I think you'll find it at least comes with the motor! But yes Myfords are expensive. I bought a new S7 many years ago and though it's a nice lathe, knowing what I do now I wouldn't buy another.

If you're looking at the eBay page PipesandStuff is looking at, it doesn't, John:

"This is the stock model. It comes without tooling or a motor however we can build it to your specification."

Edited By Bill Phinn on 27/04/2023 21:31:00

Good grief! Worse than I thought.

The 7 series lathes are very basic as you say, being designed I think in the 1940s or early 50s with a lot of DNA that dates back decades from then. Even the latest S7 has a plain bearing on the business end of the headstock. The bed design is not very good, there's a reason why nearly all industrial lathes have a prismatic bed. The drive system is stupidly complex with modern motors. They are nicely finished and have cult status. Myford never adapted to modern standards and paid the price. I have a S7 and a VMB mill, both I bought new. I chose the latter as it had/has more daylight under the quill than any other small machine at the time and I was looking at making a launch engine. Myford fitted a rather agricultural UK made motor but otherwise the machine was made in the Far East. When it was time to tram the head I discovered one of the hold-down bolts was held in the casting by paint! But having said that I have had good service from both machines but wouldn't choose to buy another.

Chris, nothing strange at all about that !

I remember when the first Honda bikes appeared in England and were regarded as trash.

One of the motorcycle mags did a report on them in one issue. The tester said that while the bikes were "a bit rough around the edges", he had a feeling that they were here to stay and that English makers needed to wake up and take notice. They never did, and the rest is history.

Cars, machine tools ect, went the same way. I dont recall the last time I saw an English bike, motor or otherwise on the road and any time I see machines on building sites, none of them are Made in England.

Seems like someone got their sums wrong !

How many Hobby users could afford that kind of money ?

Yes! but when you have a Myford, it turns you into a super engineer, increases your bragging rights and can now slag off all the Chinese lathe/mill owners.

Oh! joy of joy's

More money than sense, springs to mind.

Am I jealous, It doesn't show does it?

Edited By Howi on 28/04/2023 09:22:18

Larry, I know exactly what you mean. In 1983 I bought a used Nu-Tool bench pillar drill from the then local Myford dealer for £150 (you can get the same thing for half the price forty years later) because I couldn't afford a Fobco/Meddings/Start-Rite etc. at the time. Obviously Chinese, I was told it had been returned from a school because it was 'noisey', yes it was because the pulley was loose on the motor spindle making the belt vibrate which took me about two minutes to detect and fix.

When I mentioned it to some 'fellow conspirators' at the time the machine was immediately condemned out of hand as being a load of Chinese rubbish, I had wasted my money and would only regret not holding out for a British machine. Well, as it happens that machine is still in my workshop, it runs quietly, it's square and drills true. I must have drilled a 'million' holes on it and it still has the original belt which I really should have renewed by now. BTW, where are Fobco and Start-Rite these days? I believe Meddings still make a very basic and expensive pillar drill in this country but all their other machines are imported from Spain, it seems. You can still occasionally detect people talking about Chinese 'crap' in this forum but I have never had a problem with it which is probably why it is sold all over the world.

We shouldn't forget that for most of the 60's Mini was sold at a loss, so they needed to claw back cash somewhere plus the 500 odd strikes in the 70's. The Americans started bone basic cars we just followed as they must have known better .

We don't see Datsuns anymore as the last ones rusted so badly the engines fell out whilst still moving and even the Austin 1100 rust bucket didn't do that. Never saw a Datsun in the scrapyard though. A quick rebrand to Nissan and better steel and paint followed.

Ying and Yang and all that.

Probably because the original bed design will accept used or after market parts such as fixed steadies.

Martin C

Yes but they completely missed the huge market for smaller machines being locked into a big and expensive mindset.

Although £5k seems a bucket of money to spend on a hobby lathe don't forget millions yes millions of people spend £30k on a car with no more seats than a £25k car so the people with the cheaper car have the spare money to spend on their hobby. Or they get a £20k car and buy an expensive mill too.
Looking back at the money I have spent on hobby computers that became half the price a couple of years later then broke I would have been far better off buying a new Myford.
And that 'then broke' bit is a reminder that the Myford single speed motor will still be working fifty years after the fancy variable speed jobby gave up. (provided you have a Lister generator to provide the electricity in 50 years)

Prismatic may only need one adjustment to keep the saddle smooth without being too loose, flat top and sides requires two adjustments for carriage lift and carriage rotation. Don't know if this is the only advantage.

Martin C

You also have Terex-Pegson in Coalville and Red Rhino in Grantham manufacturing plant for mining, quarrying and demolition, and Hitachi's european manufacturing centre between Durham and Sunderland.

It's a myth that the UK doesn't make things anymore, we just make very expensive niche stuff and export it, then export most of the profits too!