Small Lathe Advice?

I am looking for some advice regards a small lathe for my double garage, I was thinking a Myford, but not sure what to look out for when buying one... We have one at work, they don't use it and I have tried buying it with no luck!

Andrew, to what purpose do you want the lathe ? Model making/general repairs/car restoration/motorcycle work, clock making or just nice to have. Myfords are very popular and seem to punch well above their weight. To suit the work I do I have a 14"x40" 3HP lathe, overkill for a lot of people.

As Chris says, your choice of lathe will be controlled, even if only partially, by what you intend to machine on it.

You would have difficulty making a quarter scale Traction Engine using a watchmaker's lathe, and equally well making watches on a machine capable of swinging 18".

You can either start with a small machine and as you gain experience, and your horizons expand move to a larger machine, possibly in more than one step. Or if you think carefully enough, buy a machine that you will keep for a lifetime.

I am not a Model Maker, but started with an at least secondhand Myford ML7 (Fantastic work has been, and is being done on them and their successors ) but I found it restrictive, in some respects, so changed to a larger lathe, which will swing 12" over the bed or 18" in the gap. From the sublime to the "gor blimey", some might say.

But it has been with me for longer than the ML7, and will see me out.

You need to consider, New or Used? There are lathes a century old producing marvellous work in skilled hands, and brand new lathes making rubbish for the careless and unskilled..

Used machines are good if you know either someone who knows what to look for and assess, or what you are doing. Get it wrong and you can have an expensive doorstop, or a job for life bringing it back into shape..

A starting point might be to try to decide what you want to make, and the features that think are essential to perform then operations that you envisage. Some folk manage very nicely without powered feeds or screwcutting facilities. Others think that they are absolutely mandatory.

before making any buying decisions, look at th various "What lathe shall I buy" threads on here.

And when you think that you are close to a decision, look at the Lathes UK website. This contains masses of info on many lathes. And read the posts on here about more recent lathes. There you may find details of weak points, and sometimes how they can be overcome. A chance to learn from the experiences of others.

One other bit of advice, allow budget for tooling and measuring equipment as well as accessories for the lathe.

Good Luck!

Howard

Thanks for the posts! I am a hobby machinist for 25 yrs. but I have been very lucky to have the opportunity to use two friends workshops, one that had a Harrsion Alpha, and M300, the other with a Colchester student. I have also used the Myfords and Boxfords. One friends has sold up, and the other is 75 and placed an exclusion zone you’re his shop not letting anyone in due to COVID. So its about time I stopped blagging and bought a lathe. Generally I make small parts for my wood working hobby, and bit of tooling for my push bike, so a used Super 7 would probably be right up my street.

You know what you are about, so something Myford &7 Series size is probably what you want.

Now, decisions! Do you go for a used Myford, costly, a Boxgford, Raglan, or a newer Far Eastern machine.

(The later ones are better quality and can be much more sophiticated)

Have a think, and check the accounts before gtoing for (not quite ) broke!

Good Luck

Howard

Edited By Howard Lewis on 10/02/2021 15:35:47

With 25 years experience, you obviously know the basics, what exactly do you want to know?

Although I have the basics, I have never owned a small lathe, I only have every used a large Gap bed style lathe and never bought one. What make do i look for, how much should I budget, its all unknown to me!

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A look at my website Journeyman's Workshop page on choosing a lathe might help a bit.

John

I learned to turn on Colchesters and when I first got my Myford S7 it felt distinctly 'puny'. I had to consciously adapt my approach to feeds and speeds, tool & work overhang and general rigidity. Many years later, with the Myford now my largest lathe, I'm still making those adjustments when using the smaller lathes (the ones inside in the warm). Sometimes I'll make a very quick trip down to my main (unheated) workshop to do a particular job on the S7 though.

I'd first decide what kind of size work you are most likely to want to undertake - then buy the largest lathe suitable for that work that you can afford and accommodate. People ask very silly money for some old Myfords and frankly, you are best buying a new Chinese machine at those prices.

Regards,

IanT

People ask very silly money for some old Myfords and frankly, you are best buying a new Chinese machine at those prices.

One reason why I’ve got a Raglan🙂

There are several myfords in the sales section to choose from. Only one of them is anywhere near close to what I paid for my lathe, just a couple of years, or so, ago.

My purchase, about 3 1/2 years back, was without a stand (I already had a suitable Raglan stand) but included QCGB, face plate, 2 x 160mm TOS chucks, fixed steady, VFD with pendent control, a couple of ‘QCTPs with several tool holders, rear tool-post and parting tool with holder, revolving steady and a fair number of cutting tools (mostly insert type).

They're getting a bit pricey because there seems to be a lot of lathe breakers about at the moment

Biggest you can sensibly fit and power at home.

Personally I'd avoid myford, you pay a collectors premium on what it's worth in respect to other machines of similar size.

You're obviously well aware of all the used industrial machines available.

If buying new, a lathe of that kinda size, I'd keep my eye out for an ex demonstration Chester Crusader, they had an ex demo reduced by £700 a couple of weeks go for £2800, not bad for a 'new' machine of that size.

I've had the lot, Boxford makes the most sense. Here's why:

Myford - Good quality, lots of parts and accessories available but the lathe has its limitations and they are now overly expensive.

Chinese - Quality varies massively and therefor reliability, some are utter sh*te.

Raglan - Very good quality but parts and accessories are less common.

Boxford - Very good quality, parts and accessories are readily available, prices are reasonable.

End of debate. haha

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If you could find a used, in good condition, or ex demo Chester Craftsman, you would have a lot of lathe for your money. Belt driven so no infinite speed control, but no electronics, apart from relays.

A hefty(300Kg ) uncomplicated machine, that comes new fully equipped apart from cutting tools.

.New about £2,500, so may be over budget.

But, we all different needs and tastes.

Howard

Used to have the use of Colchester’s for the day job, and had a Harrison M300 in my maintenance shop - Rolls Royce of small lathes.

Myfords are nice, but a Boxford isn’t much bigger, is far more robust, and most importantly, can be got without the now ridiculous ‘Myford Premium’.

if you have to space, consider a Colchester Bantam. Not much bigger than a Boxford, but an excellent industrial grade machine, often available at very sensible money. Make sure it comes with its full set of tooling though, the chucks are a bit ‘reassuringly expensive’.

If buying used British, I'd suggest Boxford in preference to Myford. I saw both when I was turner in the 70s, but the Boxfords were better-designed and the ones I saw (don't really know the model names) had feed- and screwcutting gearboxes, which the Myfords I saw didn't. Usually, in engineering works, that meant the Boxford was used for suitable jobs, whilst the Myford sat in a corner of the toolroom as an object of puzzling reverence.

I don't know about *other* Far Eastern lathes, but the Warco WM250V I bought 5 years ago has proved very capable, and such problems as I've encountered with it have all been caused - and resolved - by actions of my own. There have been no electrical or electronic issues.