Good Quality Small Lathe

Hello group, is there a modern day Myford "replacement"? A good quality modern era lathe, of instrument makers size, that would compare with the well respected but long gone Myford.

Emco are a tad small, what is a current machine comparable to the old favourite?

Andrew

Emco "8" family are larger than a Myford. There are also the Wabeco lathes which are well made and again swing about the same as a Myford

Or if you want to push the boat out a new Schaublin

Edited By JasonB on 23/01/2015 12:05:40

A new built to order Myford can be bought now, I saw one at Sandown and it looked very good indeed. They are also making the old accessories like taper turning,dividing head and vertical slide etc.

Mike

I have a Cowells and like Myford they have done almost nothing to modernise either the lathe/mill or production techniques as far as I can tell it is a shame when a great product does not move with the times people expect more now variable drive,proper spindle bearings, CNC upgrade etc etc

I have had a Chinese lathe (Chester Conquest mini lathe) and there was no pride of ownership too much plastic, burrs poor castings and paint dodgy electronics ( it was a few years ago now) but I did manage to turn quite well with it.

If I was starting form scratch for my size of work (clockmaking) Sherline seem to fit the bill heard nothing but good reports UK distributer is

http://www.millhillsupplies.co.uk/sherline/

For larger work I would be looking at  Wabeco they seem to be for me to provide the best combination of cost and quality

Edited By Stephen Benson on 23/01/2015 12:59:06

Good feedback. Sherline still around? I remember them being advertised in Aust back in the 70's. I have a Korean made AL 960 lathe which I purchased in 2001 from Hare and Forbes and its a wonderful machine but looking for a toolmakers sized lathe for number 1 son.

New Myford?? Hope they have discovered vee beds.

.

Not only around, but going from strength-to-strength.

**LINK**

MichaelG.

Come on guys does there must be a few more ideas, does anybody have own a Sherline or Wabeco will they comment?

A bit bigger than a Myford but Boxford still make very good lathes

Of course it depends on what you are willing to spend. If money is no object you could buy a new Myford or Boxford. At the more affordable end the Seig range seem to have a good reputation. Have you looked at Ausee (ad on right)?

Russell.

Hello Andrew.

If you are after a new high quality machine of a similar capacity to a Myford, but still at an affordable price, then the Italian made Ceriani lathes are also worth taking a look at.

These are 100mm centre hight with 500mm between centres. Like the Myford 7 series lathes, they have a small gap section in the bed. They use dovetail type guides for the bedways, but thankfully have separate guideways for the Camlock tailstock. This allows the use of a long saddle that will remain stable and accurate over a long period.

The top model has a simple quick change fine feed gear box. But switching between screw cutting feeds and fine longitudinal feeds requires the use of change wheels, as the leadscrew is engaged for both, and no powerfeeds are built into the apron. But this is typical of many similarly designed lathes.

I remember reading some feedback comments made by owners a few years ago, and one happy owner enthused it had "Hardinge performance at an import price".

To take a closer look last year I visited a dealer that imports them as well as Chinese lathes and small Emco machinery also made in China, plus the German Wabeco range. The Ceriani had a faultless finish and build quality with a thick and solid bed casting, I was quite impressed. There are some videos on the web showing them being manufactured.

Edited By Lathejack on 24/01/2015 19:32:34

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That's good to know

I had wrongly presumed that they were just another badge-engineered job.

... Is the firm oonnected with the Motorcycle Fork manufacturer ?

MichaelG.

Slightly off topic but I think they make blonde wigs as well.

Jesse

No, there doesn't appear to be any connection with the Ceriani that makes motorcycle front forks. The videos show the bed castings being machined, surprisingly just mounted on a large vertical / horizontal mill table, although they really may not still do them all that way.

Typical of a lot of lathes this size made outside of the UK and USA, they do not have a back gear. There is a choice of spindle bore size of 20 or 32mm which use a four or five inch chuck respectively.

When I was examining one at the dealers the only area that seemed to be a little crude in design, although well made, was what appeared to be a traditional tumbler reverse mechanism for the leadscrew that was operated by a simple cap screw through a curved slot. I should have taken a closer look but got distracted with chatting to other visitors and tea, but I think that is how it was designed.

I also think they offer a variable speed version. The lathes seem reasonably priced, but the mills are fairly expensive.

Edited By Lathejack on 24/01/2015 23:30:30

Check the new "retro" South Bends out, either a model 9 or 10. Lovely to look at. Fair bit about it on the South Bend owners area on PM.

I had to check this out as I own a lovely 9b 1943 South Bend and would never part with it except for one of these

http://www.southbendlathe.com/products/lathes/SB1001

Varable drive, taper roller bearings, toothed belt drive but kept all the other features standard brilliant

It certainly sounds like a 'dream lathe.

By the way, the specification sheet says it's made in China.

Neil

Dream lathe? Think you got the wrong link Neil - try this one!

http://www.southbendlathe.com/products/lathes/SB1009

When a "brand" is controlling the quality then Chinese goods are the best in the world when they work through distributors it seems to be very variable do ARC Euro trade still strip and rebuild their Chinese imports

Ah. . . but they have fitted nice traditional handles

Russell.

That 1009 has a lot of Hardinge features - 5C nose, big flat dovetail bed, feed motor hung on carriage, topslide retract, astranomic price....did the companies merge?