The Myford Super 7 Lathe: An Introduction
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
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The Myford Super 7 lathe is a popular machine for the model engineer and machinist. In this video we give an introduction to the Myford Series 7 lathes, specifically our Myford Super 7 Connoisseur. We discuss the capabilities and why it is the preferred machine for our workshop.
Even if you don't own a Myford lathe, if you are a machinist, hopefully there is plenty of interesting content that is transferable to any metalworking lathe.
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The elite school of British Engineering, Hats Off
What a wonderful video, I'm a big fan of myford and dore westbury, owning a humble ML7 and DW Mk1 mill, and adore these wonderful vintage hobby engineer machines, it's great to see your lovely machines in good use :) all the best, Ade
Nice video and well received. Being in the states we hear a lot about Myford lathes. I have never seen one demonstrated. Thank you.
I live in California, U.S. A. and I saw a Myford Super 7 at the Westec trade show in the early 1980s but never saw one again. Hardinge is the closest equal to Myford. They make a super precision lathe for around $35,000 that does a lot of what the Myford does. Thanks for showing us this very fine lathe.
Comparing a Myford lathe to a Hardinge is like comparing the Formula 1 race car to a model T ford. The Myford is a plain bearing lathe with a threaded spindle nose that hangs out a mile. The whole design of the Myford is out dated and weak. Trust me don’t fall in trap an plop down big money for a Myford. They are basically a money pit.
@@potlimit2002the hardinge has a solid headstock. It is not a hollow casting with reinforcement ribs cast in. It is a solid chink of cast iron in order to minimize vibration. You can lift a myford yourself. A hardinge hvlh weighs 600+ lbs. The myford is a very nice light duty hobby lathe which has been used to build umpteen thousand steam engines etc. There are tons of accessories that you can make for it and it will do nice work in skilled hands but the hardinge is one of the most rigid precise machines that has ever been make and you will find them in the finest research establishments world wide where money is no object. They are at opposite ends of the scale in every respect.
@@potlimit2002 Correct, and a Hardinge is a Audi A4 compared to a Monarch 10EE which is a Mclaren CanAm racecar.
We have a Myford lathe in the Design Technology workshop at the school I work at doing Maintenance. The lathe is from the 70s according to it's serial number and I have no idea just how long it has been at the school. It was here before I arrived nearly 15 years ago, so just how long it has been at the school is anybody's guess!
Dealing with schoolboy's accidents and abuse, the poor lathe has seen a hard life. Your lathe by contrast has seen plenty of TLC.
Mark from Melbourne Australia
I only recently in the last few years purchased a second hand super seven and love learning new helpful hints and tips
I'm into clockmaking and model engineering and I see Myford lathes being used a lot for both crafts. I love their tools and I hope to have one of my own some day!
(I also know that these lathes are very expensive compared to other engineering lathes, but hopefully I can one day afford one!)
I have both a Myford Super 7 (small bore) with quick change gearbox and a Dore Westbury Mark 2 milling machine. The perfect combination for a home workshop. 👏👏😀👍
Thank you very much for this wonderful video. Today I bought a super 7 and start to exmine. The sensitive works part was vey delicious. Thank you for sharing my dear friend.
I think the only thing I don’t like about this channel is I’ve already watched all your videos multiple times!!! You have fantastic content and are extremely knowledgeable, I hope you continue to make more fantastic content and as a hobby watchmaker I hope it’s horological when able!!! Cheers
Easily got my thumbs up! No stupid music and was very nicely detailed and displayed. Thanks for sharing
I was at a shop that used Myford cylindrical grinders from the late 70s for production, this was 2017 era. I was always impressed at their robustness, especially because the new ownership was not as dedicated to maintenance as the founder and they just kept holding tolerance, also they were grinding Zorconia with diamond resin bond wheels
Nice video! Love my Super 7
I have an old super 7 without an extra gearbox and it doesn't have all the extras that your Myford has, but it is a fantastic machine.
I bought it in 1983 and it can cut almost any wire pitch you need.
You give a wonderful explanation of this fantastic English product!
Too bad they are no longer made new.
Rare to see such a good specimen here in Australia, thanks for sharing.
Welch eine wunderschöne Maschine! Da lacht mein kleines "Maschinenherz" vor Freude
I love how compact these lathes are. Wish we had them here. All we have is either oversized or tiny cheap ones that are good for nothing other than light wood work.
excellent video. Beautifully paced.
Que ferramenta maravilhosa, acabamento e precisão de primeira linha, parabéns pelo torno 👏👏👏
Nice lathe, always liked Myford.
I weighed the choice 35 years as the price was comparable and went with the Austrian Maximat Super11. Can be lifted by two people, runs forward & reverse, greater swing not limited by length, longer bed, separate cross and travel drive from threading shaft, foot brake option, D1-4 quick change chuck head, 1.4" hole through spindle and induction hardened bed.
The Maximat FB2 is a nicer mill than the Dore also.
Another interesting informative video from the "Chronova stable"
Graham.
I love my Myford! Great video, give us more please.
Enjoyed this very much. It's a beautiful machine.
Great video. I have the Super 7B lathe & a Tom senior milling machine. I have done a lot of video's on the mods i have done to the lathe & the milling machine. They are both wonderful machines which ouse quality. I would not swap them for anything else.
Regards.
Steve.
Thanks for watching Steve. Great machine combo. The Tom Seniors are lovely mills.
Wow, what an piece of art!
Had a Super 7 with a Quick Change gearbox in South Africa. Bought it in 1972. Sold it to a Modelmaker in 2014.
Beautiful machine
I never even knew of these laiths.... they look like epic desktop setups
This is a really helpful overview, thank you! About 15 years ago I purchased my first lathe, a tiny and absolutely terrible thing from China. I knew nothing of lathes other than it was the tool that I needed and it's certainly done a ton of work on and off over the years. But, I sincerely and deeply absolutely hate it. Everything about it is simply terrible. Life has moved on and I now use it sparingly for work for making my own tooling (fly press) and machining work parts. I am soon to move workshop and would still like a lathe, something relatively small but good god better made and with more torque than a hamster. Learning that you can get these in metric or convert them yourself easily, and that they're also widely available (UK) and tons of parts, they seem absolutely perfect for my infrequent use. Going to keep researching but very helpful to see your video, the quality and flexibility of it all seems very appealing.
I love mine.
Cool lathe, reminds me of an Atlas Lathe made back in the 40s and 50s but better much better.
We had an Atlas lathe for a while. They are also nicely made machines. Thanks for watching.
@@chronovaengineering Really enjoyed the video, nice job.
Whilst doing an "Asset Recovery Sweep" in my neighborhood I happened upon a Craftsman 6" lathe complete with motor and tooling, research showed it was from the late 1950's and whoever had it loved it as it was in pristine shape, just sitting there roadside probably less than a day. My guess, based on how life is here in Florida, was that it was a casualty of a home cleanout, assuming the original owner had passed, and the family got tired of shoving the thing out of the way. I gave it to my pest control guy, a very nice young family man that always drooled over my PM 1127 lathe who wouldn't even be able to afford the Q.C. tool system I have upon it and so I hope the guy gets the bug to turn some metal, of which I gave him bits and bobs to start learning with from my home foundry.
It's a work of art
please expand on the detail of converting the imperial gearbox to a metric. I have one on my ML7 but cannot figure the conversion.
There are two ways of doing it. 1) The metric conversion kit or 2) just swap the gear on the tumbler (i.e. the brass gear at 00:17). The original gear plus a 25T, 33T and a 34T covers you for all likely pitches in imperial or metric. The 33T and 34T are non-standard though. They sometimes come up on eBay, or you can make them. We will discuss exactly how this works in a future video.
All the bells? Check!
All the whistles? Check!
Spin it!
Hi, I have just recently bought a myford ml7 and it isn't cutting true. It runs material off one side more than the other, it seems as if its buckled so to speak. Do you think its possible the spindle end could be damaged? The spindle and bearings all seem tight. I can't feel play anywhere. Any help appreciated. Many thanks
Look in the Myford handbook, the section on levelling and set up. The ML7 series lathes are designed in such a way that the bed can be twisted to achieve parallel turning. It is a relatively simple process, but needs following in a logical sequence. This is likely to be your problem and one that is easy to solve.
@@simonbirt6121 Thats crazy. It looks like a totally solid bed. Its just bolted down to the stand it came with. I will take a look, thanks. How do I oil the nipples, is there a special tool, they look like grease nipples to me. Thanks
@@Supercarlsunday They are oil nipples, you need an oil gun. There is loads of information about Myford lathes on here. Re the bed twist, you should have jacking screws to induce the required twist.
@@simonbirt6121 O.K thank you. New to it, its a beautiful piece of equipment, my great uncle had one, he used to build scale remote controlled aircraft and boats.
Did you make that press'n'lube grease gun or was that something you bought? Every one I've come across has been garbage, but it looks like it might be a good one.
I don’t remember exactly but I think it came from Lidl. Sorry I can’t be more specific!
@@chronovaengineeringand you like it?
How did you fix the aluminum shelf to the gearbox as part of your depth stop setup? I'd like to make the same for mine.
Just double sided sticky tape at the moment. It’s surprisingly solid and accurate like this. In the future we will probably drill and tap the gearbox or use epoxy resin.
I have a question, I’m looking at getting one of these as my first lathe and would like to know if you could use 321 stainless on it?
Thanks
Unfortunately I can't say with certainty that it will work well for your application, but I have machined tougher alloys than 321 successfully on the Myford. Ultimately, it depends on your tooling, the typical size of your workpieces and how quickly you need to rough-out. For production work a heavier lathe will remove material more quickly but if you are using this for one-offs and small components (typically less than 30 mm diameter), then the Myford is a good choice and will have no problem machining 321. It's probably worth investing in some good carbide tooling for 321 though because of the hard inclusions - this goes for any lathe. Hope that helps!
@@chronovaengineering thank you for responding. It’s only going to be for one off stuff, hobby pieces. Nothing major.
Tight gibs, respectable carbide tools (set at an accurate center height, of course), good 'ol black cutting oil with a lil added sulfur (try Hubbers), determination, & patience could just about cut anything you could throw at a machine like this or a Hardinge HLV. Just found this channel. I love it already. I've got 25+ yrs as a journeyman Tool & Die Maker/Precision Machinist so I very much appreciate & understand just how well skilled you are. I learned everything on manual machines before learning CNC. My manual machining & 1 off experiences & everything that comes along with it (so much if it I see here), is truly what made me what I am today. Eventually it transforms from metalworking into a form of sculpture. It's not just a trade or hobby, it's art & you are very much an artist at what you're doing here. Bravo, sir 👏
so I am the lucky next owner of not one but two Myford 7s both need work, one was dropped and the casting that held the motor on broke, the other has the coveted quick change box a feature that I never knew was 'not standard' on them, I will lovingly restore them both then pass one on to a new friend that is in need of a lathe(it will keep him from those super cheap Chinese lathes)
I'm thinking about getting yet another lathe. My home business days are over (I hope), and I'm thinking of downsizing my shop. Right now, I have an old Logan 14 I wouldn't mind passing on - it's a big friendly dog of a lathe but bigger than I need - it's maxes out at 800RPM so it's not good for small parts.
Choice in new small lathes is more limited than I've ever seen. I simply will not buy a new Chinese lathe, been there done that. All of the Taiwan lathes are bigger than I need. I used a Hardinge HLV in my main precision optics job for 30 years, great lathe, just don't want one in my shop. That pretty much leaves Myford and Wabeco. Wabeco lathes are very expensive in the US, some 2X England and Europe. Why, I don't know. It appears a new Myford Big Bore would run me about $13,000 total to get it here. Not counting the additional tools I'd probably buy. I've no hope of getting a return on investment, I just want a nice lathe machine for my hobby craft.
The Wabeco lathes seem to be very nice, just more of a black box item than the Myford's. And not as versatile for sure. And kind of uninspired appearance. I do live not too far from the Morgan Hills USA distributor, so I could probably arrange a visit. If I could find a Wade 8A that isn't clapped out, I'd be happy - Wade only made 1000 of these excellent lathes. Weiler lathes are exceedingly rare over here, I've only seen two for sale in the 5 years I've watched for them. Both were very used looking. For a while I thought about making a trip to Germany to run one down to import. That's not going to happen now I think. I owned an Emco Super 11 for a while, not my first choice but I would own one again. These in good condition are rare too. The smaller Emco models are not interesting.
I'm an old guy, "cashed up" as you folks say. The cost is incidental, but I'm wondering if Myford is holding true to their legacy. For all the acquisition work, and going on faith, I'd really want the lathe to be pleasing. I would be interested in your opinion on this.
I like English machines. I wish Britain to make CNC machine tools as soon as possible.
Lovely machines there. Did you scrape them yourself (The decorative scrapes on surfaces) Love that look.
What type of bore guage was that @ 5.35
That's a Mitutoyo 3-point bore micrometer. They are much more accurate than a dial gauge or telescopic gauge.
@@chronovaengineering thanks
@@chronovaengineering A three point bore guage can't measure ovality. A telescopic guage can.
The motor isn't made to be turned on and of frequently? I studied to be an industrial electrician and I can with confidence say that that's a myth. An electric AC motor only has one moving part and no risk for sparking. If its a DC motor it's about how long it's on not how many times you turn it on.
My super7 looks quite different to this one in the video. Mine is from 1955. So more like a rarity
👍👍😎👍👍
Sim Green
Eure Filme sind interessant das Problem ist ich kann kein Englisch könnt ihr das auch in Deutsch übersetzen das wäre super danke im voraus
Hai sir hi like tow Leath Mechine so like mechine so good menyfeckchare so like so other contrary somach purfected in India westh in other contrary good sir Happy
Who is "We" ? The Royal "We" or do you have an invisible friend ?
These Myford Lathes are a big pile of expensive junk! One can buy a good used Hardinge HLV for almost the same money an have a lathe is vastly superior in every detail. Please people don’t fall in the Myford trap. They are rubbish
In other words, "STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE!!!!!!"
If you hate Myford lathes so much, then why did you watch the video and make a comment on it? I too can see a lot of problems with a Hardinge HLV from where I stand.
You play with your toys, we'll play with ours.
I hate to see people waste their money! I worked for a company that paid big money for 3 of these Super 7’s. The salesmen did a wonderful job convincing the company owner these Super 7’s were toolroom lathes 😅. These Super 7s are not even good hobby lathes. BTY as long as follow the rules post what I want on here! I got some inconel parts to machine so how about you giving it go with your Super 7. I bet can’t hold the tolerance an finish requirements let alone do them in a profitable time frame!!!
@@potlimit2002 I think a talented machinist can do as well with any decent lathe. My motto is know your tools, and no I don't own a Myford, I own an Austrian Maximat Super11.
HLV or HLV-H?