LeMaudit wrote:I might even be a bit jealous
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
... but wouldn't it be more worthwhile to buy a used higher spec lathe for the same money, assuming it's in good condition?POLAND_SPUD wrote:what about proxxon mills ? I heard they are relatively cheap and high quality
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
Not yet, sent a messager to the seller.dewey-1 wrote:Have you found out about whether it is single or 3 phase yet?
will give the guy a call when I'm back in epoxyland.hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
In my opinion I would rather go with the lathe, you can do some milling operations on a lathe with a milling attachment, but you can not do turning operations on a vertical mill (you can do turning on a horizontal mill but I don't think they make those anymore)jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:... but wouldn't it be more worthwhile to buy a used higher spec lathe for the same money, assuming it's in good condition?POLAND_SPUD wrote:what about proxxon mills ? I heard they are relatively cheap and high quality
For some reason I take comfort in the fact that the stand is painted in a similar colourHeimo wrote:it does not appear that that myford have been abused in it's lifetime, I can't see anything obvious that is missing (or broken) that should be there...
my intention is to go and see it, take a few pictures and see what you lot think. Probably some time next week.hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
) e-mail from LeMaudit, he makes some very good points which I agree with: While owning any piece of old machinery is great, I fear this one would probably be wasted on me, and for the same money I could get something maybe a bit less hardcore but more suited to my needs.Remember, this is a "real" lathe, but maybe not the funniest. Your learning curve will be more difficult, the machine is more dangerous and heavier. If you want to cut and drill long steel bars, to thread them, this is the way to go (BTW check carefully the threading capability and ask to see it running too!) . But a lathe is a limited tool, you can only do pieces with a rotary, a "revolution" shape. I'm afraid you will miss the possibility to cut a transversal groove on a tube like cutting an ejection port, drill and thread perpecticular holes, etc... This, a lathe can't do, you need at least a milling column attachment to it.
Try to think hard what type of job you want to do, and what size. If you describe me those, I can tell if you'll be happy with your lathe, or just miss a milling capability most of the time
Remember that it's relatively easy to find ready to use tubes for spudding. But it's difficult to drill and cut and make attachments around them. Except for grooving, threading and center-drilling, a lathe would not do much more for you I'm afraid. Of course, if your goal is to make MiniBoys, then it will help. But I made the MiniBoy at least 50% on the mill. And I could have done 100% on the mill with a bit of creativity. I could not have use the lathe to replace anything I did on the mill though. Look the process of my cuts in "Machining the MiniBoy" thread, or others on my website. The lathe is mandatory to cut and turn long bars. But if it is a short piece, like say a sabot, then a mill+rotatry table could do it, by holding it in the rotary table, approach an end mill closer and turn the rotary table to rotate the piece and let the side of the end mill cut it.
I was thinking about something easy to grasp to compare your Myford and my Sherline (or other miniature lathe):
Your Myford is a vintage car, with a lot of potential, It's *relatively* cheap to buy it used, but you'll need to restore it a bit, buy missing pieces maybe, and learn to drive it and love the sound of the V8 engine
My Sherline is little asian roadster. You buy it and it is *maybe* a bit more expensive, but you drive it out of the box, have fun with it, there's lot of after market pieces for it and if you break something you replace it without breaking the bank
To be honest, to love using an old tool like that, I believe you need to be a former machinist of some sort, and have a lot of respect with a good ol'quality tool. Myself, I prefer buy and use and trash.
It's not that I don't take care of it of course, but for example I've just replaced the mill column, not because it was worn out, but because I wanted something new to play with. Like I would change the hard top of my little roadster, change the aluminum wheels or make a different paint job
Also, check again the prices: For about the same price of the MyFord, you have a new Sherline lathe + a mill column attachment.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
Very fair points. I already made a category one decision and frankly, it's enoughvelocity3x wrote:JSR,
1. There are people who buy vintage machines and find great joy in restoring / using / admiring / reselling / collecting / etc..
2. There are people who buy machines to use for their designed purpose.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
Oh my God, JSR is getting proper machining facilities. You guys do know Judgement day is this saturday, right?JSR wrote:Lathe! Mill! Hooray!
That is pretty much what I concluded on balance.Fnord wrote:But, in the end I guess you won't need something so heavy-duty if you're just making small stuff. You know better than I what your intentions are.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
