This is a review of my Myford lathe which I bought second hand.

I am lucky enough to own the lathe that most model engineers aspire to. The Myford has a long pedigree and much has been written about them, so there is little I can add. Suffice it to say, the lathe is a joy to use and I have never regretted the considerable amount of money I spent on it.

The improvement in usability and quality over my Warco are significant, although at ten times the price from new, that is what you would expect. The good and bad points are shown below.

Good Points

Power cross feed, clutch, quick to change speed, quick change gearbox a real time saver, the tailstock does not foul the cross slide (see WMT300 review!), quality, accuracy.

Overall good quality and versatile

Pretty good value second hand. Not so good new for the amateur.

Bad Points

Small spindle bore.

Low centre height, the gap bed is only useful for very thin large diameter items, OK for locomotive wheels, less good for my large model car wheels.

Carriage clamp doesn’t, at least not very well.

If you have any mechanical sympathy at all, you will become paranoid about lubricating it. There are many, many oil points.

Genuine Myford accessories are not cheap.