mini lathe recomendations

[mtt.tr]

I'd be wary of myford yes a good machine. I grow up using a myford seven, very worn has done loads of work. With a worn lathe you can make accurate parts but it's harder and slower.
I digress myford are good but overpriced even knackered ones, you can get a machine of equal quality for the same money but with no wear. If you are hoping to jump on a machine and make accurate parts with a worn lathe with not much experience you will struggle not to say you won't. I'd really consider an import or a different brand in food quality some very good machines make no money just because of their name. (now I'll sit back and take the flaming) but you can get metric and imperial threading on these they are insanely cheap and capable.
I personally have older but good condition kit more out of pure luck finding them cheap.

 

[Badger1bear]

I will grab some popcorn and some badger beer and sit back and wait for the fireworks

 

[brightspark]

I have a ml7 I bought from new 40 years ago. its done a fair bit of work and still in decent nick . just got another for 100 quid that needs some sorting not worn but a few gears knacked not a problem fixing it .its all down to biding your time or buying machines that require no fixing if your not confident in seeing what u are getting before purchase

 

[Screwdriver]

Just worth pointing out, a cheap Myford is a rare thing so don't worry if you can't find one for £100. People out there like Brightspark will be hoovering them up before you even see the ad.

If I don't beat him to it myself

 

[brightspark]

Just worth pointing out, a cheap Myford is a rare thing so don't worry if you can't find one for £100. People out there like Brightspark will be hoovering them up before you even see the ad.

If I don't beat him to it myself

wont be me looking unless local and a gift . if there was any good ones about at a decent price id post them on here before they end up on ebay

 

[Screwdriver]

I'd be wary of myford ...

Hahha. You're just asking fro trouble from the Wallace and Gromit brigade. I tend not to comment on how good they may or may not be. I am embarrassed to say I have a superb machine, a decent size Colchester Student. My pride and joy. But I am embarrassed because a quick trip to You Tube tells me there are people out the doing incredible work on those little machines, work I can only dream of doing on my "more capable" machine. So I would never criticise.

I did have one once but it was too small. Couldn't even fit a motorcycle spindle though of course, there are ways and means. So all I suggest is that Myford is a bit like a secondhand Rolls Royce, yeah a good one will be great but one in poor condition will be an expensive money pit unless it comes with all the "options".

 

[mtt.tr]

Hahha. You're just asking fro trouble from the Wallace and Gromit brigade.

I agree.
Some like makita, some like dewalt, some like Milwaukee.

Don't you just love the bigger machines when you have a say 4" bar that needs I don't know 2" taken of it, big cuts vs loads of small cuts.
Maybe I'm too impatient for this world.

 

[brightspark]

have both best of both worlds there's nowt worse than making small parts on a big machine

 

[mtt.tr]

have both best of both worlds there's nowt worse than making small parts on a big machine

I agree tiny bushing unbeliavbly still get made on the myford. What a world. But id rather do small work on a big machine than big work on a small one. I only use the myford as it has full set of collets.

 

[Richard.]

And I don't know enough about them to have an opinion of whether they are any good or not.
I have a Myford and it seems to be behaving itself.

 

[mtt.tr]

And I don't know enough about them to have an opinion of whether they are any good or not.
I have a Myford and it seems to be behaving itself.

They will teach you as much as bigger one sane process

 

[Richard.]

They will teach you as much as bigger one sane process

I'm aware of that.
What I'm saying is I don't know enough about what are good and what are not having only ever used the one I own.

 

[gaz1]

best advice buy what you want to buy at your price range that you want to pay for it

most are novice users and i wouldnt want to spend hundreds just for a lathe to be sat there doing nothing never mind the collection and also setting it up

what im looking for in a lathe is easy parts to obtain, older machines are hard to come by parts in some cases

then we come to easy obtainable parts the prices are high due to there demand then you come to the other machines there prices are in there hundreds sourcing them isnt easy though, they know what they have and price reflects this

we can all upgrade the machine at a latter point or just buy a second machine using both

 

[hareng]

I wouldnt just assume if have a brand new Chinese lathe parts are available off the shelf. Very few carry selected parts and know how to charge ie motor £225 on a £630 mill new, gearbox elevation gears no motor £245 whole mill cost £930 and so on. Other parts may not be so lucky to find and could be out of action 7 months, been there as well.

Must admit 10 yrs ago I did buy a Chinese mini lathe for late night work and simple small jobs, think was £335. Control board packed up immediately had to take apart and post back £. New one came quickly and fitted, no torque so this time travel 160 mile round trip £ and show product, new board again and same problems. Not only did it set me back in time but also additional costs around back then around £75 this would be a major turn off for any newbie in to lathe work thinking that's how they work turning in to a waste of time buying in first place.

Reputable quality brands theres parts available - at a price but will last.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Boxford seems to me probably the best value for money, reasonably rigid for a small lathe, easy to get parts for, and doesnt take up much space.

 

[RichardM]

I used to have a ML2 - now that was old! Then a ML10, good lathe and amazing what it could produce for the foot-print. Now have a Boxford MkIII BUD, good small footprint and does everything I want. Slightly higher centre height than a MkII and larger spindle bore and bed length than the Myford. Suprisingly it doesn't take much more speace than the Myford.

Would love a bigger one but I just don't have the space....yet!

 

[james butler]

not sure if you have a lathe yet badger1bear but i bought a clarke cheapy lathe and i find it brilliant for what i use it for.
its tiny and flimsy compared to the bigger lathes but i got a fully tooled up lathe with 3 and 4 jaw chuck with reversible jaws, imperial and metric screw cutting capabilities so it has auto feed plus i have revovling centres and drill chuck.
the lot came to less than £500 because the lathe was an ex demo model that had been reconditioned by clarke and still had full warrenty.
i primarily use mine for turning down bolts, small bushes and things and even use it for polishing bits and peices like my SU carb bell tops.
its great with aluminium and brass and the like, steel it struggles with stuff bigger than an inch diameter unless you take your time.
the best bit is one person can pick it up and carry it which i dont think you will be doing with the other lathes.
another good feature of these lathes is the infinite speed controller so instead of having to move belts about to get your speeds you can just turn a dial and go between high and low speeds with a lever on the back (not a massive advantage but im just lazy).
so if your doing very small odds and sods you will be fine but if you want something heavier duty then give it serious thought and buy bigger and better lathe like the myford

 

[Badger1bear]

I ended up buying a Milford ML10 James, ideal for size for me because the cellar is getting a tad crowded