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Myford Lathe - What's the benefits

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MetalMagus:
Hi gents,
I am a long time viewer of this forum, and get a lot from reading the various posts. So I thought I would ask for some opinions.

Hopefully later this year I should be in a position to purchase a lathe having created some space for it to live in.

What I would like to determine is if I should purchase a second hand Myford or a new chinese lathe. I like the feel of a Myford having had a go they appear well built and fit for purpose. But I am asking what advantages / disadvantages they have over the newer stuff.

I don't think there is any right or wrong answer on this topic. But I'm interested on hearing your thoughts, experiences with either using a Myford or your reasons for going in a different direction.

Cheers

Sean

PekkaNF:
Few things with Myford
+ If you can chuck it you can turn it. Often better slow speed range and more space around.
+ Good travel on tail stock. Nice for drilling. Many chinese advertise 50 mm or so, but then the arbor drops, 35 mm is more realistic.
+ Well kept one is very nice to work with, no wobble, handwheels work, generally stuff should feel right.
+ better finish
+ aftermarket parts of varying quality are available
- price and sometimes valued way too high for what it is: a light weight lathe
- most often spindle bore and tail stock bore is way too small. There are some "big bore" models, but standard MT2 taper on spindle is a deal breaker for me.
- metric models with decent spindle bore tend to be bit expensive
- if it does not come with the gearbox and all gears you need, hunting them outside of GB is not that fun.

Those are my very personal points, many will find small spindle bore or my major moans of little consequence.

Pekka

DaveS:
Last year I reluctantly parted company with my ML7 which had been in the family for 30 odd years. It was a great machine but I needed something with more capacity. A Harrison 250 or 300 would be ideal but access to my shed is not easy and the additional weight would also be a problem. Hopefully the garden is not prone to sink-holes as the shed will drop rapidly.
My only option was a China lathe a fragile option, having already got a Chinese Mill I knew what lay ahead, partial disassembly to remove the 'protection' which appears to be a dirty oil which is brushed on and then left outdoors for the grit to adhere. Several items need adjusting or modifying to get the machine working as it should which I do enjoy doing.
For the price I suppose its not bad but the quality control is almost non excitant.
Hope this helps

Dave

MetalMagus:
Thank you for the feed back gents, much appreciated.

I'm leaning towards the Myford. Pekka you are correct in stating that they can sometimes be valued too high. But I am in no rush and can wait for the right machine to come along. Over £5K for a new one, or as new from Myfords website, but I have seen some good ones on Ebay for as little as £1K. But unless you can go and see the machine and check for wear you are taking a risk on that type of purchase.

Dave I'm not adverse to stripping down and fettling a new Chinese source machine but I think my time could be better spent improving / accessorizing a Myford. I think the Myford would have enough capacity for what I need and I'm limited in available space / access to it.

Cheers

Sean

Jo:
The Myford is an old design: There are many other lathes of the same "design age" which did not get flowered with all the glory of the Myford in days gone by. They are made of metal and were designed at a time when the design intent was not to sell you another in a few years time. Chinese stuff is built to a price and with the intent of remaining in business in the future.

I had a Myford Super 7 - the hole up the nose annoyed me no end. I replaced it with a Prazimat (German) which I fitted a DRO to. Because of its light construction I had to bolt it to a slab of 25mm thick steel to stop it moving if it got the sun on its tailstock  :palm: I still have the Prazimat it is worth less than 25% of what it cost me. I sold the Myford for three times what I paid for it 30 years later. The very nice quality German chucks that the Prazimat came with are worth more than the Prazimat so I will probably steal them at some point.

If you get desperate and buy Chinese be prepared to throw away the chucks in a few years time and keep your fingers crossed that spares for the electrics remain available - bearings/belts should be easy enough to come by.

I now have my Mr Silky, he is all one could ever want in a lathe :coffee:

Jo

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