OK, I've got my lathe. I had hoped that it would be a worker when it arrived but I was a bit disappointed as the carriage assembly was hanging out and the whole thing was covered in thick sticky crap. I have now stripped down the carriage assmbly, cleaned and repainted and there is no wear whatsoever. Feeling a bit better about it.
The lathe is a dual imperial metric gearbox and feeds with lubrication.