Hi,
Way back in March I was still looking forward to restoring both these Myford lathes and was very keen to do so. Funds were not a problem in fact a lot of money has been spent on the bed regrinds and mandrel etc; I also had the confidence to do the job. However time passed quickly by and other more pressing jobs needed doing as the warm weather arrived.
I've installed flood defences and converted my electronics workshop to woodworking; I blew up my Christmas present kindly bought for me by Bron this being the Clarke lathe which is now converted to a more powerful servo motor; I converted my Jubilee wood-turning lathe to 3 phase by installing a brand new VFD; I had to learn how to hook up remote controls and I also designed and made a new metal enclosure in order to protect the VFD from dust.
All during this time the Myford's have been sitting on the benches laughing at me and tormenting me to restore them? Every time I've tried to resume work on them something has cropped up to drag me away; I did manage to paint one of the head-stocks but by now I was losing interest and rather than these restorations being something I looked forward to they were now turning into a chore and I simply know that things won't change for a long while yet.
With winter fast approaching; possibly in the next couple of weeks if Colin is correct I wanted to prepare for the worst; I'm forever doing my projects in dire conditions usually during midst winter working in a black hole and feeling very uncomfortable. This coming winter is going to be completely different for me because I plan to spend time in my newly refurbished workshop in comfort. Better lighting; a nice wood turning lathe on variable speed with lots of power; a big central heating radiator and favourite 60's songs through a mini Hi-Fi system.
I've stocked up with a good supply of wood-turning blanks and I plan to buy a decent wood-turning chuck possibly a "Patriot" as kindly suggested by David.
I'm fully retired but am unable to do everything I would wish to do when it comes to projects I want to do rather than jobs I have to do. I'm not complaining in fact far from it because I'll never drop dead through boredom.
Now where does it leave me with these two desirable Myford lathes; the answer is that I've now sold them. They are currently running on auction through eBay and when I just checked had reached a huge sum of £10.50? I am truly saddened in selling these lathes and I'm not one for walking away from a nice project but enough is enough after I gave this a great deal of thought. Once the lathes have gone I can then concentrate on sorting the garage out as I have done with the workshop.
Next year Bron and I are planning on buying a bigger car to replace our small Aygo. The Aygo has been and still is a lovely little car but I need something bigger to transport my assorted materials and machinery around in; hurting my back knocking me up for three days during the flood defences job whilst I lifted a bag of aggregate out of the Aygo confirmed the Aygo had to go. One thing leads to another so now I need to make more space in the garage for the new bigger car. Jobs are never ending and certainly never get smaller.
Last weekend I assembled the Myford's on the benches in kit form and took a lot of pictures for inclusion on eBay; I was torn between keeping or selling the lathes and I'm still unsure whether I've made the correct decision but now I can't change my mind so hopefully it will all work out for the best. I still own three lathes and will always own lathes.
Over the years I've fully restored many machines enjoying every one of them but I think I'm changing in attitude; I know I can restore machines so do I need to keep proving this to myself? Now I'm thinking on the lines of designing and making from new; possibly furniture as shown in another thread covering my computer desk or as planned for winter in wood-turning projects; Over twenty years ago I turned two small lidded wooden boxes which gave me a lot of pleasure; these two boxes were nothing special but at that time meant a lot to me and ever since then I've wanted to see what I could turn especially wooden boxes with threaded lids? I've got a comprehensive set of wood thread chasers and these like the Myford's have waited patiently for my attention.
Letting the Myford's go will allow me to focus on other projects and hopefully I will be able to show my progress. Many people find a hobby which suits them for life but I like to try different things incorporating the skills I learn from other hobbies whilst always learning something new; who knows; in a year or two I might swing around and be posting a story of a machine restoration?
Yes I feel very sad in parting with the Myford's and to explain just how keen I was to obtain the first Myford through eBay I slapped £1,000 top bid on it so knew I would end up buying it; fortunately the final bid ended lower than this. The money isn't important to me because had I plenty of space I would have retained both lathes and stored them until I could settle down and work on them; I've done some good work on Myford #1 even whilst it had a broken head-stock main bearing casting.
The pictures show some of the wood turning blanks and the Myford's as they currently are.
If I had the space I wouldn't hesitate in buying another Colchester. Thank you for following this story and for your replies.
Bron knew where the two little turned boxes were so I can add a couple of pictures; these are the only two boxes I've ever turned and even after so many years they go "pop" when the lid is removed. I'm sure I can improve on them with practice but I was pleased with the results for my first attempt. I've just come out of the workshop with a problem to solve; I tried to mount a holly log between centers on the Jubilee but found the tail-stock live center wasn't seating correctly in the #1 Morse taper socket; I covered the live center taper with a black marker pen and inserted it twisting it to identify where the problem lay; sure enough when removed it had a bright ring around it's middle; I need to find out if the problem rests with the live center or the tail stock socket? It's pouring with rain so I'm not getting a soaking to go into the garage to play around. My DML 24" has a #1 Morse taper tail stock so I can quickly test if the center fits this OK and if it does then the Jubilee socket needs sorting out; if it doesn't then the center is at fault.
Kind regards, Col.
Way back in March I was still looking forward to restoring both these Myford lathes and was very keen to do so. Funds were not a problem in fact a lot of money has been spent on the bed regrinds and mandrel etc; I also had the confidence to do the job. However time passed quickly by and other more pressing jobs needed doing as the warm weather arrived.
I've installed flood defences and converted my electronics workshop to woodworking; I blew up my Christmas present kindly bought for me by Bron this being the Clarke lathe which is now converted to a more powerful servo motor; I converted my Jubilee wood-turning lathe to 3 phase by installing a brand new VFD; I had to learn how to hook up remote controls and I also designed and made a new metal enclosure in order to protect the VFD from dust.
All during this time the Myford's have been sitting on the benches laughing at me and tormenting me to restore them? Every time I've tried to resume work on them something has cropped up to drag me away; I did manage to paint one of the head-stocks but by now I was losing interest and rather than these restorations being something I looked forward to they were now turning into a chore and I simply know that things won't change for a long while yet.
With winter fast approaching; possibly in the next couple of weeks if Colin is correct I wanted to prepare for the worst; I'm forever doing my projects in dire conditions usually during midst winter working in a black hole and feeling very uncomfortable. This coming winter is going to be completely different for me because I plan to spend time in my newly refurbished workshop in comfort. Better lighting; a nice wood turning lathe on variable speed with lots of power; a big central heating radiator and favourite 60's songs through a mini Hi-Fi system.
I've stocked up with a good supply of wood-turning blanks and I plan to buy a decent wood-turning chuck possibly a "Patriot" as kindly suggested by David.
I'm fully retired but am unable to do everything I would wish to do when it comes to projects I want to do rather than jobs I have to do. I'm not complaining in fact far from it because I'll never drop dead through boredom.
Now where does it leave me with these two desirable Myford lathes; the answer is that I've now sold them. They are currently running on auction through eBay and when I just checked had reached a huge sum of £10.50? I am truly saddened in selling these lathes and I'm not one for walking away from a nice project but enough is enough after I gave this a great deal of thought. Once the lathes have gone I can then concentrate on sorting the garage out as I have done with the workshop.
Next year Bron and I are planning on buying a bigger car to replace our small Aygo. The Aygo has been and still is a lovely little car but I need something bigger to transport my assorted materials and machinery around in; hurting my back knocking me up for three days during the flood defences job whilst I lifted a bag of aggregate out of the Aygo confirmed the Aygo had to go. One thing leads to another so now I need to make more space in the garage for the new bigger car. Jobs are never ending and certainly never get smaller.
Last weekend I assembled the Myford's on the benches in kit form and took a lot of pictures for inclusion on eBay; I was torn between keeping or selling the lathes and I'm still unsure whether I've made the correct decision but now I can't change my mind so hopefully it will all work out for the best. I still own three lathes and will always own lathes.
Over the years I've fully restored many machines enjoying every one of them but I think I'm changing in attitude; I know I can restore machines so do I need to keep proving this to myself? Now I'm thinking on the lines of designing and making from new; possibly furniture as shown in another thread covering my computer desk or as planned for winter in wood-turning projects; Over twenty years ago I turned two small lidded wooden boxes which gave me a lot of pleasure; these two boxes were nothing special but at that time meant a lot to me and ever since then I've wanted to see what I could turn especially wooden boxes with threaded lids? I've got a comprehensive set of wood thread chasers and these like the Myford's have waited patiently for my attention.
Letting the Myford's go will allow me to focus on other projects and hopefully I will be able to show my progress. Many people find a hobby which suits them for life but I like to try different things incorporating the skills I learn from other hobbies whilst always learning something new; who knows; in a year or two I might swing around and be posting a story of a machine restoration?
Yes I feel very sad in parting with the Myford's and to explain just how keen I was to obtain the first Myford through eBay I slapped £1,000 top bid on it so knew I would end up buying it; fortunately the final bid ended lower than this. The money isn't important to me because had I plenty of space I would have retained both lathes and stored them until I could settle down and work on them; I've done some good work on Myford #1 even whilst it had a broken head-stock main bearing casting.
The pictures show some of the wood turning blanks and the Myford's as they currently are.
If I had the space I wouldn't hesitate in buying another Colchester. Thank you for following this story and for your replies.
Bron knew where the two little turned boxes were so I can add a couple of pictures; these are the only two boxes I've ever turned and even after so many years they go "pop" when the lid is removed. I'm sure I can improve on them with practice but I was pleased with the results for my first attempt. I've just come out of the workshop with a problem to solve; I tried to mount a holly log between centers on the Jubilee but found the tail-stock live center wasn't seating correctly in the #1 Morse taper socket; I covered the live center taper with a black marker pen and inserted it twisting it to identify where the problem lay; sure enough when removed it had a bright ring around it's middle; I need to find out if the problem rests with the live center or the tail stock socket? It's pouring with rain so I'm not getting a soaking to go into the garage to play around. My DML 24" has a #1 Morse taper tail stock so I can quickly test if the center fits this OK and if it does then the Jubilee socket needs sorting out; if it doesn't then the center is at fault.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
