstock.

Thanks all