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What is the ultimate lathe for model engineering
Machine selection
| John Stevenson | 06/09/2010 20:24:19 |
 5068 forum posts 3 photos | Posted by ady on 06/09/2010 20:03:12: No t-slots....and it looks like a shameless copy of our pultra 1590. http://www.lathes.co.uk/pultra/page11.html . How do you work that out, the Pultra is 17 later than the 102. John S. |
| ady | 06/09/2010 20:38:18 |
| 612 forum posts 50 photos | --------->>><<<---------- |
| Stub Mandrel | 06/09/2010 21:13:29 |
 4318 forum posts 291 photos 1 articles | "Many small lathes have been manufactured in which the accuracy was very dubious, but in view of their low cost, their imperfections were tolerated, and they served the purpose for which they were intended quite well ... the requirements of the mateur, to whom time is of less importance, may be adequately served by a simmpler and less expensive lathe." "Most of the faults and imperfections of inexpensive lathes are capable of correction by adjustment of their working parts ... in many cases, such lathes, in the hands of intelligent users, have been converted to precision lathes, in the true sense of the term, by these methods ... simple and rugged construction is often a practical virtue." Such were the words of E.T. Westbury, and I am sure that he would have suggested that the best lathe for a model engineer is the one that will handle his requrements within his budget. I am sure he would have heartily endorsed the C3-type lathe, even as he acknowledged what could be achieved with the humble 'Adept'. Neil |
| Billy Mills | 07/09/2010 01:43:17 |
| 377 forum posts | Brian Don't share your Myford view. For many people their Myfords are their pride and joy, to them they may give the same satisfaction as you get from your Schaublin. I was given an old Myford as a kid. Every surface and bearing was well worn but it was a treasure to me at that time. I learned to work around the backlash and how to repair and adjust a lathe as well as a hands-on understanding of turning and tooling. At School there was a Harrison which made the old Myford look very poor in every way however it was all a great education. Still have the old Myford, last used for winding coils, alonside a Colchester Student 1800 and two other smaller lathes, an Aciera F3 and a couple of other mills. Machine choice depends on what opportunities pass by, finances, space and loads more. One man's Myford is another man's Schaublin is another man's Harrison is another man's Sieg. As long as everyone is happy with their machines and enjoys using them we can stop worrying about T slots and continue making stuff and having fun. Regards to all- regardless of your lathes, Unslotted Alan. PS Neils quote is very good. I'm a bit worried ( only a teeny- weeny bit, well very very small, well really not much at all) about Ady, he seems to have commited the final act by firing barbed arrows into his head from both sides. The arrows are very well aligned so he must have had a final fling by launching the bolts from his T slots. He was smiling at the time! |
| Stephen Benson | 07/09/2010 08:23:01 |
 203 forum posts 69 photos | Yes Alan all very sage advice however we often see people paying Schaublin prices for Myfords, some of prices worn out ML7's fetch on Ebay must lead to serous disappointment. and possible abandonment of the hobby altogether. |
| Andrew Johnston | 07/09/2010 09:22:36 |
 7061 forum posts 719 photos | Brian, Well, there's a golden opportunity for you; why not write an article for ME or MEW utilising your Schaublin and Deckel? By the way I do have a Myford in my workshop, but it's not a lathe, or a mill. I'll leave you to work that one out. Regards, Andrew |
| David Clark 1 | 07/09/2010 10:25:09 |
 3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles | Hi Brian
Article welcome.
Hi Andrew
How about an article about your Myford, is it the grinder?
regards David
|
| Scaublin120 Deckel fp1 | 07/09/2010 12:41:44 |
| 4 forum posts | Hi David
Good Mags well done.I am enjoying the crazy guy who is building the aero engines his attitude to building is refreshing, give it a go if it doesnt work try something else! MINT I am definatley not poking a finger at the mags just the machines MYFORDS???
With regards to writing something maybe i will if time permits Kids work sports and many other things.
|
| John Stevenson | 07/09/2010 13:17:17 |
5068 forum posts 3 photos | Posted by Andrew Johnston on 07/09/2010 09:22:36: By the way I do have a Myford in my workshop, but it's not a lathe, or a mill. I'll leave you to work that one out. Regards, Andrew . OK I'll play Not a lathe or Mill so presumably not a wood lathe either. Could be a Planer ? a Saw ? a Cylindrical Grinder ? or a Moped ? Close ? John S. |
| NJH | 07/09/2010 13:42:49 |
 2314 forum posts 139 photos | Hi Brian Well if I could afford a Schaublin 120VM and a Deckel FP1 I would be a happy man. You must be either rich or fortunate. Andrew I think you have not a Myford in your workshop but my Ford - probably an old Fiesta - as you have spent all your dough, quite rightly, on ME projects. My dictonary defines ultimate as "last" and I guess we all of us get the best compromise on size and performance that we can afford. Hence our last lathe / mill is the ultimate for us. As life goes by maybe a new last / ultimate will arrive and meantime it does no harm to dream. Now I have wasted too much time on this thread and need to get back to decorating my wife's needlework room or all sorts of anti-model engineeing consequences could occur. - Can anyone recommend the ultimate paint brush Think carefully before you answer I'm in dangerous territory here ! (Note I hate Harris) Regards to All Norman Edited By NJH on 07/09/2010 13:44:08 Edited By NJH on 07/09/2010 13:46:00 |
| Joseph Ramon | 07/09/2010 14:24:16 |
 107 forum posts | Norman,
By your definition of ultimate, taht would be the undertaker's makeup brush then...
Joey |
| Billy Mills | 07/09/2010 17:10:15 |
| 377 forum posts | One of the ways of accessing better equipment is to have a small business -say making a simple tool or a model kit. Advertise via a web site, do a few local shows where the costs are minimal. With a bit of luck you can afford whatever your heart's desire may be as a perfectly legit cost paid for by sales. Works for a lot of people and can be a lot of fun. regards, Alan. |
| NJH | 07/09/2010 17:22:15 |
2314 forum posts 139 photos | Hey Joey Very Good! Same mindset as me but I just keep getting sillier. Too many years of sober suits & serious expressions I guess. Alan I fully agree with your first two posts on this thread. I can see the wisdom of the latest but in my case if I don't concentrate on finishing some of my own projects now I never will and Joey's brush will get there first! Oh well tea break over - back to the decorating. Norman Edited By NJH on 07/09/2010 17:26:20 Edited By NJH on 07/09/2010 17:32:05 |
| Axel | 07/09/2010 19:51:10 |
| 126 forum posts 1 photos | I´m rather chocked at what some people choose to spend on their machinery, sure I´m a bit envious at times. But I would feel bad about buying a new Myford for example. A good used S7 seems to be £3,000 in the adverts, although I belive one can get below that from private sales sometimes, but still its a handsome sum to take it home!
Like Alan, suggest, some do have their shop as a business, and that is a great way too afford the machinery one wants. But then you acctually work... its not a real hobby! But I guess some get a kick from that too!
L.H. Sparrey shows his workshop on the first page in his book (The Amateurs Lathe), its very modest by todays standards; an ML7, a grinder, hand shaper, two pillar drills. That's it! And he is now a legend! He was to me a real ME, he made things with his, modest tools most think are not possible. A very talented person indeed, read the book, even a expert toolmaker gets a hint or too two! |
| Stub Mandrel | 07/09/2010 20:21:54 |
4318 forum posts 291 photos 1 articles | Axel You can turn a perfect circle bewteen two dead centres if you have the means to rotate the work and a way of holding a tool steady. Anything you do to 'improve ' on this to increase flexibility or convenience introduces errors. So by definition every lathe is a compromise, and the cost reflects what's done to minimise those errors against the gains in usability. Simple can be best. I think Alans idea is a good one. I have been playing with a few ideas... Neil |
| Andrew Johnston | 07/09/2010 22:43:07 |
7061 forum posts 719 photos | Hi David & John S, Yes, absolutely right, I have a Myford cylindrical grinder. It's an early MG12, built in 1969 according to Myford. Bought on Ebay years ago, and is quite well equipped with an internal spindle and a swivelling workhead. More unusually I got the original manual with the grinder, tied to the machine by the serial number. David: I'll put it on the list to write an article about cylindrical grinding on the Myford John S: You'll have to explain to me the logic of assuming it might be a planer, saw or moped? Obviously something you know and I don't. By the way I think we have met, although I doubt you remember me. Norman: Very good, hadn't thought of My Ford! Having been the unfortunate owner of an Austin Princess and Ambassador in the distant past even a Fiesta would be a step up. Best Regards, Andrew |
| John Stevenson | 07/09/2010 23:58:48 |
5068 forum posts 3 photos | Planer, saw and moped, all made by Myford. They brought out attachments for the wood lathe of a planer and saw table, both came to be stand alone units in their own right but I'm not sure how popular or how many were produced. There is a poor picture of the stand alone planer here self contained planer The moped is a different story and if it wasn't for one that has survived it could be put down to an old wives tale. Just after WWII when Myfords came off ministry work and before the ML7 was unveiled, petrol was still rationed and that cause a series of assisted cycles to be produced to get people back to work cheaply. Myfords development engineer at this time was a Glynn Jones who asked his twin brother Dennis, who had designed and built some home made racing bikes to help with the design. In typical Rolls Royce trained Dennis fashion he could not turn out a cheap cost cutting machine to sell to the masses. Dennis's design, instead of being a simple two stroke finished up as a 50cc twin cylinder. Talking to Dennis in later years he seems to think 3 or possibly 4 were completed but they were too expensive to produce and compete in those austere times. Only a few years before his death a set of castings and some parts were discovered and machined up to make a working unit. Over a period of years most of Dennis's bikes have come back under one roof, now owned by a collector, who's name escapes me. The autocycle engine is also in that collection as is the very first scooter ski which Dennis designed and patented. John S. |
| ady | 08/09/2010 00:42:57 |
| 612 forum posts 50 photos | An old guy near me had a Trojan cycle years ago. It made a heck of a racket and produced an awful lot of smoke for what it did. ------------------------------------------------- It is better to mix in petrol with the oil in a separate container before pouring into the fuel tank, but when this cannot be done it is important to operate in the following order:
Edited By ady on 08/09/2010 00:46:13 |
| John Stevenson | 08/09/2010 00:45:32 |
5068 forum posts 3 photos | The later ones had a slotted exhaust and they were a lot better. John S. |
| ady | 08/09/2010 00:56:00 |
| 612 forum posts 50 photos | I also remember seeing one which sat on the front of the bike, (about a million years ago). It had a little circular wheel of about 3 inches which lay on the front wheel of the bike to power it along. I bet the poor tyre didn't last long though. |
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All Forum Topics > General Questions > What is the ultimate lathe for model engineering