The Myford Super 7 Lathe: An Introduction

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.
About Chronova Engineering Ltd:
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We're a small team of scientists and engineers who love making cool things! If you'd like to see what else we get up to, please subscribe to our channel and visit our other sites: linktr.ee/chronovaengineering

[@nsrstevenson]

The elite school of British Engineering, Hats Off

[@AdeSwash]

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

[@CameronMcCreary]

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.

[@potlimit2002]

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.

[@steveb1739]

Had a Super 7 with a Quick Change gearbox in South Africa. Bought it in 1972. Sold it to a Modelmaker in 2014.

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

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. 👏👏😀👍

[@johncrisman576]

Nice video and well received. Being in the states we hear a lot about Myford lathes. I have never seen one demonstrated. Thank you.

[@davedunn4285]

I only recently in the last few years purchased a second hand super seven and love learning new helpful hints and tips

[@markfryer9880]

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

[@Gearz-365]

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!)

[@heinpereboom5521]

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.

[@byOldHand]

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.

[@shanemeyer9224]

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

[@tommlinger3234]

Wow, what an piece of art!

[@norrismcsquirter9874]

I love my Myford! Great video, give us more please.

[@HM-Projects]

Rare to see such a good specimen here in Australia, thanks for sharing.

[@mosfet500]

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.

[@headstocktailstock]

Another interesting informative video from the "Chronova stable" Graham.

[@mrcpu9999]

Enjoyed this very much. It's a beautiful machine.

[@howtorepairpendulumclocks]

excellent video. Beautifully paced.

[@larry3064]

Beautiful machine

[@snaplash]

Beautiful lathe. Makes my beat up ML-7 (In the US) look like a boat anchor.

[@bitrage.]

I never even knew of these laiths.... they look like epic desktop setups

[@Steviegtr52]

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.

[@chronovaengineering]

Thanks for watching Steve. Great machine combo. The Tom Seniors are lovely mills.

[@geoffankrett7012]

It's a work of art

[@bonesshed.]

I love mine.

[@centurydarkroom1812]

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.

[@chronovaengineering]

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.

[@tedjones450]

Cool lathe, reminds me of an Atlas Lathe made back in the 40s and 50s but better much better.

[@chronovaengineering]

We had an Atlas lathe for a while. They are also nicely made machines. Thanks for watching.

[@tedjones450]

@@chronovaengineering Really enjoyed the video, nice job.

[@BeachsideHank]

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.

[@philiprogers5772]

please expand on the detail of converting the imperial gearbox to a metric. I have one on my ML7 but cannot figure the conversion.

[@chronovaengineering]

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.

[@Tasarran]

All the bells? Check! All the whistles? Check! Spin it!

[@suicidebylifestyle9267]

I love your videos, only found you a couple days ago but your content reminds me SO MUCH of Click Spring, another limey horologist. As someone that's had a family member pulled into a lathe, and attended scenes where it's happened to people, please ditch the gloves.

[@TD5rage]

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

[@chronovaengineering]

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!

[@TD5rage]

@@chronovaengineering thank you for responding. It’s only going to be for one off stuff, hobby pieces. Nothing major.

[@scotttrout7323]

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 👏

[@cryoine7194]

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)

[@oohookoo]

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.

[@chronovaengineering]

I don’t remember exactly but I think it came from Lidl. Sorry I can’t be more specific!

[@oohookoo]

@@chronovaengineeringand you like it?

[@randydewees7338]

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.

[@joamonirl]

What type of bore guage was that @ 5.35

[@chronovaengineering]

That's a Mitutoyo 3-point bore micrometer. They are much more accurate than a dial gauge or telescopic gauge.

[@joamonirl]

@@chronovaengineering thanks

[@chrisford9045]

​@@chronovaengineering A three point bore guage can't measure ovality. A telescopic guage can.

[@joell439]

👍👍😎👍👍

[@jackwt7340]

I like English machines. I wish Britain to make CNC machine tools as soon as possible.

[@homeworkshopengineering]

Lovely machines there. Did you scrape them yourself (The decorative scrapes on surfaces) Love that look.

[@no_one2691]

My super7 looks quite different to this one in the video. Mine is from 1955. So more like a rarity

[@joachimsingh2929]

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.

[@balajit6933]

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

[@potlimit2002]

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

[@johnsmith-zs9jq]

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.

[@potlimit2002]

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!!!

[@mosfet500]

@@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.