Choice of lathe

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi Siddley

Which version of the Myford do/did you own?

N

[SiddleyParticipant @siddley]

Hi NJH, I have used Myford lathes but I have never owned one. The pricecapability ratio didn't really work out for me. I did seriously consider buying one for a while, but the profusion of worn out ' one careful model engineer owner ' examples was depressing.

I have to admit that I earned my living from using machine tools, primarily as a gunsmith, and the Myfords spindle bore being about the same size as a mouses earhole was a bit of a turn off.

The Boxford isn't all that much better in terms of spindle bore, but at less than half the price of a Myford I wasn't going to argue.

I sometimes think that if an Alien was sent to Earth to discover what 'Model Engineering' was all about he'd report back like this :- " Oh Mighty Klang, Destroyer of Worlds, Emperor of Galaxies, the puny humans use Myford lathes to make working models of obsolete steam engines ( in our Klangian language we call them choo choo trains ) and they call this Model Engineering "

If our Alien buddy was asked to report on model engineering workshop practices he'd probably say :- " These humans worship the tool and cutter grinder more than any other machine, it may require several years to construct and cost thousands of their puny human currency in terms of man-hours expended, but still they love it, even if it costs them more of their Galactic Credits than buying another end mill "

[Ronnie HoyleParticipant @ronniehoyle33898]

Hi, I'm looking to buy my first lathe (at last). I'm looking for one like a Harrison m300 size with a 750mm to 1000mm long bed. Do I buy second hand (e.g. Harrison) or for not much more new from Asia like Chester, Axminster, warco & from Germany Excel?

I had a quote for a M300 with a full recon of around £10,000 (out of my price range)

Please help, my head is in a spin

[PeteParticipant @pete41194]

In no way am I trying to upset any of the Myford owners and users here. But they are or were an old design that should have been updated, way over priced when new from Myfords, and there's many others just as accurate or more so with far better capabilitys. Otherwise Myford would still be in business. And there's not many accesories and drawings for Myford specific items that couldn't be reworked to fit other equipment that's comparable or larger in size. It just takes some experience and thought.

And if I was limited to a wood structured floor (and I am) I would do my very best to way over support under the floor area around any bench top mounted lathe since even moving your own body weight to a different position around a lathe will change and twist the lathes bed.

Pete

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Ronnie,
busy time so not may repies to your request but they will come plus plenty of existing threads for you to read.

What are you planning to do with this lathe and do you have experience? The M300 is a nice lathe but big and outside the size range most model engineers would have considered until recently. Also where will you put it as it is heavy.

If a complete beginner you can get on perfectly well for a few years on something half the size and costing under £1000. Don't forget to leave a bit for toolig and materials.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Hi Richard,

I have a Warco WM 250 V-F that was bought at the Harrogate exhib' together with a WM 16 mill, I have only just started using both in anger & so far both have done what I have asked of them.I have the metric versions and am in the process of making a rear toolpost from a kit..measurements in imperial :0 so have to do simple conversions. If you go down the Chinese route check what the dials tell you as mine are marked off in 0.02mm increments (digitally checked) but take off .04mm off the diameter but it states that on the dial.. i.e. // = (dia sign) .04mm (If you get my drift), I have been taking off 0.020"-030" cuts (1/2mm + = to 1mm off dia.) at 600 rpm with coarsest feed rate as set up at manufacturers & motor didn't show any signs of undue labouring..so in essence it's a sturdy machine that suit's my needs for now. Have a merry Xmas folks. George

[Derek DroverParticipant @derekdrover32802]

Well I bought a Chester 920 over a year ago (very used), and with some of the well publicised modifications its turned out to be a very good machine for general model engineering. I know it has some limitations but for the price I paid I cant complain. There are plenty of spares and lots of suggestions on modifications. As its not an electronically controlled vari-speed model, there's very little to go wrong (my workshop isnt heated), and I've managed to d osome pretty accurate work once I'd figured out the best ways of using it.

There was one of these on Fleabay last month which went unsold, starting at £200 !!

Warco also did the same machine (but no longer do it), theirs was called the 918.

well, thats my input on worthwhile "affordable" lathes.

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