Lathes on Kijiji

[Muskoka Joe]

Hello, I hope someone could help me. There are a couple of Myford lathes on Kijiji, one in Toronto and one in Hamilton. Would anyone be able to tell me if either one of these are worth buying? I would like to setup my garage for odd projects.

 

[YYCHM]

Post links to the Kijiji ads so that we know what you're looking at. Model, condition, tooling, price all need to be considered.

 

[Susquatch]

Hello, I hope someone could help me. There are a couple of Myford lathes on Kijiji, one in Toronto and one in Hamilton. Would anyone be able to tell me if either one of these are worth buying? I would like to setup my garage for odd projects.

Just for odd projects as you suggest, it shouldn't be hard to find something to fit your needs. In addition to @YYCHM s request which I totally agree with, keep an eye on the classifieds here. MUCH lower risk. Other members sometimes start small and then want to upgrade.

 

[Brent H]

@Muskoka Joe :

Have a good review here: http://www.lathes.co.uk/myford/index.html

There are a lot of different Myford lathes and some, if not all, have different functions, equipment and ability. The M ....bla bla bla 7 lathes are a 7" Diameter throw lathe - small, but have a lot of options. The ML Super 7 seems like the most fancy one, however, it also has a variety of options and different construction from QCGB, power cross feed, metric or imperial, bed length - does it come with change gears, milling attachment, taper attachment, steady rest, follow rest. Does it have the Myford stand? Chip tray? Needle bearings or sleeve? Oilers or sealed.......it goes on and on.

Given the options and various builds of the same bloody lathe it is difficult to tell if you have the ultimate one or "dang....missed it by that much"

You will notice on the Kijiji Ontario there is a pile of options for sale in Caledonia? (I think)

 

[trlvn]

Hello, I hope someone could help me. There are a couple of Myford lathes on Kijiji, one in Toronto and one in Hamilton. Would anyone be able to tell me if either one of these are worth buying? I would like to setup my garage for odd projects.

Is there some reason that you've zeroed in on Myford lathes in particular? As others have said, it will help us to know what you want to do with the machine.

Craig

 

[Muskoka Joe]

Hello all and thank you for your response. I zeroed in on Myfords because there are two on Kijiji that are priced within my budget. The lathe in Toronto and lots of accessories and looks in better shape than the lathe in Hamilton.

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.

www.kijiji.ca

 

[Mcgyver]

Why aren't you in the car already for that one? semi-kidding

There is a stated issue with the back gear (I'd want to understand the issue and what the fix was on that, possibly a busted tooth...pass if its not an easy fix for you, you need back gear), and that is the basic model (vs the super 7), but it you can do a heck of a lot with it. Price is reasonable. Best of all it seems well tooled. THAT in my opinion can double or more that value of lathe; at least it would to me. You could speed several times the purchase price going and buying comparable quality tooling new.

A great advantage of a myford is (aside from being a well made lathe) its easy to move and they go down the stairs. I once carried a super seven out of a basement by myself lol.

If that wasn't a consideration, i.e. it was going in the garage, I'd encourage you to look at a Standard Modern with low wear and a complete package of tooling. The SM's are very well made, and while there are lots of comparable quality machines, the SM's proliferate having been made in Canada and used extensively in so many school shops. That format takes you from quality hobby lathe to the lightest of industrial lathes ....and its a big jump in capabilities - size of work, rigidity, horsepower and so on.

I would hold out for one with lots of good quality tooling. I would also stand on its ear the usual economics of the situation and say pay the MOST you possible can. What I mean is paying say 1000 or even 2000 more for one with all the tooling and in great shape (minimal wear) will be one of the best bargains you ever made. You need all the tooling to make it sing, and acquiring it after will be somewhere between expensive and impossible. Not that you are buying to sell, but take comfort that if its a mistake, you won't loose money by buying a quality lathe with lots of tooling.

 

[Mcgyver]

PS....the best thing you can do is have patience and look at several. A slight exaggeration perhaps, but about 100% of kijiji sellers price it wrong....95% are crazy high and 5% are crazy low. The trick is to wait for just want you want in the 5% catagory, then pounce.

You'll see a stream of Myford super 7's in the 4-5000 range say. Then one day someone puts one up for 1700. Its usually gone in hours, but those are the deals to watch for. I can't help myself when I see them, but at around 20 lathes at the moment, my four walls have eliminated me as competition

 

[trlvn]

@Muskoka Joe It sounds like your budget is $2,000, give or take, then? Just to play devil's advocate, have you considered a 7X12 Chinese lathe?

Buy 7in. X 12in. Mini Metal Lathe 1/2hp at Busy Bee Tools

CX704 7" x 12" Mini Metal Lathe - Craftex CX-Series This mini metal lathe has the features and precision of larger lathes and is the perfect machine for hobby machinists. The variable speed switch allows the user to select the correct speed required for the job and the forward/reverse switch...

www.busybeetools.com

Compared to a Myford ML7
+ brand new with warranty*
+ variable speed w/o belt changes
- a lot of little details (like cheap plastic handles that split) compared to the old-school quality of a Myford.

You'll have to buy a bunch of accessories (Busybee does not even include a 4-jaw chuck with the machine linked above) but you can still bring it home for less than $2k.

If you decide to upgrade in a couple of years (few months?), it will be easy enough to resell. Probably at 60-70% of your actual cost. A Myford, OTOH, you may well be able to sell for more than your cost. Prices have run up sharply over the last few years and don't show any signs of slowing down.

Hope I haven't muddied the waters too much!

Craig

*Busybee isn't exactly the Gold standard in warranties but buying stuff on Kijiji isn't exactly risk-free.

 

[PaulL]

- a lot of little details (like cheap plastic handles that split) compared to the old-school quality of a Myford.

I'll say that each little plastic handle that splits is a great little brass turning project just waiting to happen!

I went the import lathe route through BB - the cx701. I'm still quite happy with it and have not come across anything I'd call a deal breaker. Be ready to spend a bit of time cleaning up just slightly enlarging the bores on the change gears though. So much nicer now that they go on and off by hand instead of with a gear puller.

 

[Muskoka Joe]

Well the Toronto listing is gone. Thanks for all the advice and I'll just keep my eye open for another deal.

 

[Susquatch]

Well the Toronto listing is gone. Thanks for all the advice and I'll just keep my eye open for another deal.

You will read this advice on here elsewhere. When you are shopping for stuff like this tlyou must be prepared to move fast. Get knowledgeable now with a list of what to like and what to walk away from. When you see an attractive ad, decide right up from with zero delay if you are, or are not interested. If you are interested, hit the highway with cash in hand and a trailer or equipment to haul it away with. When you get there, evaluate right then and there, rand make a reasonable offer - no bullshutz offers.

Basically, you need to move at lightning speed. The good stuff gets posted today and it's already gone by yesterday.

 

[Muskoka Joe]

Great advice, thx again.

 

[Former Member]

I had a lathe listed on this site, not one bite as I would have prefered it gone to someone here, sold it without going on line instead. All I can say is keep you eyes open and act fast.

 

[Dabbler]

Members here will list their lathes here, and are very much more forthright about flaws and things to look for. Your dream lathe is out there! (Or here, possibly)

I think I know of a Atlas lathe the will be coming up this summer here on the forum...

 

[Dan Dubeau]

The advice of arming yourself with knowledge first (now) so you are prepared when a suspected deal becomes available is good. The truly good deals don't last long and you have to move quick.

Lathes.co.uk Is an incredible resource for learning about pretty much every lathe ever made. Everytime I used to see a lathe online, I'd look it up on Tony's site, and learn all about it. after a while you tend to retain some stuff about features you may want, and others you could live without. And some you'd never heard of.

Back when I was looking for a lathe I consulted that site daily while searching. I missed a few deals, passed on a few more, but finally ended up stumbling arse backwards into a myford super 7 at a yard sale down the road for a rediculously cheap price. Ya never know where it'll come from.

While I'm not a huge fan of the myford for my needs and tastes, It has done a fine job holding it's own in my shop, and I'd be hard pressed to part with it when I eventually get a bigger lathe. They are a pretty good little home shop lathe, and at the price that one above was going for, have pretty much hit the depreciation bottom (you can get them cheaper though), and you'll always beable to get your money back out of it, unless you leave it out in the rain, or damage it somehow.

Having used 2 different little import bench lathes, I would hesitate recommending them to anybody that has the budget for something better. I know there are a wide range of importers and models from which to base an opinion, but the 2 I've twirled handles on didn't leave me with a great impression of them. Before anybody get's mad at me, I've been around the internet a while and know there are some great craftsman out there that do some amazing work on them. They are capable in the right hands, but for a beginner starting out it's a tough hill to climb and another variable thrown into the mix (is it me, or the lathe....)

Mcgyvers advise on paired tooling is spot on. Be aware of what it comes with. That bargain basement deal you think you're getting will quickly double when you start adding up buying the stuff it didn't come with on its own. Chucks, faceplates, tailstock tooling etc. It all adds up, and you need it all for most home shop variety jobs.

As someone that is constantly watching marketplace, kijiji, and auctions, you'd be surprised on what stuff goes for sometimes. I've seen some pretty amazingly cheap deals that I don't think last 5 minutes. Gets the blood pumping when you see a mill going for $500 and are one of the first to view the page. Hit refresh 5 minutes later and the ad is gone. I missed a full kennedy top box a few weeks ago for $50 by probably less than a minute, I saw the ad after it was 8 minutes old, and was probably typing out my response while I lost first dibs.

There are probably hundreds of guys like me sitting on the couch watching youtube videos hitting refresh on marketplace while looking for stuff we don't need and can't afford while we should be out in the garage using the machines we DO have. Hundreds I tell ya.

Good luck in your search. I haven't been here long, but can already see there is a good helpful community of people here that are pretty knowledgeable.

Edit: Sorry for the novel. I'm sitting on the couch drinking a Guinness flipping back and forth between typing and checking marketplace lol. Didn't realize it got so long.

 

[Tecnico]

Lots of good advice here already and I'll try and add a little more based on my recent experience.

First, in case you don't already know, a Myford is like a Bridgeport, chances are that you can still buy parts for S/N 000001. The Super 7 dates back to 1953 and there is an avid user base in the UK so that stands them apart from the generic far east offerings. The (mostly) Whitworth fasteners are quaint if not inconvenient at times but I've managed to fill in the holes in my tool box! The user base has a pretty deep knowledge bank, just one piece being figuring out the two change gears that let you do metric threads with the imperial QC gear box. I recently picked up those gears.

OK, generic buying advice. Someone mentioned Myfords (but consider this applies to all machine tools) can be advertised at excessive prices but that can be your competitive advantage. Case in point is the milling machine I just bought. It was priced at almost double market price and the seller had thought in good faith that they had done their homework. I think the price scared off the competition, advantage mine right off the bat!

I did an "asking" and "sold for" price search on the web and printed market info on comparable machines as well as equivalent Bridgeport machines and went for a visit, nothing to lose right! The machine met my expectations for condition so all that was left to discuss was price. I couldn't do a deal on the spot so I thanked them and left but the seller took my research and to my surprise called me back the next day and accepted my offer so it just goes to show you that if you treat a seller with respect and back up your offer with facts then you can come out with a good deal. In my case I think I paid going rate which I'm fine with.

Enjoy the hunt, get some shopping experience & let us know how you make out.

D

 

[Susquatch]

Lots of good advice here already and I'll try and add a little more based on my recent experience.

First, in case you don't already know, a Myford is like a Bridgeport, chances are that you can still buy parts for S/N 000001. The Super 7 dates back to 1953 and there is an avid user base in the UK so that stands them apart from the generic far east offerings. The (mostly) Whitworth fasteners are quaint if not inconvenient at times but I've managed to fill in the holes in my tool box! The user base has a pretty deep knowledge bank, just one piece being figuring out the two change gears that let you do metric threads with the imperial QC gear box. I recently picked up those gears.

OK, generic buying advice. Someone mentioned Myfords (but consider this applies to all machine tools) can be advertised at excessive prices but that can be your competitive advantage. Case in point is the milling machine I just bought. It was priced at almost double market price and the seller had thought in good faith that they had done their homework. I think the price scared off the competition, advantage mine right off the bat!

I did an "asking" and "sold for" price search on the web and printed market info on comparable machines as well as equivalent Bridgeport machines and went for a visit, nothing to lose right! The machine met my expectations for condition so all that was left to discuss was price. I couldn't do a deal on the spot so I thanked them and left but the seller took my research and to my surprise called me back the next day and accepted my offer so it just goes to show you that if you treat a seller with respect and back up your offer with facts then you can come out with a good deal. In my case I think I paid going rate which I'm fine with.

Enjoy the hunt, get some shopping experience & let us know how you make out.

D

Very solid advice @Tecnico .

Anyone buying a machine like this should be doing the research beforehand anyway.

 

[Former Member]

The Logan Lathe I just sold is up and running in its new home. The new owner has given it a tune-up (over due) and removed the play that creeps in over years of use (last tine I did it was about 10 years ago). Currently he is machining new dials (for larger numbers, old eyes) for the lathe on the lathe.

Old machine live on and get new life when taken care of.