Myford VM Milling Machine

[david newman 9Participant @davidnewman9]

[david newman 9Participant @davidnewman9]

I have been offered a Myford VMB mill at a reasonable price but see I could buy almost the same machine from Warco for not much more. Were the Myford ones worked on to make them better, or was i/t the name that pushed the price up ??? David

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

What warrenty is on the Myford compared to the Warco ?

All the Myford range were sourced in Taiwan.

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

I've got a genuine Myford one and spoke to Myford about it at their last Sandown show before they ceased trading because I was looking for a manual. The Myford guy was very upfront and said they were sourced from Taiwan but Myford dismantled each one and fine tuned them before reassembling. Where I work has a modern Warco one so I can give you a direct comparison and as you'd expect, the Warco version does the job but it doesn't have the same feel and things like the table locks which are sturdy cast levers on the Myford version are pressed steel on the Warco ones and feel cheap. Myford stopped doing them eventually because the amount of effort and the price they could realistically charge for them made then not worth continuing with. The Warco version has the advantage of options for additional luxuries and is still quite a capable machine.

For interest, a basic Myford version with no DRO's went on ebay a couple of weeks ago for £800.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Chris Trice on 20/05/2012 00:08:47:

Myford stopped doing them eventually because the amount of effort and the price they could realistically charge for them made then not worth continuing with.

Never stopped them doing that with the lathe though ?

i could understand some of the earlier ones needing a lot of sorting out but as taiwan came on stream quality shot up and I dare say the later ones didn't require the amount of work as the earlier ones.

I have a VMB bought from the auction, brand new but canabalised and it's nothing special as regards fit or finish.

John S.

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

I've got one of the earlier grey ones and it's pretty good. Maybe with the later ones, the quality became 'good enough' as bought in while not matching the early machines? It's no Bridgeport but for hobby work, seems good.

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

David,

No disrespect intended, but are you sure the machine is a VMB? I have a VMB and to the best of my knowledge, Warco have not, and in fact still do not offer their version of this machine. My understanding is that it was only availble from Myford. I believe you actually mean one of the other VM …. variants which they do indeed sell.

Chris,

Can supply a copy of my VMB manual if you still need one.

[david newman 9Participant @davidnewman9]

Posted by Trevor Drabble on 20/05/2012 18:10:27:

David,

No disrespect intended, but are you sure the machine is a VMB? I have a VMB and to the best of my knowledge, Warco have not, and in fact still do not offer their version of this machine. My understanding is that it was only availble from Myford. I believe you actually mean one of the other VM …. variants which they do indeed sell.

Chris,

Can supply a copy of my VMB manual if you still need one.

Yes Chris you are correct then one I'm offered is a VMB and now notice that the Warco version is not variable speed which would probably suit me better in case of problems with the electrics, which I would be useless at fixing. David

[Douglas JohnstonParticipant @douglasjohnston98463]

I bought a new VMB ten years ago and have always been delighted with it in terms of smoothness of slides etc although I have made quite a few mods along the way. At the time I bought mine Myford were saying they did a number of things to the raw Taiwanese import including extra oiling points. The ground surface finish on the table was extremely good and I suspect Myford may have been responsible for this since any other imported machines I have seen have never been as nice.

One of the problems with the machine is the vertical feed which needs one revolution of the handle to move 20 thou. To make this more convenient to use I made power drive which works very well.

Doug

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

I need to sort the screws out from mine and get them on Ebay.

Probably the last set of brand new screws available for this model, don't suppose the Hebden Bridge guys will cater for this model.

[FenleyParticipant @fenley]

One of the reasons I purchased one was because the electrics were EU sourced including a tyco Brook crompton motor, far beter quality in my opinion.

The biggest disadvantage is the rise and fall, I use a battery drill with a socket attached if I need to move any distance.

Andy

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

Doh! Sorry for any confusion but my comments were about the VM-C rather than the VM-B. The moral of the tale being don't post late at night when you're tired.

[JackParticipant @jack37660]

On the suject of Myford VMB machines, has anyone fitted table stops. My machine is 15 years old and has a mysterious T slot in front of the table which looks as though it should be used for stops but it doesn't move with the table.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

I have a VMC and cannot fault it. Fitted XY DRO so I don't need table stops. You really should think about extra oil feeds to the sides for convenience before intallation. If it's a good price go for it.

[george cleggParticipant @georgeclegg12626]

Being new to this I am not sure wether what I have just written has actually been posted. SO here again is my request.

My Myford VM-C has just sheared the register pin in the drive tube due to a moment of inattention.

Has anyone had experience of getting at said pin to replace it. The rudimentary service manual with this second hand machine doesn't even show it and there is also no part reference in the list.

Please help if you can.

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