Boxford lathe prices/opinions

[jason spencerParticipant @jasonspencer41535]

[jason spencerParticipant @jasonspencer41535]

I did have my eye on a smart and brown model A but the seller has decided to keep it

However this has been listed on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boxford-lathe-industrial-250-/251258726733?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a802fe94d

The seller would like £900 for it, however I've nothing to gauge the price against? Is that a fair price? Its an ex-school machine that he's used to make suspension spacers. Size and capability wise it ticks the boxes however I've zero experience of them. does the wise forum have any?

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Hello Jason,

I'm a Myford man but your Boxford looks like a decent machine and the name has a good reputation. They are good solid machines.

You say he is asking £900, the starting bid is actually £700, if you could get it for that I would say that was a bargain, but a decent Myford with gearbox can expect to go for up to £1200 with the usual accessories included

He should be open to inspection in which case it would pay you to take a look and make a much better assessment of condition than you can possibly get from 3 pictures.

Definitely worth thinking seriously about

Good luck Brian

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Jason,

Have a look at Tony Griffiths site **LINK** Then look for "Industrial IS Lathes". The "IS" part is not included in the number on the front of the machine, so you will find this one under "250IS", the 250 indicates the swing in mm, so 10 inch swing, 5 inch centre height.

This will give you the spec to think about.

Ask for more pictures if you will, but you should never buy without seeing the machine, then you can check for excessive wear, smooth working etc, but the seller says it is 3-phase and he doesn't have 3-phase at home so you won't be able to see it under power anyway, which is a turn-off.

Unless converted to single-phase is probably best run from a phase converter rather than an inverter, so that's a big expense to figure in. Its probably got a 1½ HP motor, maybe more.

Bear in mind that a top quality Model 'A' sold recently for over £1000, and an "AUD" looks set to follow that lead, and he'll probably get his £900 on auction. But sometimes it can all depend on location and transport home.

Because of the above caveats it wouldn't do for me, but you may be happy with them.

Phil

[john kennedy 1Participant @johnkennedy1]

I think its well worth £900.If I didn't have a lathe I'd round there like a shot to have a look at it.

[jason spencerParticipant @jasonspencer41535]

I've already got a rotary phase converter at home so the 415v makes sense to me, I can power it up by taking my phase converter along which he'd be happy with.

It makes sense weight wise as I can collect myself, I was looking at £200 to move the S&B 50 miles!

[michael coleParticipant @michaelcole91146]

I have had in the past myford, and underdrive Boxfords and currently I use a modern Boxford.

The only item that if seens to be missing is the headstock bush, The standard headstock taper is a version of 4.5mt and the bush takes this down to 3mt. New bushes are available from Boxford

. I see that it comes with a lagre set of gears, this with the 3 lever gearbox and standard 127 toth gear will let you cut just about any thread imp and metric you should want.

I would be happy to bid up to £1500. The harded beds just do not wear in a shool setting, but watch out for any dings.

Mike

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

I will admit to more than a bit of bias here, as I was placed at Boxford's for a year to finish my apprenticeship at the time that this family of machines was starting production (1981 -82).

I recall being told at the time that the machine was designed by the chap responsible for the Harrison M300. I also recall that the headstock oil level was found to be low during testing of the first batch of machines – later machines had the sight glass re-positioned higher, but a sticker was attached to the first batch that read "Fill to top of sight, plus 1 pint" .

A CNC version was produced with various controls – I wired up the first one built.

Some, if not all, of the headstock gears were hardened – the same hardening plant electronics that was used to harden the beds was witchable to a small "cabin" that held the gears on a rotating spindle which passed the gear through an induction loop & then quenched it in a coolant bath.

While an ex-school machine may have not seen much use, it may well also have not seen much in the way of maintenance or sympathetic treatment. My current ex-school Super 7 has a "dropped chuck" ding in the bed, the saddle "fast side"was badly worn due to being badly adjusted and it had been grease lubricated through the oil nipples. So, if contemplating buying unseen, I would bank on a bit of time to strip, clean, lubricate & adjust.

If I were to consider looking for soemthing bigger than the Super 7, one of this family of Boxfords would be high on my list (but note the initial caveat !)

£0.02

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

I have had the previous model AUD and love it. Plenty of bits with this offer – these cost a lot of money / time to collect, Boxford has a larger spindle hole than the Myford. Does it have a slotted cross slide, and would you want it ? What are the gears for? There is a norton box, gears may be for the change from imperial to metric screwcutting, but no 127/100 gear set. Is it metric or imperial and what do you want.

For me, the boxford with the double 'v' bed is superior to the Myford, but hundreds of modelers use the Myford !!

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

If I was upgrading from my mini lathe and had the readies and the space, a Boxford AUD or something like that would be my choice.

Neil

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Hello Jason

Lets assume that this item IS a bit grubby but will scrub up OK. Also assume that you have had a good look and all seems OK.

Now compare the price of your Boxford – £900 – with a new Warco 9×16 WM 240 at £1,085 which I am contemplating buying (I could never get your Boxford in my shed).

Space constraints aside I know which machine I'd go for, it would be the cheaper and far superior quality Boxford – sorry WARCO.

Rik

[michael coleParticipant @michaelcole91146]

The 127/100 gear is permently mounted in the gear train, so the swop from imp to metric takes me around one minute.

Mike

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Jason,

As you've already got the converter, and had already factored in £200 for transport, then I would buy it before he changes his mind!

As I have done, given the above.

Phil

[jason spencerParticipant @jasonspencer41535]

Thank you for the replys. There's another one also, not far away in Rutland which is an STS with some nice extra's too. I might have to bide my time for a few days.

At the minute I only really want to cut metric thread but might need to do imperial in the future.

[jason spencerParticipant @jasonspencer41535]

Well thanks for the advice, seems like I'm going to be the owner of a nice boxford lathe

My smaller single phase lathe sold for more than the boxford will cost too so I should have a 'better' machine with a few quid in my pocket.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

I have a 5" model A and i like it. the back gears are a little noisy but apart from that its great. I had a snipe at the one on fleabay but it looks like it will make good money.

Bri

[jason spencerParticipant @jasonspencer41535]

Hi Bri

Which one on ebay are you talking about?

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

The cream one, i took it to 900.

[jason spencerParticipant @jasonspencer41535]

That does looks very nice. What would the advantages be over the green 'industrial' range though?

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

I am not sure. They probably are very similar specs.

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