After about 15 years of wanting one I’m finally in a position where I can actually get myself one. However I have a big question – which one to go for!?

Due to restricted space in my workshop it needs to be a bench mounted one and physically no longer than 1300mm. I’ll be using it for a variety of car related jobs – probably the same sort of things that many of you on here also use them for which is one of the reasons I’m asking on here.

We have an Amadeal milling machine in work that gets used daily and is a brilliant bit of kit, the only thing that went wrong was the motor after some ape used it to punch holes instead of drilling them! Their customer service was brilliant too following the failure, based on this I’ve been looking at one of these:

http://www.amadeal.co.uk/acatalog/Amadeal-AMA240V-550-Lathe--10x22--Variable-speed-w-2-Axis-DRO-243643.html

From all the stuff I’ve read on various websites (including the epic lathes.co.uk!) people are saying to avoid imported new ones and go for an old machine. The issue I have is that I don’t know enough about them to know what to look for in a used machine.

Budget – up to £1,500

Discuss!!!

At the sort of money in your budget I think you couldn't go wrong with a myford 7 of some sort, one with a gearbox would be great, long bed a plus, the only problem with them is the spindle bore is a bit limiting, but a fantastic bench top machine with every accessory know to man.

Shooter

For confined space and small foot print have a look at Denford Viceroy lots of them about ex colleges, some do thread cutting very robust and reliable -depends how often you will be using it and how big you need to go
The old Myfords which everyone bangs on about have achieved cult status and are priced accordingly.
Loads of info on Web particularly on the lathes website and there's a handy little book called the amateurs lathe which covers all of the basics

I would not go for a Myford. Fine for model engineering but if you are doing car stuff I think they are just too small. The one in your link has some really good features. A decent swing and a better bore and industrial size tooling (min 20mm square) is useful. Bigger and heavier is better. The dro will make your life easier.

You should budget for tooling as well as the lathe. Carbide insert tooling is reasonable but it all adds up.

Thanks guys some interesting comments, especially: "The old Myfords which everyone bangs on about have achieved cult status and are priced accordingly" this is something I had wondered but not actually put into words.

I presume tooling is something I can collect over time, i.e. as and when I need to make something new that requires a different tool buy it when I need it. Kind of how I've built up my garage tools.

If I were to go and see a second hand one what sort of thing should I be looking out for and what'd be a big no?

There is a book called 'the amateur lathe', which iirc has an excellent section on buying one. There's an awful lot to know about lathes!

quote:

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Originally posted by JoelP
There is a book called 'the amateur lathe', which iirc has an excellent section on buying one. There's an awful lot to know about lathes!

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I went from a Warco MT300 to a Denford Viceroy, not bench mounted but not to big for a cabinet mounted unit.

Only down side for going to he Denford was losing 26mm headstock bore that the Warco had.
Just means turning lond 1" bar is now a pain.

But still very pleased with the Denford.

The don't discount the Chinese ones if cheap enough, the warco did well for my needs.
The MT300 was quite chunky for it's bench space.
I think the Clarke ML500 is very simular.


look what I found
VICEROY LATHE

NO Screw cutting bits.

[Edited on 3/11/15 by rf900rush]

[Edited on 3/11/15 by rf900rush]

This might be a bit big but so much better, drop a new single phase motor on it for £150 and a lick of paint

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-miscellaneous-goods/colchester-student-6-lathe/1140683867

I love looking for lathes and mills

https://www.gumtree.com/p/lathes/colchester-student-centre-lathe-3-phase-converter/1138353499

A Colchester Student is fine, if you an cope with 1250lbs of iron when moving it around! (I have one of these...). Outside of the original scope, methinks.

You can give yourself a hernia just replacing the 3-jaw chuck for the 4-jaw. The headstock nose lock spanner alone weights 10lb and is about 3 foot long.

[Edited on 3/11/15 by David Jenkins]

Yeah your right but just pointing out what's available, and so much better if you have the room

Bit smaller https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-miscellaneous-goods/boxford-centre-lathe-for-sale-/1140269630

It is a bit addictive looking at machines isn't it! I'd love one of those in the links above but I really don't have space for one plus I'm weary of handing over that much cash without the experience to know if it's any good or not!

I'ts going to have to be bench mounted otherwise the compressor has to go! Keep looking for me though, some good finds there, I hadn't thought of gumtree.

Yeah no worries, I've got a mill and a lathe now but used to look every night, gumtrees really good as older people tend to use it instead of eBay, also it is worth traveling for the right machine, good look in finding one

The Raglan Littlejohn Mk2 is a useful alternative to the usual Myford ML7s. The continuously variable drive speed is far better than swapping belts between pulleys too.

I agree that Myford 7's are a bit of a light duty machine, jobs just take time, they dont cope with heavy cuts, and the headstock bore is a bit small. I have a Myford 7, 1954 vintage, still handy for some jobs, I also have a Weiler Condor - Colchester Student size, a much more heavy duty machine.
I suggest you keep a lookout on ebay etc, and go to look at a few, so many for sale have lots of tools & extras with them.
Also check out www.lathes.co.uk, it has info on hundreds of different lathes

What makes me laugh is that the Colchester Student is regarded as a very light industrial machine, only suited for training purposes! Although I have seen them in real workshops doing real work.

There are various small Boxford lathes for sale occasionally - meatier than the Myford, but cheaper (although model engineers in the know usually look out for them).

This is a great site for looking up details of any lathe you might see in an on-line ad - http://lathes.co.uk/

I have a Myford, not the biggest lathe around obviously but there's not much that you can't do on them especially if you also have a few of the optional extras. The basic lathes aren't that expensive, but the prices soon seem to jump up if they've plenty of tooling/option parts all nice and neat on a stand.

Ian

Well I've gone and done it! After weeks of research, hours of YouTube videos and evenings of reading (thanks for the tip on the book) I managed to pick up a Myford super 7 with masses of bits to go with it, 4 chucks boxes of tools and even a few micrometres and Verners plus loads of other bits!