The reviews of the Delta 46-460 seem quite polarized "“ either 1's or 5's. When it works the owners love it. When there are problems they are disappointed by the slowness of the warranty service department. The service department exceeded my, admittedly low, expectations. Based on reviews and my local repair shop, I expected that it was going to take months or years for the repair; when it actually only took weeks.
My lathe was purchased in April, 2012 and made 53 ½ bowls from 4 to 11.5 inches diameter and probably twice that many spindle type things "“ tool handles, vases, spoons, ladles, beads, etc. These projects included many types of wood from pine to Brazilian walnut with some funky things like root balls and spalted logs. Many hundreds of hours were spent making sawdust and I was pleased with the performance of the machine.
After a couple of years, the low end of the speed control intermittently failed to perform. The motor would pulse from low speed to full RPM's. This, of course, is a safety problem for large diameter and/or eccentric pieces. The owner's manual directed to contact Porter Cable. They directed me to deltamachinery.com. The Delta web site indicated that the speed control was out of stock. I sent an inquiry to the Delta Service Department and in spite of their warning, more low expectations, that it may take a couple of weeks for a response, they replied in 1.5 hours. The local repair shop contacted Delta Machinery and they informed him that T1 speed control was no longer available but that they would replace it with a T2. I checked in a couple of weeks and the shop owner proudly showed me that the brain transplant was complete but he held my lathe hostage until Delta paid him for his work. After 39 days the shop called to let me know that I could come and get my lathe. The owner whined a bit about how underpaid he was for the warranty work but seemed satisfied when I handed him the 12-pack of Sam Adams that he said I would owe him when the repair was complete. Other than the beer the repair cost was covered by the 5-year warranty.
After the ownership shuffle, Delta seems to have gotten their act together and provide warranty service that meets my expectations and I am once again happily making sawdust.

Update
Almost two years and hundreds of operating hours later, since the motor speed control was replaced, the lathe is doing a great job.

One problem, always had trouble with the double jam nuts on the tool rest base anchor bolt. The nuts would vibrate loose - yes I turn a bunch of imbalanced eccentric loads - and get lost in the shavings. After a couple of trips to the local hardware store, figured out that the threads were 10mm not 3/8in. The treads on the anchor bolt finally striped to the point of being non-functional. So I cut new threads with a slightly smaller 3/8in-16tpi die and now use a lock washer. This makes it a bit more difficult to slide the tool rest but the lock washer seems to provide a bit of cushion, counteracting vibration, which reduces the need to adjust the nut on the anchor bolt mechanism.

This lathe is well worth the money. Unit is easy to use and setup. Check belt tension adjustment out of the box. The manual says belt tension is set at the factory but mine was backed off so far, the belt slipped a great deal. The banjo and tailstock also needed adjustment on my unit. I would certainly recommend this lathe to a friend.

As a few other buyers have experienced, my Delta lathe was defective upon arrival. When the unit was turned on, nothing happened. When I
Pressed the speed control it acted like it wanted to turn on but would not stay on. When I called Delta customer service, they quickly identified the problem indicating this is a common issue. I have returned the lathe and re-ordered. I will modify my rating with a positive result.

So now I am updating my review. My second shipment of this item came in today. The shipment was very quick. In fact, it was ahead of schedule by a day. I got the lathe set up in my shop in fairly short order, and I was turning within the hour. Thus far, everything seems to be working in order. The cast iron frame makes for a stable lathe. The easy access bolt holes assisted in easily anchoring the lathe into a foundation that I had built. I've already created two items. The first successful item was a Christmas tree made out of maple wood. The second item was a mallet replacement handle that turned out quite well.

I still have concerns about the shipping problems that occasionally result in a broken variable speed switch, but if you can get the unit delivered without being damaged, it seems to be well built and something that will offer hours of enjoyment.

This lathe was delivered on Dec 30th 2015. It came in a double box setup and in excellent condition and quickly. Very satisfied with the shipping.

My lathe setup prior to the Delta was a 1983 ShopSmith Mark V. The SS worked fine for small projects like pens and tops, but since the lowest speed is about 700RPM, it does not work well for anything larger. It also does not have a movable tail stock and contains a lot of flex. So that is why I started looking for a new lathe and one that would go down below 500RPM.

My research shows that to get lower speed lathes requires a minimum of $1500 to get something like a larger Grizzly. A G0733 is nearly the one I purchased. Jet has a similar unit for a few hundred more. I'm glad I looked a bit more before purchasing. Both the cost and the size were more than I needed.

This Delta is smaller, but has plenty of power for my work. The headstock does not swivel (it is fixed) for outboard turning so the largest it takes is 12in and since it can get down to about 250RPM, I can comfortably start a larger blank without pucker factor. It is smallish so it needs to bolted down to a firm work bench. I built and bolted it to a custom bench and put a 5 gallon bucket of tire weights on it as ballast. It doesn't move. Which is good for my multi-axis turning where the wood purposely rotates off-center. See the picture for an example of the result.

Overall I could not be much happier with my choice and I saved a bundle on the cost and shipping. If I upgrade again in the future, it will be to get a larger swing or outboard turning if at all. Of course I have only been running this for about 2 weeks, so durability has not be tested. If initial quality is any indicator, then this should last for quite a while.

There are a few small gripes which made it lose a star:
- The FWD/RVS switch was wired backwards out of the box. This made it run backwards when in the FWD position. It was very easy to open the switch box and swap the leads going to the motor. Now it is correct.

- The tool rest banjo is 5/8in instead of the standard 1in. This means most aftermarket tool rests will not fit.

- A live center got stuck in the tail stock after pressing it into a very hard chunk of maple. I had to add persuasion to get it out. The ejector didn't have enough torque and I thought it would bust. It could be my fault. Probably not.

- No digital speed read out, however there is a speed chart that matches the numbers on the speed knob, so it is easy to hit a specific speed if you need it. Everyone I know does it by feel anyway.

This is my 5th lathe. I have owned a 70's Delta, 2000's Nova Comet II, 50's Craftsman, and 20's Goodell Pratt. The Nova Comet II is the most similar to this one but the Delta Midi is a huge step up in quality: it's heavier, belt changes are easier, quieter, has WAY more power, and overall the design and fit and finish are far superior to any previous lathe I've owned. Mine did come with the forward/reverse switch wired backward but I expected it based on other reviews and it takes about 5 minutes to fix. You remove a couple screws, switch 2 wires around and it works like it should. So far I am very happy with this one and sold my other lathes.
Update, been about 23 months and still loving this lathe.

A few people have asked about my more power comment since the Comet II has 3/4 HP and the Delta 1 HP. My Comet would stall if I aggressively removed stock or got a catch. The Delta never stalls and rarely slows down. My Craftsman had a 1 HP DC treadmill motor that had more power than the Comet II but less than the Delta. It could be a difference in the DC controllers, or could be that Delta uses a higher quality motor, or maybe both. Say what you want about Delta (I know some people like to bash them) but they have a reputation for using high quality, powerful, motors.