As far as I know, an ML8S can do everything a regular ML8 can do and is all the same sizes minus the length of the bed. They are rarer than an ML8 but don't demand a higher price, even the ML8 doesn't fetch much more than £300-400 on a good day. I find I rarely use more than 16" of length on the bed when turning something, the other 16" is pretty much somewhere to keep the tailstock. You can make rather large bowls on the offside of the machine. I've not used my own ML8 for actual wood turning for years now, but it's handy for all the attachments I can put on it. I use it alot similarly to a grinder motor for buffing, wire wheeling and I use it for the sanding disk often enough.
I've got plenty of bits to fit an ML8 if you do end up buying it and needing parts, let me know. I've got 2 ML8s and one is pretty much a salvage machine, It's seen better days and could do with a restoration but I've got no time to do that nor do I really want another one. It came with a load of faceplates, chucks and attachments (Bandsaw, slot morticer, metal turning carriage Etc) which I do plan on selling eventually. Only reason I've not let scrapman have the lathe itself is because it's got an original ML8 stand which I plan to put on my tidier machine when I get time (Plan on doing it next month). Once I've done the swap over, the scrap ML8 is pretty much either going to end up on ebay dirt cheap, taken apart and parted out then sold on ebay or turned into a scrap cube for China.
