Which lathe to purchase

I really don't understand why so many folk on here discredit 'Chinese' Lathes, and assume they will automatically be poorly made - that was possibly true a few years ago, I suppose there will still be one or two 'dud' ones, but generally as a whole Chinese manufacturing has improved considerably.

When looking for a Lathe of my own, I spent hours trawling the markets trying to find the perfect little used machine that met my budget without much success, one thing I did learn is the 2nd hand market is flooded with too many 'very good condition, little used, too good to be true' British/American Lathes that are actually in poor condition and would cost a fortune to restore, often with very hard to find spares

Chinese Lathes

Pros'

• They are 'mostly' highly accurate 0.01mm (1 thou) (depends on make/model)
• Spares (if needed) are readily available
• Accessories are wide ranging and plentiful
• Almost all are fitted with needle roller bearings to the headstock (unlike Myford etc)
• They are available in both Metric and Imperial versions
• They have wide speed ranges (mine has 30 - 2250 rpm)
• You get a lot more for your money
•  

Cons

• The instruction manual is often written in poor Engrish (good for a chuckle though)
• Delivery (at the moment for new) can be weeks or even months due to supply issues
• Some of the castings (rough edges) can be very poor, but usually it's where it doesn't matter 'too' much
• Electrics/Electronic controls (on some brands) can leave a lot to be desired

Anyway, the above is far from definitive, it is based on my own experiences to date, (as you may guess) I own a Chinese Lathe, it has out performed all of my expectations, is (so far) proving to be very reliable

Good luck with your search, and what ever you finally chose, I'm sure it will serve you well

Steve

Edited By Steve Neighbour on 25/03/2021 12:58:49

If it is within your budget, and has the accessories and manual, the Chester Craftsman, that Matt Harrington's friend has, might be a good choice.

Whilst it may be a good starting point, buying a small machine and then changing may be a more expensive route.

LOTS of folk have bought a Myford 7 Series and never changed.

But unless you want to make watches, the Craftsman may satisfy your needs for some time to come..

The motor will be either 1.5 or 2 hp if single phase.. I opted for VFD with a 1.5 hp 3 phase motor..

It is a hefty machine, 300 Kg, will swing 12" (300 mm ) over the bed and 18" (450 mm ) in the gap. It has a Norton box giving some 40 possible feed rates, and having a 120/127T Idler can cut Imperial threads as well as Metric. (If you do buy it, make sure that the extra 32T gear is there, or you will not be able to cut all the Metric pitches )

Having a feedshaft, separate from the Leadscrew, it has power cross feed as well as longitudinal feed.

Since it is currently sold, if you did need spares, they should be available.

HTH

Howard

Having owned a "look alike" for 17 years, I( have to admit to being biased.

Hi Matt

I am in oxford area so a bit of a trek to Leeds?

I am going to look at a Myford ML7 on saturday which is listed at a reasonable price and is acording to the serial number quite a late build so we shall see.

Thanks for your help anyway and it is appreciated.

Leeds? He is in Beeston, south of Nottingham..

Rgds, Matt

Sorry, it is still a bit too far under present circumstances.

There's a Beeston in south Leeds as well.

Michael, no probs.

Matt

I totally agree to what you wrote, and also I own a Chinese lathe (DB8) and it is for sure much more accurate than a 60 years old model,and on top of being worn out it is also imperial....

And a Beeston in Cheshire.

Edited By V8Eng on 25/03/2021 22:53:11

Not wanting to leave Nelson's county out there's a Beeston in Norfolk.

Emgee

Blimey, so many Beeston's

Matt

I remember when the works engineer drove to the wrong Watford - the one that was much closer than where he was phoning from. Possibly because he did not know the difference between a town and a village....

We had a good laugh for about a week, at his expense. There were numerous messages circulated, each giving directions and/or specific location for our regular and other meetings at our works.

Maybe thats why there are so many Myfords

;O)

Martin

Steve, When I finished my apprenticeship my first job was to investigate the rigidity of a new design of milling machine head. Amongst other things I found was that solid head bearings, as used by Myford in the Super Seven are way ahead of everything else when it comes to rigidity. Next come taper roller bearings. Needle roller bearings were not even included in the list. Remember the bearing has to resist the end load on the shaft and needle roller bearings are not designed to do this.

So why are tape roller bearings used rather than solid ones? Well if my Myford head bearing seizes up and no one else were supplying parts then I would have a major problem although a service engineer may be able to rescrape the old one. In fact I might manage it myself although it is many decades since I did last scraped any form of round bearing.

If you need new roller bearings they are easily available from several sources

Why do they fail? Usually because of lack of lubricant, or contaminated lubricant.

I hope you are satisfied with your lathe when you finally buy it.

Brian Bristoll.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your lathe when you finally buy it.

Brian Bristoll

Sell whatever scrap you can, beg borrow or steal to raise your budget to £2000 and buy the myford 254 in the classifieds, no connection with the seller but looks a cracking buy and fully tooled up.

Edited By Durhambuilder on 26/03/2021 11:56:38

I agree with Howard, if I was looking for a lathe and £1500 was my budget I would seriously consider the Chester Craftsman (18 inch gap bed) that Matts friend is selling at around that price. Only had around 10 hours use and £1000 less than new price, I would certainly want to be taking a look at least.

Although I have never seen a 254 in the flesh, I believe they developed it from the Raglan 5”.

Apart from perhaps being a little more modern, having immersion lubrication and being slightly more ‘user friendly’ I still think the Raglan 5” can be a better option.

I shall not be swapping my 5” for a 254 - as they are far too expensive in comparison. A good Raglan with more accessories than one needs, when starting out, might well be less than a grand (even a good deal less).

Of course, one needs to know what one is buying, but the beds are very long-lived, the lead screw is only used for threading and the infinitely variable speed selection within the speed range is good. They are a delight to use compared to the earlier Little John (still a good lathe, mind) what with the improvements made and that auto long-travel trip, (which gets used very regularly).

I hunted round for several months before finding mine - but I was in no hurry as I already had a Little John. Expect a ‘more urgent’ purchase to cost a fair bit more....

Thanks. That glossary is very helpful to me.

It is worth looking at secondhand machines. Just before lockdown we were having a short break in Yorkshire, and we went into an antiques centre somewhere near Howarth .

In there they had an absolutely beautiful Myford on it's own stand. I drooled over it . It was in such amazing condition. I played with it for a little while. Everything worked with silky smoothness. I felt sick to leave it there.

They wanted just over £1300 for it. At that price I'd have snatched their hands off. If only I had the room for such a machine...........

Rob

A lot depends on how much room you have to spare. And the maximum size of anything you can imagine making.