Member postings for Jacob Brown

Jacob, from what I can see in your pictures that lathe isn't a ML4 or any other sort of true Myford lathe but it looks VERY much like a Drummond "M" Type - the knock off bar along the front is a bit of a give away as I believe they were never fitted to Myford designed lathes but very much a Drummond feature. Where you may be getting confused is that during World War 2 Myford made Drummond M Type lathes under licence at first but later the rights to the design were assigned to Myford by Drummond.

It's very interesting indeed. It was manufactured by Myford in 1948 according to nemeplate.

That's a really nice looking machine, how the **** did anybody manage to break off the spindle nose threads. Clumsy muppet.

Jacob, I have absolutely no connection with the seller but if I were you I’d have a good look at the Boxford currently on the Home Workshop site for £750.

Thank you for suggestion but I already bought Myford ML4. Seems to be in good nick apart from damaged (probably broken off) end of spindle.

Have a look in the classifieds on this site....

Thank you for hint Hopper. I messaged seller, hopefully I wasn't too late.

I think you were lucky someone else 'won that lathe' I think it had a paint job that gave a much better feeling of the machine than was actually true.

Yeah. I think you're right. For what I learnt from you buying second hand lathe is similar to used car:

-Avoid traders.

-Avoid tarted up ones.

-Make sure is in oryginal setting.

-Make test run or ask someone else to do it for you, otherwise run away.

-Make sure there is no play between parts, barrings and suspicious noises coming out of it.

-Tooling coming with lathe is very important factor as getting it may cost more than lathe itself.

-Don't rush into buying - it's only matter of time before something else will come up.

-Rust is the biggest enemy of machine.

Thank you Barrie and all others one more time

Jacob

Oh no! It could be a LOT worse than that.

Pete

Then avoid used machinery. If you have no experience, a warranty will give you peace of mind.

If there is a club close to you, it might be worth your while waiting until lockdown ends and paying them a visit. You could learn a lot from talking directly to lathe users. There is a limit to what you can learn by asking questions on the internet.

Pete

Fully refurbished Myford by manufacturer is off my limits. I'm keen to gamble on second hand though. Unfortunately I don't know anyone with lathe experience to help me out with buying one but thanks to all of your advices I know bit more than I did before.

It's relief to know I won't need much more to strat with. Good quality 4 jaw chuck is expensive but over time I should be able to afford one. Thank you for help Bazyle.

So you have assumed that 'chinese machinery' is no good then ?

I know China is able to produce high quality equipment depend on specyfication of order. Problem is more with trend among manufacturers. Nowadays machinery is more user friendly but at cost of electronics and overall overcomplication. Days of making things built to last are sadly long gone by and for that reason I tend to opt rather for old ones.

As a former Myford owner I would buy a new modern lathe instead.

Have a look at a Sieg C4 from Arceuro as example.

If You buy the Myford there will be constant pressure for telling Yourself and everybody else how good a tradesman You are and that it was deal of the century.

The Sieg thing is more silent,more accurate under load,more wear resistant,bigger hole in spindle ,power cross feed ,(My former Boxford has it and I miss it) and not a lot more expensive.Sell one or two of the grandchildren to cover the 400 exstra £ and enjoy.

Edited By Niels Abildgaard on 22/06/2020 13:53:52

I'm sort of old machinery fan. The worst case failure seems to be motor which can be replaced as there is no electronic on Myford. This machine will serve me lifetime if it turned good purchase. Thank you for advice.