New myford

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

ISTR that somewhere in the four or so promotional videos Keith Appleton did for Myford, he mentioned the castings and machining thereof were done by outside vendors in Halifax IIRC.

Yes the “factory” as seen in the videos is very a much a two-man assembly shop. At the price of 8K quid or so, the Myford has become a bespoke item for the “Connoisseur”, to use their own latest name, hand assembled in limited numbers. The days of a fullscale “works” with its own foundry and machine shop are long gone. Not many companies do that these days. Economy of scale means one foundry supplies many companies, ditto machine shops. All on contract. Head office does the design, QC and marketing.  At least Myford’s contractors are in UK and not the other side of the world somewhere, as has become standard practice almost universally.

But, should a beginner such as the OP buy a brand new Super 7 for 8K? If the price does not faze them, why not? Its abilities will exceed those of most users until they have a lot of experience and learning. But if budget constraints are an issue, then the Chinese offerings such as Sieg SC4 make a lot of sense. Or good secondhand Myford, or even better, Boxford or Raglan. These two latter are better lathes and sell for less it seems. But buying a used lathe is like buying a used car: caveat emptor.

It all depends on budget really.

 

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

I can second the SC4 lathe, having had both an ML7 and 254 lathe I moved house and decidedto give up model engineering. That was a mistake as I had to start over when withdrawal symptoms kicked in.

I bought a mini lathe which I used for a while, and it was ok but I found it a bit small  for what I needed.

Visiting Arc Eurotrade I looked at the SC4 and bought one, a good move, for the price and quality I can reccomend it .

Whilst the Myford is a good lathe the price of it for a beginner is , in my opinion, too dear.

Ian

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

If you have room for a bigger machine, then Smart & Brown 10-24 toolroom lathes in mint condition go for less than half the price of a new Super Seven.

[old mart]

On old mart Said:

… Smart & Brown 10-24 toolroom lathes in mint condition go for less than half the price of a new Super Seven.

Catching poor old Myford in a cost pincer between cheap new Far Eastern machines and super expensive industrial kit being sold well below purchase price due to the switch to CAD/CAM.

Hard to believe, but many businesses after about 1985, needed the space taken up by top-end manual machines far more than the machine.   To the point that many were scrapped!   Dumped unceremoniously on Friday because CNC was being installed over the weekend.  Then schools and colleges sold their kit because industry no longer needed lots of manual machinists.  A long slow decline, but my feeling is the glory days of cheap ex-educational manuals is ending.   Forty years later, CAD/CAM is ubiquitous, plus lots of manufacturing has shifted to China.

And 40 years later, the need to stay awake when buying second-hand is becoming more acute.   This example was on ebay recently, asking price £1000, no takers!

Beware assuming that because high-end lathes are cheap, so must be the spares.   Not so – expect to pay full price for posh bearings and other expensive components.   Lathes of this quality cost a kings fortune when new because nothing was stinted, making refurbishment expensive too.   Fortunately DIY saves lots of money.

Dave

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