Nice Myford on ebay

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Looks very nice, if a little expensive. Has all the right bits though. 1977 to 1985 vintage. Super 7 try again.

Steve.

Edited By Steviegtr on 11/03/2020 20:13:35

Edited By Steviegtr on 11/03/2020 20:43:00

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Metric model ,

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Steve, Your link is broken, try This One

Bill

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Thanks Bill fixed it.

Steve.

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Nice looking machine but I fail to understand why anyone would fit a VFD controller in such a position, unless they only have a right arm.

Emgee

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by Emgee on 11/03/2020 22:50:41:

Nice looking machine but I fail to understand why anyone would fit a VFD controller in such a position, unless they only have a right arm.

Emgee

I agree totally.

Steve.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Emgee on 11/03/2020 22:50:41:

Nice looking machine but I fail to understand why anyone would fit a VFD controller in such a position, unless they only have a right arm.

Emgee

That's where my CL750 is! No doubt it's a personal choice although in my case I put it there so that it could also drive the mill/drill which is on that side (changeover takes seconds only).

FWIW, I am perfectly happy with this setup which, eg, allows me to operate the cross slide on a surfacing cut with my left hand and modulate the spindle speed with my right.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Posted by Emgee on 11/03/2020 22:50:41:

Nice looking machine but I fail to understand why anyone would fit a VFD controller in such a position, unless they only have a right arm.

Emgee

 

I bought a Warco 720 S7 clone a couple of years ago.
That's exactly how it was fitted to mine.
I find it fine to use, particularly as the Warco stand has a cupboard on the left hand side.

The price is a bit scary though @ £490 with the motor. It's part of the reason I bought the lathe to replace my old changewheel S7, pre power x feed.
The Warco has gearbox and power x feed, as well as the Newton Tesla drive package, certainly not as well finished in the details as the genuine article, but it does OK for me and came for £1200.

Edited By peak4 on 11/03/2020 23:43:03

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

I think the metric imperial description is probably misleading, the gearbox for screwcutting is a normal imperial gearbox so it is probably a normal imperial setup with the metric conversion gears as all Myfords could have. It is a commonly held view that Myford never produced a fully metric 7 but fitted metric top slide, cross slide and tailstock barrel but left the leadscrew at 8tpi rather than the nearest 3mm metric. If anyone wants a fully metric machine then I would give this a very close inspection first. Cutting metric screw threads is not a problem on an imperial machine, very close approximations are readily available and are more than close enough for any practical purpose. I doubt that any home workshop could measure the error. It still looks a nice lathe though.

Mike

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Posted by Emgee on 11/03/2020 22:50:41:

Nice looking machine but I fail to understand why anyone would fit a VFD controller in such a position, unless they only have a right arm.

Emgee

If you think about it, it is a sensible place to put it, with the buttons on the left of the machine you put your face and body in the firing line of the chuck key you forgot to remove or any part that escapes from the chuck or faceplate. Industrial machines often use a saddle mounted start lever that keeps you in a safe position.

Mike

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

+1 on what Mike said. I mount the on/off switch on my lathes at the right hand end as that's where I stand when operating and like to be clear of the chuck. A habit from working on larger lathes flinging coolant and hot swarf everywhere off the chuck in younger days I guess. And maybe from using the ancient Drummond with unguarded flat belt flapping around the headstock end in use.

And I can't think of a time when I ever wanted to vary the speed of the lathe while still taking a cut. Maybe if you were facing 3-foot diameter discs or something it would be nice to speed up for the reduced inner diameter area but not something I do on my Myford.

Certainly I'd rather be using the JOG switch on the linked lathe with my right hand (me being right handed) and have my less-important left hand fingers out there on the job where they might possibly get inadvertently jogged.

Edited By Hopper on 12/03/2020 01:58:22

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I have a pendant control thingy on mine – it is nearly always at the tailstock end.

What I cannot understand is why anyone would pay that much for a myford when similar examples of Boxfords or Raglans, etc can be bought for one third of the money (or less). Yes, a bit heavier and unlikely to be as blingy as that example, but just as accurate, better capacity, better facilities and capabilities, IMO.

Please can someone tell me why? Buy a myford if you must, but the stark economics don’t seem to add up.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by not done it yet on 12/03/2020 08:20:33:

I have a pendant control thingy on mine – it is nearly always at the tailstock end.

What I cannot understand is why anyone would pay that much for a myford when similar examples of Boxfords or Raglans, etc can be bought for one third of the money (or less). Yes, a bit heavier and unlikely to be as blingy as that example, but just as accurate, better capacity, better facilities and capabilities, IMO.

Please can someone tell me why? Buy a myford if you must, but the stark economics don’t seem to add up.

Cult status based on 50 years of appearance in ME magazine as "THE" model engineer's lathe. Radford, GH Thomas, Duplex, Tubal Cain and two generations of others all refered to it as the model engineer's standard.

Ironically, the Myford became THE model engineeer's lathe largely because it was a (relatively) low cost machine in comparison with the better built Boxfords, Raglans etc. The Boxfords, like their Australian counterpart the Hercus, were a bigger, heavier duty lathe built more solidly with some nice extra features. But the Myford hit that sweet spot between quality and price that suited "everyman".

Now they are like the old motorbike craze. Everybody who dreamed of owning one as a lad how has retirement money and is willing to pay silly money to relive their lost (or in most cases, never found) youth. $15,000 Norton Commandos? They were a POS when new and have only grown more obsolete with time. Now the latest wave is $25,000 Kawasaki 900s as the next younger wave hits retirement age. For a bike that cost under $2,000 new and was churned out by the tens if not hundreds of thousands. Toys for old boys, just like the $10,000 Myford Connoisieurs. (Which nobody can spell anyway! Bloody cheese-eating surrender monkey terminology, to paraphrase Jonesy, whose trademark admonition "Don't panic. Don't panic" seems to be front-of-mind this week.)

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

the Myford became THE model engineeer's lathe largely because it was a (relatively) low cost machine in comparison with the better built Boxfords

The Boxford was not "better built" – larger capacity & heavier duty maybe, but both were mass produced items built to a price. The Myford would have been less expensive to produce for a number of reasons – innovative design & manufacturing methods for the time (& product ) being to the fore IMO. You may not like the use of die cast parts for some items, Hopper, but they would have required a not insubstantial investment that would only have made sense if large numbers were to be made. – and large numbers were made, many more than Boxford made.

There are good & less good parts of both designs – Boxford beds (Southbend derived) were only a milled finish & not readily available hardened, whereas the Myford was ground & was offered hardened. Myford beds are easier to recondition than Boxfords (who discontinued their bed re-maching service decades ago). But the Boxford A & B aprons have powered longitudinal feed via the rack saving the leadscrew for threading, unlike the Myford which uses the screw for both functions. Boxfords back gear seems more prone to problems than Myfords, but I don't think Boxford cross slides would be as bendy as the Super 7. Neither is perfect, both are capable of doing the job but with different limitations.

Over the last 40 years, while visiting many engineering companies through work, I regularly saw Myfords in toolrooms, one customer had several ML7-Rs run by women on production work & another started his business in his garden shed with a Super 7 – can't ever recall seeing a Boxford, though, other than the VSL that was in the fitting shop at Boxfords.

I had a CUD at the time I bought my Super 7, reasoning at being that I would sort both out & keep the one I prefered. The Boxford went. The Boxford was not a bad machine, I just prefered the Myford – partly for some more "user friendly" features, partly for the more readily available (and at the time cheaper) parts and accessories but mainly because I enjoyed using it more. The Myford cost me more than the Boxford, but for me it was worth it. For someone else it would probably be the other way round .

Norton Commandos? They were a POS when new and have only grown more obsolete with time.

50 years development would seem to have eradicated many of the shortcomings of the things & at least you can get most parts for them, unlike the original Z1. Not particularly interested in either, regardless of price.

Nigel B.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

As a schoolboy in the 50's I read, re-read, and read again the Sparey book from the local library which I continuously renewed again and again. I knew every diagram and machining operation without ever seeing a Myford in the flesh. I hankered after one for a long time but about 25 years ago when I was actually able to buy a lathe I ended up with a Boxford.

Nowadays I have a Harrison but if I wanted something Myford size it would not be a Myford and definitely not the one in the link. It might be very presentable but its extremely poorly equipped (unless I've missed something) and adding chucks, steadies etc will bump up the cost.

I agree with Nigel, the desirability and the pricing of old motorbikes and Myford lathes etc is partly to do with retirees trying to regain their youth or whatever. The same sort of thing applies to old vehicles but the difference is that the appeal of the classic car can only increase as they become rarer (as they are part of motoring history) whereas old lathes will only eventually become museum items.

Ian P

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Myford and definitely not the one in the link. It might be very presentable but its extremely poorly equipped (unless I've missed something) and adding chucks, steadies etc will bump up the cost.

Ian P

The price is high but, does seem well equipped in, that model has everything they ever fitted to the machine. Or are you meaning it only has a chuck, QCTP & holders. He sells a lot of Myford gear so yes dealer prices. Also if you look at his other items, the bits for sale maybe came with that lathe & he has split them up. Still a nice machine, that will end up with someone's grandkids one day. I have a S7B myself & a retiree. Only I did not know they existed until I started looking for a lathe , a few months ago. I did have a Boxford for ten years many moons ago. But was working & it never got used so I sold it for the £50 I paid for it. Guy still has it & loves it. He renovates old motorcycles ,so it gets plenty of use.

Steve. 

Edited By Steviegtr on 12/03/2020 23:26:35

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I dont know what was supplied as standard when the lathe was new but surely it would come with faceplate, Morse centres, some basic tools, oil gun etc. Granted this one has a proper toolpost and VFD but I would not call it well equipped.

As an aside, the mounting position of the VFD is a bit weird but I suppose its to avoid the cost of separating the controls into a 'pendant' type setup.

Ian P

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Standard equipment may have varied over the years. At one stage, probably early ML7 days, the electric motor was an extra.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Deleted

Edited By V8Eng on 13/03/2020 14:28:07

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

I dont know what was supplied as standard when the lathe was new

A mid '90s Myford Super 7 brochure gives standard equipment for a gearbox equipped lathe as being :

6 .3/4" faceplate, catchplate, changewheel guard, motor drive belt & headstock belt guards, 2 double ended spanners, 5 hex keys, C spanner, oil gun, centres for headstock & tailstock, vee belts & motor pulley & a square mouth spanner. No mention of motor or chuck as standard equipment. Non gearbox machines included 14 changewheels.

While I have the Spare parts & Accessories price lists from that time I don't have the machine price list., but a screwcutting gearbox alone (without leadscrew) as an accessory was £625 inc Vat in 1995.

Nigel B.

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