One Man and His Lathe

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

With apologies for any implied sexism…

Every time beginner asks for lathe advice, there is a chorus of helpful, but often disparate advice. The answer of the 'right lathe' for any individual is affected by so many variables it's impossible to give, not least as what most people end up doing with their lathe is so heavily influenced by what lathe they have!

It strikes me that beginners could benefit from an ocassional series in MEW in which lathe owners describe the whys and wherefores of their machine, why they chose it, how they use it, how it was installed and any significant modifications or accessories. This wouldn't really be a review, but more 'this is what I've got and how I get along with it'.

I would like to cover the range of options, imported, second hand and new European/British built, large, medium or small. In a sense, each type/make/style of lathe would have its chance to be 'championed'. The articles would also be put on this website after publication, creating a resource for those contemplating a lathe purchase to browse.

I would imagine such articles to be around 2000 words a dozen pictures, roughly three pages.

Anyone interested put a note here or email me neil.wyatt@mytimemedia.com

Any suggestions, welcome.

Cheers,

Neil

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Good idea, I could probably do 20 words [ 19 unprintable ] on the Sooper Adapt.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I meant to say, no Super Adepts.

Neil

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

Me being a beginner un-all and having recently purchased and installed a lathe I am wondering if my opinion in an article may be of interest.?

What I did and probably of more interest what I would not do again.!!

Or is it articles from the seasoned and accomplished you require.?

Nick

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Mr Pete Gilbert … Step forward please !!

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 15/07/2014 21:46:21:

I meant to say, no Super Adepts.

Neil

.

Sexist and Racist ??

[Raymond Sanderson 2Participant @raymondsanderson2]

A great idea!! Being new to owning a lathe it's a mine field of choices out there both new and 2nd hand.

Although I came across a relatively new lathe(12mths old used twice a Chinese import) for about the same price I paid for the ML7 I new what/why I chose as I did. I look forward to reading this.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I've had several offers already, thanks. They all seem to be for slightly less common lathes (e.g. Boxford, Harrison, Proxon).

So far no offers for Myford or the any of the usual range of imports, as more commonly found in hobby workshops.

Is this because owners of these lathes think 'someone else will be better able to write about this than me with so many about'?

I will reply to all offers soon, but I will make list of lathes and offers and when it's reasonably populated get back with specific requests. I will also identify any glaring gaps that persist!

For the imports where there are many versions of similar type, I'd like to cover one of each main style, but also rotate among the various suppliers so we get a profile of sources as well as machines.

Be warned, I will probably want pictures of people using their machines and of something they have made using it!

Thanks for all the interest,

Neil

[HowiParticipant @howi]

I can certainly offer my services with regard to the Amadeal 210 lathe if it of any help.

Howard

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

May be another article of the unusual things made or operations people have done on just a lathe after all it can do far more than make round things or it could be included in these articles.

 

Edited By Bob Brown 1 on 16/07/2014 09:51:57

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Happy to do Myford S7, concentrating on the versatility.

Rod

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Boxford less common! Which planet are you on? What newcomers need for the Boxford is a clear explanation of the different types AUD,BUD,CUD,TUD, model A etc

I think what would help is a clear set of tables of all the current, no recent, new lathes to show which are the same things but under different importers' numbers, but also collecting the small improvements that have sometimes been made over thier 20 odd years existance for the guidance of people buying second hand.

One way of picking up some of the reviews of your original idea might be to have a sidebar on any article being published anyway with the authors explanation of the kit they are using. I often find it interesting to see from the photos what machines someone has.

Long term this info could be hepful to people buying used machines 50 years from now. How often do we see mention of an old lathe with only minimal information of the mfr, date of production etc. I have a drill for which I found an advert in ME dated 1903 which put it in context.

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

Bazyle

There is lots of information on lathes here **LINK** including all sorts of historic stuff from AA109 to Zyto and see no reason to repeat this.

OK there is not the same sort of information on later machines like those of far eastern origins but then again how do you list a machine that has lots of differing names that said some fall under Sieg Industrial group umbrella, others?

Then you may have the same basic machine but the importer may change the specification…………..

Bob

[Dullard ArdParticipant @dullardard78275]

Boxford less common?…. only in every school when I were a lad

I think Boxfords will be around long after some of this modern far eastern stuff with it's dodgy circuit boards bad cut gibs and the like

[StovepipeParticipant @stovepipe]

Will we still be using non-automatic lathes in 50 years time ?

Dennis

[Billy MillsParticipant @billymills]

Like the idea, but once Lathes have been covered can we have some more interesting machines? There is the metrology world, water and air cutting, press tooling, wire EDM, watchmaking and the optical world all of which have processes and methods that we can learn from and can take model engineering forwards,

If we have to stick to rotating machining then how about looking at the innards of modern machining systems- even a Britan has some very useful features ( such as the tool rest) which a lot of readers might find interesting.

Billy.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

It makes sense to work through all the more common workshop machines. It has to be things like lathes, mills, grinders etc. because I want to have a consistent, to-the-point format that introduces the sort of machines found in the majority of workshops.

Articles on EDM etc.are all in MEW's scope, if someone will write them

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

On, my apologies, but I've had a lot of emails so I'm sending a 'standard reply'. Those of you contacting me by a message on this forum have got a reply by PM, asking for a follow up email.

Bazyle,

Yes I would like to publish an 'equivalents' chart for new lathes, it would be very helpful although it might be most useful to those shopping on price alone as its hard to capture subtle differences and 'customer service/care' with such an approach.

Bob, the issue with the import lathes is that they do come out of several factories and even those coming off the same production line will vary according to the demands of the specific importer.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Just a quick update… I'm putting a call out in the pages of the next MEW, which is why I haven't got back to confirm anything with folks who contacted me by email yet. I will probably get down to 'shortlisting' in mid-late September.

Thanks for your patience

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well then, let's see what offers I have had:

Amadeal	210VG
Boxford	N/S
Britan	Auto N/S
Chester	12×36 GH
Colchester	Challenger
Colchester	Master
Denford	Viceroy 280VS
EW	2.5"
Hobbymat	MD65
Lorch	AB
Myford	S7
Myford	ML7
Myford	S7B
Myford	ML7R
Myford	ML7R
Myford	ML10
Myford	S7
Proxxon	PD400
Randa	N/S
Warco	GH1330
Warco	BH600
Warco	920

I think that's a pretty good selection, although there are some 'obvious' lathes missing from the list!

I will be getting in touch with everyone who has made an offer today, for now, suffice to say that if you offered a Myford AND another make of lathe I will probably not ask you to write up the Myford!

Further offers for lathes not on the list welcome.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Dear everyone,

I now has 28 lathes to choose from, although I don't suppose every offer will become an article I have already received three manuscripts!

An unexpected development means that we are able to run the first instalment in the next issue, and I'm sure readers will enjoy these as much as authors obviously enjoy this as a topic.

The series will probably now run for a couple of years, but as each instalment will cover a different machine and be by a different author I doubt that it will become repetitive or boring. Certainly the three I have seen so far are quite different while being very interesting reading.

I'm particularly glad that many offers of articles have come from new authors.

Because I now have so many offers, I'm no longer seeking further ones for the time being.

Many thanks for the enthusiastic responses.

Neil

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