A lot of new and re-manufactured small parts are available for repair & maintenance.

Must haves – 3 jaw chuck, 4 jaw chuck, face plate, and some basic turning tools suitable for the work you actually intend to start out with .For the tailstock a revolving centre and a chuck, beyond that buy it as you need it

A gearbox is great for the advertised set of pitches, beyond that you have to mess with change gears anyway, I cut such an oddball variety of metric and imperial threads I'm glad I didn't spend an extra £500 or so on a gearbox

You need about a foot clear at the tailstock end for when you need to take the tailstock off, at the headstock end you need enough space to open the door on the gear cluster and/or to accommodate the length of material you need to have through the headstock, around 8" as a minimum.

Edited By Nick Hulme on 19/07/2019 17:35:53

If you've decided to go Myford keep an eye on the Myford Website where refurbished lathes pop up periodically. Metric and imperial Super 7s in stock are in stock at the moment for £2495+VAT.

Last time I looked they only had ML7s; I guess they refurbish in batches.

Dave

Don't get too hung up on all the accessories, as the work you do will define what is necessary. It's probably better to ensure you have essentials(and they'll vary a bit) then buy others if you need them. For instance, I bought my first lathe 17 years ago but I've never used a faceplate or travelling steady, even though I bought them for the mini-lathe and the replacement came with them. Nor have I turned between centres, so the drive dog I bought a long time ago just sits in the box.

3 and 4 jaw chucks, tailstock drill chuck, cutting tools and a revolving centre is a good list to start with. I wouldn't want to do without a QCTP and enough holders for long.

No longer the owner of a ML7, ( Superceded by a larger Far Eastern machine – which has been satisfactory for the 16 years that I have owned it from new )

With regard to space around the machine, my advice would be at least a foot at each end to allow for material passed through the Head or Tailstock.

The more changewheels that you have the better, even if you do have a gearbox (That will increase your purchase price! ) Do try to find a 127T, in case you ever want to cut Metric threads on an Imperial machine, or vice versa.

It will be large, and probably expensive, but if you want the facility, you need to pay for it.

Enter stage left all the 63T exponents! And all the other exotic gear combination supporters.

Do get books which guide you on how to set up a gear train.

"Myford Series 7 Manual" by Ian Bradley; "The Amateur's lathe" by L H Sparey., and the more recent "Gearing of lathes for Screwcutting" by Brian Wood, all contain tables of geartrains to cut various threads.

"Screwcutting in the Lathe" by Martin Cleeve , (No.3 in the Workshop Practice series ) deals with the theory of setting up a train for a particular thread pitch in detail, and the calculations.

Almost all of these will touch on the form of the screwcutting tool, and how to go about the job.

Changewheels can also be used to provide a feed rate / revolution of the mandrel. Both for turning, and if if your machine has power cross feed, for facing.

But do ensurev that any changewheel that you buy is correct for a Myford. The gears are 20 DP but the pressure angle is 14.5 degrees. Other machines may use 20 DP gears, but with the more usual 20 degrees pressure angle, and are not really suitable.for a Myford.

Hope that this is some help rather than confusing.

Howard Look below hers, more follows!

"The Amateur's Workshop", by Ian Bradley; and "Model Engineer's Handbook" by Tubal Cain are useful books to have, but do not contain tables of change wheel set ups..

Edited By Howard Lewis on 19/07/2019 18:13:13

Edited By Howard Lewis on 19/07/2019 18:14:26

Not thought about a myford 254?

Do remember that myford bought out Raglan in the late 1960’s, so late Raglans were actually ‘myfords’ – only far better than the myford range.

Myford terminated Raglan production around 1971/2 but later introduced the myford 254 – as a ‘more modern’ lathe.

Very similar to the Raglan 5” but with some improvements(?) – like oil bath gears – but not so far advanced, if at all. It had lubed gears instead of the infinitely variable speed change available on all Raglans. A myford 254 is expensive, so I believe, probably twice, or more, the cost of a good fully equipped Raglan 5”.

As I indicated on the other thread, I would not be changing my 5”, as it has done all I need at a sensible cost. But I was very careful in selecting the machine I bought. I waited patiently for one in suitable mechanical condition to turn up at the right price, before buying, as I was already using a previous model.

I'm an ex-Myford owner too. I've had a Warco WM250V for 4 years now, with the Myford double-swivel vertical slide I saved from its predecessor. This outfit has so far proved capable of doing everything I've wanted, and is pleasant and quiet to use. Those things that've gone wrong were always my own fault, and fixable by me.

Whether you need a vertical slide depends pretty much on how much milling and co-ordinate drilling you're gonna need to do. My vertical slide is in use at a guess 30 or 40% of the time.

I have just "upgraded" from a Drummond/Myford "M" to a ML7 and wish that I hadn't bothered. The myford is very fragile and flexible compared to the "M". I have gone back to using my 1908 5" split bed Drummond.

Are you suitably confused now Coggy ?

You should note that inspite of the anti Myford comments made by some (even if they are often ill founded), look at the superb work produced on Myfords over the years, as exhibited at the various Model Engineering Exhibitions and also as written up in The Model Engineer Magazine.

Operator skill is the most significant factor involved but it also helps to know your equipment.

If you are prepared to consider a Far Eastern machine, as long as it has not been abused, second hand possibles (Belt driven Headstock) include:

Warco BH600 (BH900 was the long bed version) came in Imperial or Metric configuration, Chester Craftsman, similar machine, Metric and different paint job; or scarcer, Engineers Tool Room BL12 -24, again a similar machine, Metric but with dual dials. They have Norton gearboxes as standard, with Power Cross Feed as well as longitudinal, driven off a power shaft. The Leadscrew is purely for screwcutting, Thread Indicator Dial is standard. The Cross Slide is Tee slotted – a useful feature.

Beds are induction hardened, prismatic, and the original equipment includes all that Ian SC mentions. My BL12-24 came with a Faceplate, as well. It replaced a ML7.

Swing over the bed is 12" ( 300 mm ) or with the Gap removed, 18" (450 mm ) The standard motor is likely to be 1.5 or 2 hp, so quite powerful hobby machines.

With Back Gear, they have 12 speeds, and the 120/127 Idler gear allows Imperial or Metric threads to be cut.

In my experience, quite good, rigid, machines. (300 kg ) No claim to be Toolroom lathes, but capable of better work than my skill can produce.

They were superceded by Geared Head versions, and later by versions with electronic variable speeds.

Check the specs., in case some "improvement" has been incorporated at the expense of a more useful feature, or reliability, over an earlier model..

Howard

No need to be frustrated. For the work you aim to do, any of the machines mentioned will be perfectly adequate, the only difficulty, if not buying new or fully reconditioned, will be machine condition.

Although not my first choice, if you want, a good condition Myford will be a perfectly satisfactory machine and has the advantage of being commonly available on the secondhand market and spares support from the current marque owners.

With patience you should be able to find one in a reasonable condition to suit your budget. You are paying a bit for the name but the cost of eastern machines has increased by about 30% in the last few of years so the differential is not as marked as it was.

On the subject of accessories, someone did mention a vertical slide +1 for that- increases the utility of the lathe by enabling light milling activities.

Usual advice for s/h

avoid e bay (useful for general research and having a laugh at some of the dogs for sale!)

don't purchase without viewing and testing (see threads for common problem areas to look for on Myfords)

don't worry too much about the cosmetic condition (paintwork) -always check the fundamentals

be prepared to walk away no matter how far you have driven!

keep back some of your budget for remedials (ie replacement of a bush or feednut etc)