Welcome to the forum Steve.

You've opened the worm-can, I'll let others explore its contents

Neil

Welcome. It doesn't take google long to find a ME club in Cheltenham. Don't get the idea that they are only interested in trains. A mistake often made by newcomers is that a club running a track must be only interested in trains. On the contrary many of them will be the opposite but the public running is an essential revenue earning activity to keep the club finances in the black. A typical reasonable club membership fee only pay for the insurance.

A club will instantly give you 20 to 60 friends to give you advice and quite possibly some tools and even lathes may be available.

There are a lot of threads on here about lathe choice. Have a look at the old posts bearing in mind that some people insist on starting a thread with a strange and irrelevant title so you just have to go through the lot.

Steve. Have a quick Google for MSRVS. Model Steam Road Vehicle Society. Really friendly bunch with lots of help and assistance available. Grum

In a way asking 'is a Myford a good lathe' isn't a good question. The answer is 'yes, no and maybe'. As a breed, they're good, but individual examples might be total junk.

Quite a serious problem with Myford lathes in my opinion is they attract unreasonably high prices. Buying Myford is likely to put a dent in your wallet – fit for purpose possibly, value for money – dubious. A particular problem in 2019 is that many Myford lathes are elderly. Some have had hard lives or been grossly abused. Not good to pay premium money for a crock however impressive the reputation.

Back in the day Myford hit the sweet spot with a decent lathe of reasonable capacity that – for the money – knocked most of the competition into a cocked hat. But, at the time, the competition was thin on the ground. Most of the other lathes available at hobby prices were inferior and Myford deservedly built a high reputation.

Nearly 70 years have passed. Today there are other opportunities. First you could buy a new Chinese lathe – not refined, but very good value, and the purchase is low risk because consumer protection applies. Also, the machines are of more modern design featuring stiffer beds, better motors and electronic control. Second, you could find a second-hand lathe that's comfortably a notch or two above the Myford Sevens. Back in the day rugged well-made high-performance machines made for industry (brands like Boxford, Harrison, Colchester, Raglan and many others) were simply too expensive for hobby buyers. For example, the cheapest Boxford was about a third more expensive than the dearest Myford. To our advantage, industry switching to CNC put large numbers of quality manual lathes on the market at reasonable prices and in good condition. Notably, they can be had rather cheaper than a Myford, probably because they are less well known.

Personally, I bought new Chinese. The main reason was I didn't feel confident I could tell the difference between a second-hand lathe in good nick and a wreck. Appearances are misleading – it's possible for a good-looking lathe to be scrap while it's grubby mate is in excellent order. Safest to walk away from any second-hand lathe that the seller can't or won't switch on and demonstrate! You have to look and listen carefully for wear, damage, and missing parts that might be impossible or gob-smackingly expensive to replace. Once satisfied the machine is working OK, or can be fixed, you then sort out transport and installation.

Another advantage to me of buying new was being able to order the biggest mill and lathe that would fit in my workshop straight from catalogue dimensions. No hoping a suitable pair would turn up on ebay, I just ordered the machines online and they were delivered shortly after. But my fantasy is still being paid £10 by a grieving widow to remove a master-craftsman's carefully maintained collection of classic machines. It does happen!

Might be better to start with 'do I want to buy second-hand or new?'; 'what sort of work will I do' and 'how much space and money can I afford'. Once those questions are answered away you go.

Dave