chester vs Myford

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

Rik;

My larger lathe (an 11×24) is imperial, and like you, I think and work in metric.

so:

1) I fit dial depth gauges for the cross slide and compound rest.

2) It can metric thread, but is not totally accurate (no 127 toothed wheel, but a ratio close)

I was going to fit a DRO to it, but, 2 decades later, the depth gauges are doing fine.

BTW, the depth gauges are mounted to aluminium blocks, which have an old hard disk drive magnet mounted to them, so they are removable, and if I exceed the gauge travel, they'll pull off.

Not what you were asking, but saying this, as it is a surprisingly viable alternative.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by rik arry on 29/11/2016 11:26:51:

Sorted

 

 

Drilling can put a lot more end pressure on a lathe headstock than turning which will also have an effect on the saddle leadscrew etc.

However I very nearly made something similar to take capstan sleeves on one lathe I had. I sold the lathe instead as it had other short comings. That had 20" between centre but the tailstock was way out. Far beyond reasonable correction.

If some one wants to fit a 13mm chuck to a short centre lathe one option is to adapt one from an electric drill. They screw on and use a secondary screw to prevent them unscrewing but could be loctited on. They will screw up tighter on a lathe anyway. They locate on a short register and the face behind that. Jacob's make some pretty sturdy ones in a variety of sizes. The arbour can be turned up from a morse drill or as I did a morse reamer but make sure there is a sufficient length before the flutes etc. Or use a blank end arbour. The only problem with the latter is getting then out of a morse sleeve if that is used to hold the blank in the headstock spindle. Getting it out can really mess up the end.

John

–

Edited By Ajohnw on 29/11/2016 12:58:04

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I have only used the gap to clear the faceplate, and then only once, and the thing I was turning wouldn't have needed the gap anyway. So I agree that they are overrated.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

I wanted a small lathe to get restarted in model engineering. I could not wait for various refurb projects that I have underway.

I found an ML10 (ballraced or is it rollerraced?) for £500. It was in excellent condition, with a reasonable amount of tooling and the Myford stand to boot.

Lucky? I think not! You get inflated prices on Myfords on Ebay and at the dealers. I looked at odd "for sale" lists on various forums, such as the BMFA website (model planes) and various other similar hobby related forums. In a couple of months I found several lathes at reasonable prices and finally purchased my ML10.

A lot of people say that Myfords are over rated. Perhaps they are when you pay top prices, but they can be had for a lot less, then they make a lot of sense, compared with Chinese offerings.

Andrew.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

The reason Myfords have a gap is so people cae make Anthony Mount steam engines with 8" flywheels and models of Stirling Singles.

Neil

[rik arryParticipant @rikarry]

It is a speed 10 90's much later model

i wont need a Gap bed , wouldnt need a large distance between centres ,

I agree there are some out there on cloud cookoo land regarding prices , just because its got myford on it ,

some wont give me the serial no. so i can just check year and upgrades etc.. although all the serial no's are on the myford site , some cant even find it !!! giving me part no's and gearbox no's i tend to then steer clear as they should know their lathe inside out and backwards …

Still looking even asked about S7's upto 3k but then i think do i need it ? prob not

Its not a question of price its more a question of do i need

but i think for my present needs a DB7VS or 8 will suffice also when finished , seems to sell easier on ebay ,

[JAParticipant @ja]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 29/11/2016 22:40:24:

The reason Myfords have a gap is so people cae make Anthony Mount steam engines with 8" flywheels and models of Stirling Singles.

Neil

A very good reason for buying a Myford.

The Anthony Mount engine I am making, a Boulton & Watt bell crank engine, has a 9" flywheel.

Boasting again.

JA

[rik arryParticipant @rikarry]

Engine

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by rik arry on 29/11/2016 22:54:25:

It is a speed 10 90's much later model

i wont need a Gap bed , wouldnt need a large distance between centres ,

I agree there are some out there on cloud cookoo land regarding prices , just because its got myford on it ,

some wont give me the serial no. so i can just check year and upgrades etc.. although all the serial no's are on the myford site , some cant even find it !!! giving me part no's and gearbox no's i tend to then steer clear as they should know their lathe inside out and backwards …

Still looking even asked about S7's upto 3k but then i think do i need it ? prob not

Its not a question of price its more a question of do i need

but i think for my present needs a DB7VS or 8 will suffice also when finished , seems to sell easier on ebay ,

The condition of a lathe is far more important than it's age. Wear can make any use of a lathe a lot more long winded and difficult than it needs to be.

Wear relates to how well they are looked after but given sufficient use they all show signs of wear and it takes a lot less than some might think. People will find lathes that the original owner has sold because it will no longer do what they need it to do and the lathe may have had several other owners since. I'd guess that could even relate to modern used small chinese lathes. Some like ML10's may have been bought for some great plan that never materialised. Some will have problems. Some sell because they are disappointed and buy some other model. I've bought a couple of items like that over the years and there has been nothing wrong with them – the real problem is the user who doesn't even know how to set them up correctly let alone use them. I have also managed to buy a couple of pigs that needed an awful amount of work done on them. One was brand new and nigh on impossible to fix up without access to equipment I don't have. I was mislead by the used machine I bought like this by the seller who had used a trick I had never come across before. That was a Myford 7. There are far too many well worn examples of those about.

John

–

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by Ajohnw on 30/11/2016 10:35:03:

I was mislead by the used machine I bought like this by the seller who had used a trick I had never come across before. That was a Myford 7. There are far too many well worn examples of those about.

John

–

And what was the trick in the end? Just so we can beware of them.

I've never bought a used machine on the basis i don't trust first appearances, i only really got to know the good machines i used at work after i had used them for a long while. Some had a great name and performed well to an untrained eye but had truly awful runout issues after you tried to turn something accurately.

Atleast with a newun i know it's probably been made to atleast a reasonable standard, regardless of where that was. I would only get an ex machine i've had a bit of experience with but the likelihood is the owner often wants to keep it because they know it's a keeper. 

An exboss of mine tried to flog me a myford super 7 that he said he got tired of but wouldn't really say why, so on that basis i couldn't justify the large amount of cash he wanted with the suspicion lurking. (This guy also had a history of odd behavior so it really compounded the trust problem)

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 30/11/2016 10:54:35

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

A simple trick on an ML7 – just set the headstock drive belt way too tight to mask bearing wear. Also but down to me really. I wasn't aware of just how good a fit the saddle needs to have on the bed. I could kick myself for that because I could have figured that out before even buying one. When thought went to a Super 7 instead I did give it some thought. The saddle and bed could be sorted out but the head stock bearings would probably need some work with a hand scraper. The saddle would mean that I would have to find some one with a surface grinder. Bed itself might be ok. If not the best answer at the time was to send it back to Myford and have both done and the saddle refitted. I would have warned them that I might reshim the gibs under the bed rails when it came back 'cause I am pretty sure they would know why I might do that,

However while browsing Ebay I saw my Boxford ME10. It had all of the gear I no I might need especially a fixed steady so I asked the seller to do the usual turning test over 6" on heavy bar. He didn't have any heavy bar but did it and told me the taper was about 0.002" on 1" bar. No one reached his reserve which was £750. I placed a bid of £1100 and some a few seconds before the auction end. I do know what the bits and pieces cost. I didn't have any interest at all in how old it was.

I much prefer to go and use machines or at least get a good look at them. My Dore Westbury came like that. Main problem the person who was selling it thinking he was ripping me off didn't know how to set it up. Same with a small Chinese miller I had before that. The person who bought that off me was very pleased with it.

To me people have a simple choice. Buying used is fine if a machine can be checked over some how. Most people think that if the chuck spins round all is ok. Fact the cross slide and headstock bearings will wear out long before the bed usually does enough to be a problem. May as well throw in one part of the underside of the saddle on Myford 7's as well. It's a weak point of the design.

The other option is to buy new cheap chinese. It's pretty clear that odd pigs do crop up at times so I always suggest buying from a company that provides a test certificate that will show just how much of a pig it should be.

If I hadn't found my Boxford I would have bought one long ago especially now they are somewhat better than they were. When I bought it would have to have been a 918 model and would probably have needed some titivation. My Boxford does too but only new head stock bearing to fix a very minor turning problem. The biggest problem when I got it home was adjusting them.

John

–

[Author]

Posts