What kind of lathe could I get for around £600?

[Trevanion]

A Boxford/Myford should fit in an estate car pretty easily with a bit of wangling, the base is probably going to be the most awkward thing as most can't be disassembled and have to be put in the car in one solid lump.

There's quite a nice little Denfords Boxford that's popped up on my eBay that's about 45 minutes north of you. No idea what goes with it but it looks to be in quite good nick.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Having the infamous "Chinese Mini Lathe" myself, I dunno mate, sorry. BUT there have been several threads here about exactly the best way to go about moving lathes so I suggest you do a search.

BTW, if your Audi A3 is the estate version then I GUESS Myford/Boxford would fit if dis-assembled, but if it's the "standard" hatch back version then I'm not too sure.

Best of luck anyway, I'm sure someone with better info will be along soon, and meantime "welcome to the slippery slope mate". It'll be fun AND an interesting learning curve anyway

My A3 is just the usual hatchback unfortunately, so it may be a squeeze. I’ve finally got a chance to do a little research for moving tips, so will have a good trawl of the forum. And yes, it will no doubt be a slippery slope, but one I welcome

A Boxford/Myford should fit in an estate car pretty easily with a bit of wangling, the base is probably going to be the most awkward thing as most can't be disassembled and have to be put in the car in one solid lump.

There's quite a nice little Denfords Boxford that's popped up on my eBay that's about 45 minutes north of you. No idea what goes with it but it looks to be in quite good nick.

That's probably the one i’m going to go and see on Friday in Crymych as it happens. Trouble is, I asked if I can see it working and they’d said ‘yes, as long as you know how to turn it on’ :? I think it’s something they’ve inherited, so have no experience with it themselves. Thing is, i’m also in the same boat!! #-o Wouldn’t know we’re to start! :|

 

[Trevanion]

That's probably the one i’m going to go and see on Friday in Crymych as it happens. Trouble is, I asked if I can see it working and they’d said ‘yes, as long as you know how to turn it on’ :? I think it’s something they’ve inherited, so have no experience with it themselves. Thing is, i’m also in the same boat!! #-o Wouldn’t know we’re to start! :|

My best guess would be that the long lever above the headstock is the start/stop switch when engaged left or right, Might be worth having a trawl through the Boxford section of the Lathes.co.uk website to see if you can see/read anything about the machine at all, from what I gather from the site this particular machine dates somewhere around 1950-59 since it's got the V-groove pulleys and the motor at the back of the machine rather than underneath in the cabinet.

If I knew I was going to be free on Friday I'd offer to come up and have a butchers at it with you, as you know I'm not exactly too far away :wink:

You're going to love Crymych, perhaps the glummest place with the glummest people in the whole country! :lol:

 

[TFrench]

Looks a nice small lathe, got a gearbox as well which is a plus. I generally take a dial indicator on a stand with me when I go to look at machines, it quite often shows up wear or slop you can't really see. That one looks to have been looked after, and it would probably split down fairly easily to go in a car.

 

[Robbo3]

Back in the 1980s, weighing ten & a half stone, I could just manage to pick up an ML7 to move it from one bench to another. Two people would easily put it in the boot of a car or on a board on the back seat.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

My best guess would be that the long lever above the headstock is the start/stop switch when engaged left or right, Might be worth having a trawl through the Boxford section of the Lathes.co.uk website to see if you can see/read anything about the machine at all, from what I gather from the site this particular machine dates somewhere around 1950-59 since it's got the V-groove pulleys and the motor at the back of the machine rather than underneath in the cabinet.

Thanks for the tip. I have been looking at that website. I might be able to figure something out, just hopefully without looking a fool to the seller, and hopefully with pour cousing an accident! :?

If I knew I was going to be free on Friday I'd offer to come up and have a butchers at it with you, as you know I'm not exactly too far away :wink:

I’ve sent you a PM.

You're going to love Crymych, perhaps the glummest place with the glummest people in the whole country! :lol:

Been to Crymych y few times... makes me appreciate home :lol:

Looks a nice small lathe, got a gearbox as well which is a plus. I generally take a dial indicator on a stand with me when I go to look at machines, it quite often shows up wear or slop you can't really see. That one looks to have been looked after, and it would probably split down fairly easily to go in a car.

The gearbox looks to be imprial only, but would still come in handy. I do wonder whether there are metric gears available too though. So what exactly would you be checking for with a dial indicator (I do have one)? Would it be slop in the head stock? If so, wouldn’t I need some sort of round bar of known accuracy? Or would it be also to check the flatness or co-planarness of the bed somehow?

Back in the 1980s, weighing ten & a half stone, I could just manage to pick up an ML7 to move it from one bench to another. Two people would easily put it in the boot of a car or on a board on the back seat.

Hmmmm, that’s encouraging! If or when purchased i’d take tools with me to take it apart, so maybe it would be do-able in the car then!

 

[TFrench]

I'd just set the tip of the indicator on the chuck and give it a wobble, see if the bearings are ok. Then do the same with the carriage - put the indicator on the ways or the stand and try to rock the carriage back and forth. If it's got slop it's not the end of the world, you can adjust the gib strips to tighten it up, but it can make a good bargaining point. Realistically you won't use the gearbox much - most of the small threading jobs you come across can be done just as easily with taps and dies - and quicker than single pointing it.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

So I went to view the Boxford lathe today. I have a few questions.

So the chuck appears to have a wobble of 0.05mm. Does this mean that the bearings are on the way out?

The bed seemed to be in decent nick for the first 18” of the bed, however there is some rust to the remaining right hand section of the bed, but the carriage seems to travel easy enough over it.

There’s a large wheel which takes the first belt from the motor, but there’s an obvious wobble to it. How difficult would it be to source a new wheel??

The belts seem to be the old school type with (assumed) leather links. They don’t seem to be in the best of condition. Where can these be sourced from, and are they difficult to fit (for a beginner!)?

 

[Trevanion]

So the chuck appears to have a wobble of 0.05mm. Does this mean that the bearings are on the way out?

More than likely the chuck is out rather than the bearings themselves. That's a pretty good reading regardless, it's very difficult to have it running totally concentric to the rotation and even then it may just be the outside of the chuck doesn't run true but the inside is spot-on. Those old Chas Taylor chucks can sometimes be a bit iffy but if they've been looked after there isn't much better.

If you mean you're wobbling the chuck back and forth by hand and all you're getting it 0.05, that's pretty good.

The bed seemed to be in decent nick for the first 18” of the bed, however there is some rust to the remaining right hand section of the bed, but the carriage seems to travel easy enough over it.

A light rub with fine (Grey) scotchbrite to get rid of the rust, perhaps a very light rub with a flat oilstone after to take off any burrs, bumps and high spots.

There’s a large wheel which takes the first pulley from the motor, but there’s an obvious wobble to it. How difficult would it be to source a new wheel??

A wobble in what kind of way? left to right or out of round? It would probably be fairly easy to correct, with a lathe 8)

The belts seem to be the old school type with (assumed) leather links. They don’t seem to be in the best of condition. Where can these be sourced from, and are they difficult to fit (for a beginner!)?

You can still get link belts fairly inexpensively, you just need to figure out what section it is and order a length and remove links to the size you need. Alternatively, you could put modern rubber belts on but some people prefer link belts for less vibration and noise.

Did you manage to get it running in the end?

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

More than likely the chuck is out rather than the bearings themselves. That's a pretty good reading regardless, it's very difficult to have it running totally concentric to the rotation and even then it may just be the outside of the chuck doesn't run true but the inside is spot-on. Those old Chas Taylor chucks can sometimes be a bit iffy but if they've been looked after there isn't much better.

If you mean you're wobbling the chuck back and forth by hand and all you're getting it 0.05, that's pretty good.

What I did was take a router centre pin with me which I believe, or hope, is accurately concentric, so the run out i saw would be from the inside of the chuck. Hence wondering if it’s the bearing on the way out or something?

A light rub with fine (Grey) scotchbrite to get rid of the rust, perhaps a very light rub with a flat oilstone after to take off any burrs, bumps and high spots.

Ok, thanks for the suggestion. That would no doubt sort that issue out.

A wobble in what kind of way? left to right or out of round? It would probably be fairly easy to correct, with a lathe 8)

Thinking about it’s, it’s probably the shaft that’s gone, as the wheel was wobbling outwards. So the wheel might be fine, but if it’s the shaft then that would presumably be worse

You can still get link belts fairly inexpensively, you just need to figure out what section it is and order a length and remove links to the size you need. Alternatively, you could put modern rubber belts on but some people prefer link belts for less vibration and noise.

Where would I get these kinds of belts from? Are they difficult to fit?

Did you manage to get it running in the end?

I did run it briefly, but felt like I had an audience and didn’t want to risk breaking anything, so didn’t run it for long. Sounds like an old machine, but it seem to run smooth enough... apart from the wheel wobbling and the belts being fairly noisy.

The more I think about it the less I’m wanting to take on something that need too much work :?

 

[AES]

What 'ee said (Trevanion above)! And generally, from the pic you posted, it looks overall in pretty decent nick to me. Also if you buy that lathe and cannot correct the drive pulley, it's relatively easy to make a complete new one (just using the dodgy one for that purpose until you've finished the new). Lathes are a bit like doctors are supposed to be ("Physician, heal thy self").

How many chucks come with it, just that one?

Did you buy it?

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

What 'ee said (Trevanion above)! And generally, from the pic you posted, it looks overall in pretty decent nick to me. Also if you buy that lathe and cannot correct the drive pulley, it's relatively easy to make a complete new one (just using the dodgy one for that purpose until you've finished the new). Lathes are a bit like doctors are supposed to be ("Physician, heal thy self").

How many chucks come with it, just that one?

Did you buy it?

There was another smaller chuck with it, but felt a little rushed so didn’t do a full inspection of all of the bits it comes with. It had some other random stuff like a set of adjustable reamers, and other things I don’t really recognise.

Haven’t bought it yet, but after a think I was possibly going to go back on Sunday to buy it... but I’m thinking more now that I’d ideally like an already fixed up lathe rather than a fixer-upper, particularly as it’s my first metal lathe and I’m a completely beginner :? But maybe I’m overthinking it?

 

[Trevanion]

Doesn't sound like it needs too much work at all, and if it does it seems to be fairly simple stuff.

As far as link belts go, they're a puddle of water to fit as it literally as it's just twisting the links together and apart. As I said, there are a few different sections like A, B and Z which are different sizes in cross-section. They're pretty easy to get a hold of like on this listing on eBay which is £13/m.

I'd suggest you get it, pretty much all machines you'll come across will need some degree of TLC, even new ones :lol:. You certainly won't regret it, and you'll wonder how you didn't do without one.

 

[AES]

Once again, I must agree with "'im above me"!

There's little there that you'll find difficult if you've "got an 'ead on yer shoulders" (and it sounds like you have), and in reality, I think I had more to do to my (then brand new) Chinese Mini Lathe than you'll have with that lathe (though I've heard the Chinese have improved their QC these days - mine was VERY poorly assembled).

You'll anyway learn a lot about your lathe just as a result of doing the necessary fettling. I think I'd buy it from the looks of that pic.

HTH.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Thanks both for the advice and the nudge. I agreed a price earlier and arranged pick-up for Sunday, so fingers crossed it’ll all go to plan. So now I have to make space in the workshop

 

[AES]

On that one Sawdust=manglitter, you're very much on your own!

 

[TFrench]

Congrats! Its a slippery slope....

I recommend Abom79, Keith Rucker (vintage machinery) and Steve Summers on Youtube - I've learnt so much from their videos.

 

[MusicMan]

Agree with all the comments above. I'm sure you can get that going without too much work. It'll be fun and do ask here for advice. I agree it looks a decent buy.

On the runout of the chuck, it sounds like you held the centre in in the three-jaw chuck then measured the runout with a dial gauge, is that right? If so, that is a respectable figure. Three jaw chucks don't actually centre all that accurately. You get a better reading by taking the chuck off and putting the gauge on the nosepiece of the shaft.

belts of all sorts are available at lathes.co.uk as is info on the Boxford machines: http://www.lathes.co.uk/boxford/index.html
You should study that in depth.

Make sure you get as many bits and pieces that go with the lathe as possible, chucks, any steadies, cutting tools etc even if you don't know what they are. And a book should get you started, from the Harold Hall series

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lathework-Comp ... C94D7672BB

Let us know how you get on. Photos compulsory.

Enjoy!

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Congrats! Its a slippery slope....

I recommend Abom79, Keith Rucker (vintage machinery) and Steve Summers on Youtube - I've learnt so much from their videos.

Thanks TFrench. I’ve already been keeping an eye on Abom79, but have Justin subscribed to the other two. This Old Tony can also be informative, as well as entertaining.

Agree with all the comments above. I'm sure you can get that going without too much work. It'll be fun and do ask here for advice. I agree it looks a decent buy.

On the runout of the chuck, it sounds like you held the centre in in the three-jaw chuck then measured the runout with a dial gauge, is that right? If so, that is a respectable figure. Three jaw chucks don't actually centre all that accurately. You get a better reading by taking the chuck off and putting the gauge on the nosepiece of the shaft.

belts of all sorts are available at lathes.co.uk as is info on the Boxford machines: http://www.lathes.co.uk/boxford/index.html
You should study that in depth.

Make sure you get as many bits and pieces that go with the lathe as possible, chucks, any steadies, cutting tools etc even if you don't know what they are. And a book should get you started, from the Harold Hall series

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lathework-Comp ... C94D7672BB

Let us know how you get on. Photos compulsory.

Enjoy!

Thanks very much MusicMan. I have frequented lathes.co.uk on and off for a while, being metalwork-curious, but I can definitely see me referring back to it once I start properly down the slipper slope

With regards to books, the lathe comes with a couple, so i’ll see what they are like, it’s that one you recommended sounds just what I could do with seeing as I’m pretty much a beginner

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Got my new Boxford home safe and sound

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement.

The move went well, but it did get rained on when we loaded the lathe on the trailer, which took a bit of time for me to dry off. Probably far from the best stuff, but for now i gave it a good spray with WD40 to hopefully prevent any rusting for now.

Tell you what made a world of difference was these, which i rushed out to get the castors from screwfix first thing this morning and rushed to make them before leaving to collect the lathe. Will no doubt become very useful in future

The massive learning curve begins!!