Brian,

If seller provides pictures of a machine then they wriggle out of it by saying you should have studied the pictures to see the condition.

They rely on novices not knowing what the machine should look like when complete.

Or in some cases the seller is completely ignorant themselves.

The famous last words "spares are available on ebay" are often heard

Caveat Emptor indeed

Edited By Robbo on 02/09/2016 09:22:24

Hi there, Shaun,

I sympathise with your situation – I guess you're eager to get on with using your lathe.

However, the reality is that eBay is not a fully stocked spares and accessories retailer. When rebuilding an old machine such as the ML3, you have to accept that all the parts you require are not going to be listed just when you need them. And, of course, you can be outbid! Patience is required, it can be a long game. In fact, some of the parts you need may never be listed! If that's not acceptable then returning the machine to the seller for a refund may be your best option.

There used to be a lot of knowledge and spare parts in the possession of members of the Yahoo Myford Lathes Group but I haven't been able to access any of the Yahoo Groups since Yahoo mucked about with their software – you might have more luck.

An afterthought – if you do decide to keep the ML3 and hunt for the parts needed to complete it, I suggest that you research the ML1,2,3,&4 family to see what parts are compatible from model to model.  Have you looked at Tony's web-site, lathes.co.uk ??

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 02/09/2016 10:04:05

Give 'neutral' feedback but mention the problems in your text.

Less messy than giving bad feedback.

Neil

That was a stroke of luck – My old Dad always said it was better to be born lucky than rich.

…with an 80 thou per rev dial it must be a 12.5 TPI square(?) thread which seems a pretty weird size to me.

Jon

Not sure why people assume it was acquired from ebay, Did I miss something obvious?

The cross slide of ML1234 are probably all the same but the later ML7 series are not. Most of the changes to the models were the headstock and level of accessories bundled with the lathe originally. This compatibility is the info Sean needs. Parts appear often on ebay but may not be listed as for a particular lathe.

Where abouts are you? If you can find a nearby club you will get a lot of help and advice there.

Look under 'sellers other items' in the eBay link John Gibbs posted. There are many other ml1-4 parts available, including a complete top slide. Cheers, Hugh.

Ok I see a bed stop, useful, an a saddle without screw, and possibly needing a gib strip. It is not uncommon for someone to take this apart to clean etc then mislay the parts if being a bit sloppy or just a garage trader who doesn't really know of care what bits they picked up from some widow's shed.

If you have a topslide with a 12 tpi screw not 10tpi then you might be able to fit it temporarily to the cross slide as the designs are basically equivalent. Short travel but it would get you going.

The gumtree link looks pretty good but is it actually myford? The advert says the lathe was sold so was that without its saddle? Perhaps the lathe sold was a myford and this was a non-myford part that happened to be with it and was therefore assumed to be myford by association not wisdom. One thing that puzzles me about it is I don't see screw holes in the second photo for attaching the apron so was perhaps attached from the front. It would adapt if the size of the V on the saddle will match so worth a call to the seller to get a measurement. Note the first photo shows the gib strip which is needed but if the V is a little too wide you can take up an eighth with a thicker one. The second photo shows the back of a dial so if it is myford it is the 'superior model' that actually had one.

Not sure which topslide you linked to. I linked to one what would do and is the slightly better slot plus hole fixing type but there seem to be two bidders already.

The screw only that Jon Gibbs linked is nice, The later development I think but you need rather more than just that.