New lathe?

I've been looking at upgrading my Myford ML7 for awhile, and have recently seen an Emco Maximat Super 11 (old version with 26mm bore).

It's been well used but seems to be in reasonable condition other than a couple of the hand wheels bent.

My question is, will this be significantly better than my Myford?

I don't do much big stuff, and find my current lathe has enough power for most jobs, and when it doesn't I just take lighter cuts.

Major improvements I can see are powered cross feed, scew cutting gearbox, faster speed, and not having do change belts in order to change speeds. Plus it's a V bed.

here's a link to the actual lathe I'm looking at...**LINK**

Thanks

Vastly better, I would say. I had bought my lathe and taught myself to turn before I learned that there were lathes that didn’t have power cross feed! Buy it and keep the 7 if you can. Once you have 2 lathes, you wonder how you ever got by with one. One good thing about my Ml7 (acquired much later) is the Pratt 3 jaw is very accurate. You have to satisfy yourself about the condition of the Emco, of course.

The Emco is vastly superior to a Myford in my opinion but condition is everything. I owned a Myford Super 7 for 40 plus years but always dreamt of getting a Maximat Super 11 in good condition. You really need to see it in person & check it over when running.

Tony

Yes. SIGNIFICANTLY better.

Note the capital letters for effect.

Any comparison, given the same or very similar condition, would list the Emco as the far superior machine.

My only reservation, without inspection, might be of localised wear areas of bed/carriage - seems as though it may have been used for commercial repetitive duties with that collet system (one or two of those collets might show significant wear?). The rest of it might be quite sound.

Of course, location may be important - you have no location shown in your profile...

Thanks

My location has is Auckland, NZ, so I’ve had a look at the lathe.

bed seems to be good, only issues seem to be a bent had wheel on the tailstock, and hand wheel on top slide haven’t a bolt rather than the original.

It would be my choice of the two, any and every day of the week.

Definitely the better choice - vastly superior - I have a 40 year old V10P, and a new 14D (much later version of the Super-11) . Both superb, while the V10 is my go-to lathe every day..

However, check as best you can for wear - esp the bed near the chuck - sometimes a lot of backlash in the cross slide leadscrew indicates a lot of use as well. If you can get to the machine, nip up the cross slide gibs while working the cross slide back and forth - if the slide is loose near the middle 1/3  and very tight in others ( normally 2/3 towards end of travel either way) , then its normally a good indicator of having worked very hard...

Spares are not to easy to come by, esp things like cross slides, etc. You may even find a new bed, but thats not worth the money then..Leadscrews and nuts are still available. Some handwheels too. If you are not into big models, nicely restored, that Super-11 will be your last lathe purchase!

Edit - to add - Also, put the drive gear train in 'neutral' - select 'between' gears, so the spindle is free. do the 'ear-bone' sound test while spinning  the chuck by hand slowly, listening to the bearing spot at the chuck end. You will hear any not-so-nice bearing rumble quite easily. ( use a 200-300mm long solid screwdriver, tip to the bearing spot on the headstock- behind the chuck- and screwdriver handle firm against your skull at the ear hole..) - Or, if you are a doctor and have a stethoscope...Reason to do this is that the bearings are so far un-obtainable in original spec...I have a Super-11 in restoration and cannot get bearings for any money..

Joe

Edited By Joseph Noci 1 on 02/10/2019 10:36:45

Edited By Joseph Noci 1 on 02/10/2019 10:42:31

What do people do to handwheels to bend them, and how might it have affected other parts? (Might of course just be transit damage.)

John, you will be surprised how easy it is, esp in a mnfr environment where pressured by time..

I had abt 60 short Ali inserts to make - each had a mm12 thread through, abt 9mm long - you get into the swing of it, drill, retract, swap drill for tap, tap, retract, swap tap for drill, move tailstock out the way, bring in parting tool, part off and repeat. And when you are focused on the cutting edge(s), and you know where to put you hands on things without looking, you swing that arm to push the tailstock back, once a little more enthusiastically than needed, ...and it carries on sliding on a nicely lubed bed..and falls off the end...onto the handwheel...Yes, some lathes don't have a stop at that end, the V10P was one of them...

Joe

Grotto, were you successful ? winning bid NZ3170 or about GBP1625.
DaeD

Not successful. I guess someone needed it more than me.

I really need to clear out a load of stuff from my garage before I add any more equipment, so stopped bidding early.

it was for sale previously for $2,600 in their shop. Maybe they’ll do a few more auctions