lathes

[ste bre]

hi guy which would you have     myford super 7   or colchester chipmaster ?   

[AdeV]

Colchester Chipmaster....



....but then I have 3-phase, lots of space, and a hankering after big toys.

I could be wrong, but IIRC the Chipmaster is at least twice the size of the Myford...

Then you've got to take into account the wear: Which machine's done the most work, and is the most worn? What about tooling? The one with the most tooling for the money is probably a no-brainer...

But, ultimately, it has to be your call. www.lathes.co.uk is an excellent site to begin your research on; look for the lathe with the fewest drawbacks & the best set of features that you'll use - and buy that one. Don't forget to take into account transport costs; a Chipmaster is going to cost a LOT more than a Myford to move around... it weighs over 1/2 tonne before you add tooling...

[Jonny]

Having owned a modded ML7 i would say go for the Chippy if in good nick.
Downsides are probably 3 ph and lifting gear needed to get it home and in. ML7 with proper cabinet and all extras you will get in a Fiesta.

Bear that in mind when taking a cut, the beds dont flex neither would the head and bearings if ok of course
Lastly although a bit bigger cr height you put put some sort of a cut on, the Myford you wont and takes an eternity to do anything. Give you some idea an Harrison 140 (11") a certain job takes 13 mins on an ML7 its 3 1/2hrs with a 1hp motor normally 1/3hp.

[Jasonb]

Chipmaster for me too, but don't rule out the similar sized Colchester Bantum, if you are running it of a inverter you would get the variable speed like the chipmaster anyway. Too bad you missed the one I pointed out to you the other day it sounded a good buy and was 240v.

Jason

PS you won't get that winding drum gear in a chipmaster

[Jonny]

Theres a few Harrison models over the years that were single phase 240V, i have one but not looking to sell for two months.
Harrisons and Colchesters made by same group and share some of the parts with each other, however new Harrisons were vastly dearer than Colchester.

Theres the M250 as well obtainable 240V.
DSG good too if you dont mind ugly shaping.
Various Boxfords as well, if newbie perhaps best option you wont stop a good machine.

Depends what you want to be able to do.
Large machine can do small stuff, small machine you cant do large or at best run out of grunt especially on the asian machines.