Thanks,

I think they are Chinese, they are branded Gten. Definitely not top quality whatever they are?

What sort of carbide holder and tips would you recommend? I am looking to try a carbide holder for my Myford so a nice general shaped holder would be ideal, but I am new to lathes and don't know what that would be?

Thanks for the ball screw offer, but I ordered some extra length on each ball screw to try it out.

The only problem would be I have a HSS threading tool and the 12 dia might still be too hard to thread with that.