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

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

.

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

**LINK**

MichaelG.

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

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

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

Jesse

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.

It certainly sounds like a 'dream lathe.

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

Neil

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

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?

Andrew, with my geek hat on I read through the specification on the Southbend lathes and noticed it mentions the country of origin, the 8k says China and the 10k says Taiwan, also says the factories are not iso9001 certified.

Mike