Member postings for Paul Smith 37

HI John. Alas i sold the Myford as a low priced Boxford AUD came up. I sold it to a fella who owned an engineering company, so he was going to get one of the staff to make it. regards Pauly

Edited By Paul Smith 37 on 09/03/2021 12:38:09

TBH, Im not too worried about the money, as if you buy it right and look after it ,it will hold its money. 3k on a lathe doesnt frighten me,what is more important is buying a 3k lathe that needs 1k spent on it, with repairs and extra tooling, buying the lathe to find it wont do this or wont do that, and something that needs 6 men to shift it would be a pita.

Tonight ive just tried to see if i can in anyway spin a 6 inch round piece of aluminum of my Myford and make a big pullley, the answer i feel is no.I dont wish to make another buying error.The ML10 is a great machine but its a tad small for me.

Thanks Erik, theres a lot of food for thought there for sure. Ill continue my research !

The one i was looking at has a VFD fitted to it, so lord knows what speed it will run up to now.

Im trying to find out more about these boxford gear head lathes. Quite handy having three weeks off for annual leave

Thanks Mr Guzzi for the reply, i can see your point. but the bigger toolroom type lathes, do weight about 400 kilos+, so a diy move wouldnt be on the cards.

Yes Howard, i thought that when i priced up the boxford sts10.20. the lathe itself isnt priced too bad ,but add another 770 pounds for a pair of steadies and whatever else you need and it wasnt such a bargain after all.

Ive also found a Myford publication on what to check and how to check it on a potential new purchase, ive just checked my ML10 headstock and there is zero play in it. im pleased with that for sure.

I made some T bolts today for the ML10 cross slide,and a wooden chuck plate for the bed, another win !

I just wish it were documented somewhere.

I thought that too.

well i checked out this boxford, (link above) but cant see that it includes fixed or travelling steadies.. so i found these.

Linky And i thought steadies for the ML10 were expensive...Jeeees.

Its funny when you discuss all these problems that people seem to find solutions to the problem, and show a shortcoming of a particular principle. Good chat this

Physically that seems to tick most of the boxes...Thanks Andrew. MT3 too. quite why that wasnt fitted to the super 7 i dont know?

NO dont get political or harp on about waste of resources. Please. I came here to escape that.

Dont get me wrong here, if i knew i could get a really good chinese lathe for 3k id buy it, one thats going to last me out and still be able to fix it in a few years time, thats great. What i dont want is the unobtanium part that breaks and kills the beast.Yes i know most parts can be made or fabricated,but i cant be arsed.If said part breaks, hello have you an unobtanium 123? yes is 20 pounds , in the post and youll receive it tomorrow. great!

One thing ididnt like about the warco was the three nuts to hold the chuck on, screw on chucks are far easier.

I bought a brand new Oxford mig welder last year, and it was messing around, i ended up speaking to guy on the production floor that built it, 2 minutes later, fixed. entirely my fault i add. and also built to my spec, unheard of for a mig welder.

I bought it as it was English and made in the uk. I also bought a Chinese Tig and Arc.If im honest the build quality on the Chinese stuff is superior.one has a 5 year warranty and the other a 3 year. The Oxford had a two year warranty.

I couldnt find a Chinese mig with the build format i wanted.The difference inside is that the english mig looks like it was built in a shed, and welds great which is what it is supposed to,do inside the chinese stuff its much better. However when the chinese stuff goes up the wall, youll be hard pressed to find somebody to mend it .Whereas any bright spark will mend the Mig. I think you have to be happy in the clothes you choose to wear, thats what makes the world go round.

As a by the by,ive recently returned to metalwork as a hobby and it astonishes me what jobs you can achieve with a small lathe.

Edited By Paul Smith 37 on 06/04/2020 14:45:26

But shoddily built to a price lathes that look great and dont produce decent work are no good to anybody except the seller, this is what we all try and avoid.

I know im looking for the holy grail but im sure with a bit of effort the goal is achievable.

And doesnt look like a washing machine

If we didnt have passion and charisma in engineering, you wouldnt have motorcars like ferrari ,lamborghini, but big powerful square boxes with the sex appeal of last nights half eaten kebab and stale half lager left overs.

Form over fashion achieves the mission of getting the project completed , but does the end result want you to look at it and think.....Yeah i made that,,thats cool..... Or that will do it works.? Thats the definition of form over fashion.Both will achieve the same end goal, but one makes you smile.for a long time.

Thanks Mr Hopper and Howard for your replies. Ill have to wait until this corona thing goes and have a trot over to Warco and check them out .

Any other brands and models which may fit the criteria?

Thanks Dave, great reply!

My workshop mostly is a mess, and i focus upon what im making, however, a lada niva will get you to your destination as would a nice golf. Id prefer the golf.

I think you have to enjoy using the machine as that is part of the experience of making the item in hand, having a machine which is a nuisance to use is a pain in the arse for me .

Ive a Warco pillar drill, thats ok, you can tell its chinesium, but it does its job,not quality, but it drills holes.

My ideal machine would be a big bore super 7. But i cant warrant 10 grand on it.My idea was to buy a 2 grand super 7 and fit a big bore headstock to it. and add the metric conversion for the gearbox LIghtish, portable, big capacity, threadcutting, umpteeen speeds,.and you can use it as a milling machine( you can with lathes with the correct tooling).

I guess that exercise would cost 3.5k if i can get the headstock at 1500 pounds.

So that money could buy an off the shelf unit with a reasonable quality level.

The hunt continues....

Most of the boxfords ive seen are three phase, but that doesnt phase me! pardon the pun.

Ill see if the home workshop firm will let me in for a wander with gloves and a mask on for a peruse.

Thanks again Dave for a great reply.

The other criteria which ive forgotten is the ability to move it fairly easily, as ive a view of moving in a couple of years, so i dont want a 400 kg monster to lug about. Yes, i accept im a tart. haha

Im looking into the Boxford box lathes, they maybe very efficient in what they do, which is of course the primary goal, but lack the charisma of a myford super 7 style lathe. Or Is it me just being a tart?