Welcome Dave, the Emco is a well known machine and there will be plenty of people who can give advice in it’s use on here. Best wishes . Noel.

The Compact 5 is a nice little lathe and a solid choice for getting started. A couple of quick tips that might help early on:

Check the basics first – Make sure your machine is leveled properly and bolted down securely; vibration can make learning a lot harder.
Tooling matters – The Emco tools are fine, but you’ll probably want to invest in some sharper HSS blanks and learn to grind your own profiles. The Compact 5 handles light cuts best, so sharp tools make a big difference.
Don’t rush the feeds – It’s tempting to take off too much at once, but these machines shine when you work steadily and let the tool do the cutting.
Manuals and resources – If yours didn’t come with a manual, there are PDF scans floating around online, and they’re worth grabbing since they cover lubrication points and spindle speeds.
If you’ve got specific questions—like threading, parting off, or even converting it for CNC—shout. Quite a few people here have hands-on experience with the Compact 5.