I finally pulled the trigger on a Lathe.....UPDATE Post 87....

One thing on the Myford. The cast hollow tube bed isn't all that heavy or massive. It would be well worth considering lifting it up and bolting it to a hunk of 2x12 as an aid in moving it if you'll be lifting it off the bench. And that would include taking the back hung motor and some of the brackets off for transport.

When I had mine the machine had been fairly well worn and the paint was quite damaged. So I stripped it all down, degreased and painted it over again. What I noticed is that the hollow tube style bed casting wasn't all that heavy. So that's why I'm suggesting some sort of support as insurance against over stressing the bed.

Trev, like you I did enjoy my Myford. It's a classic machine and fun to use even with the little "issues". But I simply could not justify the room to keep two machines. But even now if I could come across something like an old Drummond or some other oversize instrument/clock maker's lathe then I'd find some room for it. That sort of machine that would be nice for doing the really small stuff. I COULD just buy one of the little 7x12 machines but those are rather heavy and clunky compared to the delicate look of of the sort of thing I'd like to get. And since it's not really something I actually NEED to make the parts I can afford to be patient and bide my time.
 
More great info on the Myford, thanks guys. It's going to be a father son thing , my oldest is very interested in machining/welding, he'll be teaching me to start off with for sure. It does come with all sorts of tooling and parts, a bunch of raw material and a milling machine attachment as well as the knowledge and experience of my neighbour. He's a train nut and made his own wheels and various small parts that go with that hobby. He's giving it to us at a ridiculously low price because he likes my kids and they help him around his house. Have another weekend to get my shop ready for it coming up, can hardly wait. I will likely be back with many questions, I've always been more of a woodworking guy but this is an exciting new chapter.
 
You WILL want to obtain a copy of "The Amatuer's Lathe" by Sparey. It's a book about machining techniques that will teach you a heap of great information. But the star of the book is the Myford lathes in just about every picture.

There's many other great books about home hobby machining out there as well. But this one is THE ONE that you MUST get to go with your adopted Myford. I'm not even going to add a smilie to that last sentence because I'm actually serious about this.

If any of your local libraries have sections on machining there's a good chance they will have a copy. Sign up and borrow it until your own arrives. Seriously. No Myford owner should be without this one.

If your adopted lathe does not come with the Myford cabinet then you'll need a bench. The stuff up to now in this thread should be a good indicator that you want something quite massive and rigid. I'd have no qualms about making up a wood bench for a Myford but I would not spare the dimensions. Build up something worthy of a Shinto temple for timber sizes, if not the fancy joinery. It'll really aid in supporting the machine. A good rigid and stable top would be from something like 3 or even 4 laminations of the stronger fir 3/4 plywood rather than the softer and more pliable spruce plywood. And under that I'd have 2/6 framing locked into three laminations of 2x4's for the legs. One leg would be set up with a 3/4" bolt as a leveling leg to even out any rocking. Then the lathe itself would rest on threaded studs in the top using the same upper and lower nuts on the rods to hold the lathe and allow for setting the alignment as I described or as you found in that article I posted in a previous reply.

As you can likely tell from all my wordy postings in this thread I REALLY like my machine tools and my lathe in particular. It would not be stretching the point by much to say that working with well setup machine tools makes us feel a little like we're wearing a tight blue T shirt that has a big red "S" on the front of it.... :d If a little of what I've learned over the years can help some of you to enjoy your shop as much as I enjoy mine then I'll just say "you're welcome".
 
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BCRider said:
You WILL want to obtain a copy of "The Amatuer's Lathe" by Sparey.
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Ayup. This. Busy Bee usually stocks it, and you can get a copy anywhere else you can find it. The Sparey book is GOOD!

George H. Thomas' books are good too.

There is a series of books that are usually in stock that cover various subjects. Called the Workshop Practice Series. They have been labeled as being published by a series of different publishers, over the years, and some are far better than others, and more useful.

The books Workholding in the Lathe, and Milling Operations in the Lathe, are two good ones, both written by a fellow writing under the nom-de-plume of Tubal Cain, in later years revealed to be a fellow by the name of Tom Walshaw. Not so much for specific info, but they will fill your head with ideas of how you can accomplish things that seem impossible, by opening your eyes to many options.

I would and do endorse those two as good. Use the library to bring in copies of the others to determine if they suit your needs. As an example, the Screwcutting book is a few pages on the basics, then page after page of screwcutting charts that are of very little use to most folks, as they are sorted out by the pitch of the leadscrew on your lathe. Not a good value, unless you happen to have one of those odd lathes, and need that info.

Hunt down a copy, preferably an older (as opposed to current $$$) edition of Technology of Machine Tools by Krar. It is a standard machine shop class manual for senior High school and junior college level machine shop practice. Very good book.

Don't pay much more than $15 or $20 for a older copy of Machinery's Handbook, if at all. It is the mother of all wall charts in book form. Useful reference material, but you can get all that data from other sources as you need it. No need to spend the money for a new copy.

Cheers
Trev
 
I feel like a tag team wrestler... :d

The local library in Burnaby where I used to be had most of those titles. All just as good as Trev is saying. The knowledge I got from those books really upped my game and made me a lot more capable and confident.

I still don't have an older copy of the Machinist's Handbook. But I can't recall when I couldn't find what I needed off the web. But if I were to trip over a 20 year old edition for under $30 you bet your bippy it would be coming home with me.
 
notsorichguy said:
So....

I've been in the market for a reasonably priced "good" lathe.... I've been looking (off and on) for the last 3-4 years. I missed a REALLY good package about 6 months ago by 15 min.....

Today, I received a call from a machinist friend of mine, telling me that another fella he knows is selling a decent hobby-smith lathe.

So after work I headed to this guys place, and I am now a bit poorer in cash but richer in tools!

It is a Frejoth f1-900. It was built in 1988. It is in good working order, my machinist friend has givin me the "2" thumbs up on both condition and price. 12x36, 17/8" through stock. It comes with a 3jaw and a 4 jaw, 2 steady rests, a live centre and a enough tooling to get started.

So now it's time to think about how I'm actually going to move it...... I'm looking for ideas etc. from the fellas out there who have done this before.

Loading isn't an issue, the previous owner has a forklift that is capable of loading it onto a flat deck trailer. Getting from its current home to my Garage isn't a problem either..... But..... How do I get a 4.5' machine through a 7' tall OH garage door and on the floor with-out tweaking something? A crane or Boom truck is out of the question.....

2 options on trailers are; 1- flatdeck with ramps, or; 2- tilt bed flatdeck. (both are car haulers)

I was thinking the tilt bed is the answer (its hydraulic). Back up just into the Garage, tilt the bed and using some 1" steel pipe (or HD dollys) I could roll it off the deck and into the garage...... But at 2500 lbs its a bit of a risk..... The drive way does slope away from the garage enough that the tilt bed surface will only be at a 15 degree slope when "skidding" it into the garage.....

I have time to plan, Moving day is Saturday of Easter Weekend...... I could really use some discussion on the matter..... My Machinist buddy has never had to move a machine, so no exp doing it either!

And oh, yes..... I did remember to take some pics!

Here's one or two to keep you entertained!





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Those blank spaces before and after high and low are for ridiculously slow and dangerously fast.
 
So... I was just looking at the last post and the pictures from way back in the beginning. In this picture below I see the red and blue for high and low and the lever and fluted knob for selecting the speeds.

But how does one switch between the two red speeds and two blue speeds for each knob setting? Is there another lever on the side of the head? Please 'splain this to the po' guy that has the belt drive headstock lathe and that has only used a gear head machine about three decades ago and only a couple of times at that.


notsorichguy said:
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I am dead certain this is basically the same machine as my Atrump 13 x 36, but geared a little differently. My lowest speed is 40 rpm and my highest is1550. Everything else looks pretty much identical, with a slightly different stand.

They have a two step motor to transmission pulley system. You change pulleys to access the other speed range. Just to be clear, the machine will not go into warp drive if set on one of the blank white areas. Neither the upper range selector nor the lower speed selector will move into those areas:)
 
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A note to the OP
If your machine is set up like mine, it should include two gears in addition to those installed. They are required in order to be able to do the full range of imperial and metric threads. Look at the gear stacks on the threading plate. It will tell you what gears should be included with the machine.
 
So it's belt drive AFTER ALL! ! ! :d

Thanks for clearing that up guys. I'll be able to sleep tonight now.... :d

On mine that extra gearing is used as spacers for the ones that are engaged. When I need to use the metric threading gears I swap the gears as per the placard and the Imperial gears become the spacers for the metric gears. So checking that it's all there is a good thing but there may not be a box with gears in it that is separate.
 
wadedc said:
You should rent an Air tow Trailer. http://www.airtow.com/wp-content/gallery/trailersinaction/safes.jpg
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Ya could....IF you could find one to rent.


But.... As I see it, if you have the vehicle to tow one of those, it should fit the lathe inside, or in the back, and the rental money would be better spent on buying a folding engine hoist when they come on sale.

That trailer might be worth tracking down and buying, if the iron bug bites hard enough, and you ended up with the likes of a 16 inch Monarch or DSG...

Cheers
Trev
 
BCRider said:
So it's belt drive AFTER ALL! ! ! :d

.
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I don't think I've ever seen a lathe that didn't have belts between the motor and headstock.
In this case he has 2 speed ranges via belts, rest all geared, still usually gets marketed as a gear head lathe, vs those few where all speed ranges are changed via belts.

I'm really not sure why they still even put gears in headstocks/feed mechanisms today, should have been gone 5-10yrs ago. I'd love to be able to buy a 18x60 lathe with VFD speed, VFD Feed controls, short of just going CNC....
 
To be honest fellas. I don't know much about this lathe, and I probably won't know much more about it till I get it into my garage....

Way, way back in high school, I made some punches on a lathe in IA15 (grade 10 Industrial Arts) I recall that the knurling on the handles was pretty tough to get right.... That is the extent of my lathe exp.

Thanks for all the insight, tips and tricks. I'll update once I have picked up the lathe etc. Set up should be pretty "exciting"!
 
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SND said:
I don't think I've ever seen a lathe that didn't have belts between the motor and headstock.
In this case he has 2 speed ranges via belts, rest all geared, still usually gets marketed as a gear head lathe, vs those few where all speed ranges are changed via belts.

I'm really not sure why they still even put gears in headstocks/feed mechanisms today, should have been gone 5-10yrs ago. I'd love to be able to buy a 18x60 lathe with VFD speed, VFD Feed controls, short of just going CNC....
Click to expand...

Oh, I know that they are all belt drive from the motor to the gear head. I was funnin' a bit which the smilie was supposed to suggest.

I think even with VFD that there would still be a desire for SOME basic gearing or belt size options even if it's only to multiply the torque. But yeah, a smaller selection of gearing for torque combined with a VFD motor setup would be darn sweet.
 
Well. Here's a partial up date..... Finished up painting the "wall" I built in the garage.

I needed a spot to put wiring etc. The plan is to pour some 2-4" high "feet" to set the lathe on...... But I won't do that till I have the unit in the garage to get precise measurements and decide final placement.

 
No matter where you end up setting up your lathe, you really will want some decent lighting over it so that you can see what you are doing without having to dance around dodging the shadows.

I try to have at least one decently bright 'room' light overhead, as well as a decent stand light on the machine itself if possible. Bright bright bright!

I like the storage over the door, and the high ceiling! Nice having the walls painted too!

Cheers
Trev
 
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