Hello Ben,

Welcome to the forum.

Neil

Hello Ben,

I was already equipped with my late father's old Myford ML4 lathe before I became a Landrover owner and later, the owner of a grey Ferguson tractor.

It is quite surprising what can be done with a small 3.5 inch centre height lathe with some improvisation; the biggest job I made it tackle was to bore out the front crankshaft oil seal pocket on the tractor timing chain housing to be able to accept available Landrover spares instead of the unobtainable fabric seals that Ferguson had used A rampant oil leak with it's attendant mess was thus cured

Don't be too swayed by the smaller imports and look for a good used lathe of, say, Myford or Boxford size on the basis that you never know what you may have to use it for to fix.

Regards Brian

Edited By Brian Wood on 16/12/2017 10:15:34

Welcome!

Once you have a lathe, a whole new world (only one?) opens up for you.

Remember that you can do small work on a big lathe, but not the other way round.

A good British lathe may be within your budget, but if ex Industry may have been driven to death. Ex School / Tech College machines may be relatively unworn, but scarred from careless use.

The later Asian machines can be of quite reasonable quality (Hardened beds etc, and quite rigid).

If you are not sure about a possible machine: You will get a lot of first hand knowledge on here, but when going to look at a possible purchase, do take someone knowledgeable with you to examine and try out the machine.

(Which it is a good idea to give an indication of your whereabouts)

This Forum will provide lots of hints, tips, and advice on tooling, techniques and accessories.

Soon, you will be able to really enjoy restoring your landies!

Howard