Your post isn't specific, but I think you are confused.

I presume you are talking about their 'new' lathes.

The talk on the other thread was about Myford accessories, made in China and Myford branded.

This followed on from the discussion that Myford did not sell anything under their name which was Chinese, which isn't correct.

Still can't help thinking that £8000 or £9000 (depending on model) for a 1940's designed lathe with no provenance is an awful lot of cash. You could get a lathe, mill, drill and all the added extras for that amount. New or second hand the bill would be a lot less. You could even get the workshop itself

John

Edit: Spelling

Edited By Journeyman on 19/02/2018 14:49:51

Why are you confused?

Myford's comment was 'we don't have any PARTS made in the far east'.

Note they say parts, they appear to be referring to the lathes themselves.

So, the lathes may well be made from components originating from the UK/Poland/Bulgaria, BUT, Myford sell many accessories (i listed examples in the other thread) that ARE made in the Far East.

Again, this was in reply to the suggestion on the other thread that Myford don't sell ANYTHING made in the Far East.

We've probably done this to death now!

Billy

I wasn't criticising you.

I merely replied, originally, to the comment on the other thread:

'So they have sold all their old stock – that is what such a business is supposed to do: sell things.

Still no sign of any Chinese parts with Myford branding to replace them'.

Edited By David Standing 1 on 19/02/2018 15:50:54

I was referring to Myford's actual spare parts for the lathes when I made that statement, in relation to the headstock bearing under discussion in the other thread. Accessories, well that's a different ball game, given that RDG had been selling those for years prior to taking over Myford, and not at all what I was talking about.

As we have seen, they seem to be allowing the S7 headstock bearings go out of stock rather than sell substandard parts from wherever. (It's those hoarders buying up the bearings "just in case" and keeping them on their workshop shelf that have created the shortage, you know. )

Myford are certainly not alone in using components from sub-contractors or specialist suppliers. Every manufacture has to do this as they cannot be competitive making small quantities against specialist suppliers. A very simple example is threaded fasteners a more complicated exampled are ball bearings, castings, electrical components etc.

Of course cost has to be taken into consideration. All manufacturers try to purchase specified components at the lowest price. This often means going to countries with lower manufacturing and wage costs than the UK.

Alan Shepard became the first American in space when the Freedom 7 spacecraft blasted off from Florida on May 5, 1961and during the flight had the following disturbing thought:

"It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract."

Actually, when the modern Myford came out, circa 1948 or something, the ML7 was a low-cost lathe. It was aimed at teh hobby market and was about 20 per cent cheaper to buy than the Myford/Drummond M-type, the pre-war favorite of many model engineers. And I think in later years it was still cheaper than the Raglan LIttlejohn and Boxfords. The Myford never was an elite machine, either quality or pricewise. It was built to a price for the hobby market. The S7 of course is a little more upmarket, but only a little, thanks to what? tapered bronze spindle bearing, cross slide feed and a couple of small doodads.

Yes, i would have thought you could buy a good toolroom lathe of some sort for 8,000 squids but I've no idea what that sort of thing costs these days. And obviously there is a market for the "Connoiseur" judging by the waiting list and price.

You make a good point though. If they are finding it difficult to find a supplier of the tapered bronze S7 bushing, why not get with the 21st century program and redesign for tapered roller bearings? Set of wheel bearings from a 4WD or light truck and away you go. But it may be they don't have the development staff for that kind of thing these days, just assembling the traditional parts to make the traditional machine.

As a Super 7 owner my take on the advantages of the S7 is it's flexibility. With a T slotted cross slide it becomes a horizontal boring machine. Adding a simple lever makes it a hand shaper. The headstock is simple to divide and a secondary spindle can easily be fitted to the boring table and you have a clock wheel cutter. Add a dividing head to the boring table on a vertical slide and you get yourself a gear cutter. Due to the legacy of it's long history there are numerous attachments designed for it of which I have built many which make it even more usefull.

Oh and you can also use it as a lathe.

So if you want to make larger scale traction engines or are planniing a multi machine workshop you probably don't want a Myford but it's amazing what you can do with a Myford and not much else.