Member postings for john evans 13

Thanks Ajohnw. Useful info. Sale would be about the limit I am prepared to travel. The ml10 however appears to be still available,seems the buyer did not pay! Could be sus but I will see what happens.

400 has been suggested as my budget but I have not said that. I expect to buy something for up to 650. Yes I can pay more,but no I do not intend to to as my money is better placed in my old bikes as they are generally appreciating assets. A good lathe seldom loses either but once again it is down to choice.

Re the 14in lathe on ebay,why do people advertise items yet fail to respond to queries? It seems counterproductive to me.

No I am not bothered by the ribbing,it is what happens on forums as in real life. Similarly threads get high jacked and go off at a tangent thereby forming new sections.

Re the 14in. Yes having looked again there are tools.I had discounted it earlier when the seller failed to respond to questions.

I actually sought advice for the reason stated..i was considering an ml 10. As it happens this is no longer available as I dithered. I have bid on the 13" southbend but have been outbid and will not raise my price.

The advice is appreciated as I have made no decision. I will not however be buying from a dealer and if I buy large I will strip the machine and trailer it home the clean up,rebuild and reset everything.

Re the ebay search I cannit find much.I have no idea what the 14in in church stretton is but it looks a well used heavy machine with no extras.

As I screwcut I need a machine capable of doing so hence the cheaper boxfords are out. I think circa 500lb is the max I can cope with but I would rather keep to half that if possible.

I did enquire about a boxford on the classifieds on this forum but no replh..it was placed a month ago.

If anyone knows of a decent machine for sale which meets my criteria please let me know.

Thanks Pete. I am not hung up over brands but I am on price. Many of the makes you mention are above my budget as I am an occasional tinkerer and cannot see it becoming a huge hobby. I only use my machines to fabricate minor motorcycle parts,stainless and brass nuts,bolts,studs and some new axles and spindles.

Harrisons,colchesters etc tend to sell for 800 plus. The boxford in Caernarfon is 800 too.He will negotiate but notby much hence it is still there. I have looked at other boxfords but they were also expensive plus I had hoped for a bench lathe.I have had to amend my options to suit space,cost,weight,availability.

I have not seen the machines in Bangor,whitchurch etc.are they on ebay? I tend to view ebay,preloved,gumtree and shpock..

I take the point re weight but reallyfeel the floor is overloaded even now so I have go carefully resolve this without creating too much work and expense.

Well lots of opinions as I expected.Machine loyalty is the same whether lathe or vehicle.

It is true I do not want to fettle my machine. I have adjusted the gibs but they do not have the effect I need. The tool post holder dips then pulls the top slide when cutting certain metals. Frankly I doubt I could repair for the sum suggested. Having visited Chester machinery before xmas I thought parts etc had shot up in price.

There is an old southbend 13" on ebay at the moment. I really fancy that but it is heavy and also 130ml away so I cannot view. If good that would do more or less all I need. I do not mind cleaning and part restoring an old machine but do not feel justified spending on my machine. I have had an okd ml2 in the past and a tyzac zyto,both needed work.

Re the ml10,yes it is the 13"version but as good as you are likely to find. I thought it slightly bigger than my conquest but obviously not? It certainly looks substantial and importantly,rigid;plus it has the later bearings.

I am not against chinese machines but believe you get what you pay for. I have been lucky but many are not.I do not trust warranties. The variable speed switch was faulty soon after delivery..only the switch casing slipping on the spline. The warranty fix was to give me a new switch to solder in to place! I have looked at the new machines but they do nothing to excite me. Most hobby machines look like extended versions of my own machine or look crudely finished..some actually have less features but greater bed length which would be useful at times.

I do not want a warco or a clarke ..sorry owners! No reason other than choice. Sadly,residing in n wales there are few machines available locally hence travel is an issue. I also have limited space. My timber shed is 12x14,timber floor on bearers. 4 motorcycles and lots of tools/machinery etc. If I have a heavy machine I need to reinforce the floor to spread the load as I do not want to cut it away and concrete the base under a machine.

Harrison is too heavy for my shed. I looked at a boxford.Nice machine but again heavy. I need a bench lathe or one with a pedestal .

Thank you Kevin. I hoped a myford owner would chip in. I agree with you re resale value as the conquezt will not be worth much. My concern is that the myford is only slightly bigger. Has few speeds to select and is heavy. The ml10 does not however sell like the 7.

Advantages would be a potentially stiffer slide set up. Better spares but not necessarily cheaper.

I would love a southbend but have seen very few within reasonable distance.An atlas is my second choice but the ml 10 mentioned is a good price and in very good order.

Thanks Neil. Your response re the ml10 mirrors my own opinion.

As for the taper mod i suppose you refer to my conquest? If so,my problem is not with the headstock but with the top slide which chatters under load

Old bike fork stanchions seldom reach 40mm,35 being an average maximum. Modern are 40 plus. It does not matter though as I would never machine fork legs etc plus my bikes have girder forks. Thanks for the response however.

My query surrounds comparison of the conquest lathe with an ml 10. I.e. will I be better off with the myford?

I have used a chester conquest machine for 17yrs with no real issues other than replacing a circuitboard. I now find it hard to take reasonable cuts in steel so am considering a replacement.

Naturally I have looked at others in the range as the warehouse is close to me. I see nothing I like.

My search inevitably takes me to older myfords. I have an opportunity to buy a basic ml10 with few extras. I assume being heavier in construction the machine will be more robust..is that likely to be tbe case? i gain little in capacity but lose variable and higher speed so is it worth buying or should I look elsewhere?

I have a separate mill and do not turn large items. Mainly parts for old motorcycles.