Myford ML7 clutch

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by Pero on 12/01/2020 03:51:51:

Not only bitchy but wrong in almost every respect.

These sort of rants do nothing to inform newer members who may be attempting to work through the minefield of what to buy and are only further confused by these sorts of statements.

Pero

Sorry but I watched lots of youtube video's & did quite a few months of homework before purchasing the lathe I have now. I know a lot of guys on here are maybe mature & not everyone has cash to throw around. For most people the Chinese lathes are fine. Which was the route I was going down. After your comments I have spent another few hours browsing people's Chinese lathe's. Now correct me if I am wrong but most of the Chinese lathe's bought do not actually work perfectly out of the box. Many have done lots of mods to them & now they are pretty good. I only wanted a small lathe to fit on a bench to complement the other toys I have bought to get my little workshop up & running. I want to turn Stainless & watching some do it on some lathe's get a lot of chatter as the bedways & slides have a lot of play in them out of the box. I have no regrets with what I have bought even if it has cost much more that I planned to spend. Ditty. I was only joking about the coke thing with the UV lamp. Lightening up the theme a bit.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

A good Indian made one for example.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 12/01/2020 19:01:56:

On longevity of mini lathes, mines 22, how old do they have to be before people accept they don't fall to pieces in months?

Neil

Only 22? A spring chicken. My old Drummond was older than that when I was born. (Not that the one had anything to do with the other. Well, Mother never mentioned it anyway.)

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Any machine, if it is looked after, and not abused will last for ages. A friend is still using, as far as I know, a Drummond dating from the early 1900s. I know of several Myford M types that are still being used by happy owners.

Those machines must be 70+ years old. The ML7 was launched in 1947 so there must be many that are 70 years old and still functioning satisfactorily.

I started with a ML7, without a clutch, but bore in mind the comments about electric motors not liking the heating effect of the current inrush of frequent start ups. My lathe had at least one previous owner, judged by the wood dust around it. The motor never showed signs of damage from the number of starts that I gave it.

It was replaced after several years with a Chinese 12 x 24 lathe, to have a larger Mandrel bore than 2 MT.

After over 16 years that seems to be as good as new, apart from the cosmetic aspects. There have been a very few small problems; but nothing that could not be cured quite easily and quickly.

Remember the adage about Good Tunes being played on old fiddles!

Misuse can ruin a new machine in as little as minutes. Care, and use within limitations, can keep a machine working accurately for many years.

If you think about buying any used machinery, ensure that all the functions work, and that it is not worn or damaged, and all the accessories that should be there, are. CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Howard

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