[Newbie] Which to buy?

The Super 7 will save you $$$ in tooling costs. Bernerd chucks will last forever if maintained.
 
What else have you checked out? One thing about that nice sounding Myford is that as has been noted they have been around a long time, a lot of parts are interchangeable and there is probably more information about them and more accessories have been made for them than any other lathe ever built. If coming from a "Myford fanatic" it is probably in very good order.
Model Engineer & Model Engineers Workshop have a lot of articles on them and making accessories: http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/
A look at Harold Hall's site may be of interest as he has been a 'Myford Man' since the year dot it seems: http://www.homews.co.uk/index.html
 
Personally Ive never had a need for a face plate for my emco 8. It came with 3,4 jaw and steadies. It came with a mill attachment. Not much can go wrong with an emco and you can make most things that break. Its superbly made. If it doesnt have the gears I wouldnt bother with it.
Its no big deal changing gears.Its no big deal not having a threading dial either.
 
if the price is no object,
get the super 7.

the emco's are well made machines too, but the lack of accessories may be a hindrance lather on.
it may cost you more to get a 4J chuck, threading gears, thread dial, and bits and pieces than it may be worth
 
Alright so overall seems like recommendation tends towards the myford. Then is it worth getting the gearbox? I have found metric change gears, but have heard that cutting metric with a gearbox is more trouble than simply changing the change gears?
 
You do realize that there are other lathes out there, right? Emco and Myford have the romance of their brand names attached to them but there are newer lathes that are just as capable, come fully tooled and do not have decades of wear and tear. You have to be careful with European vintage lathes - parts can be hard to source and will therefore be expensive. Myford still makes parts but their cost will be higher to buy and ship. Just saying.
 
I saw a Colchester student, but can't carry that downstairs. I have a hard length limit of 48" so that severely limits. Getting a new china made one is possible, but I would lose on the material size capability. From what I have seen.
 
I would choose an emco any day over any chinese lathe of similer size available on our shores. It may be different in Canada.But saying that I have the emco v13 and its hard to use the little emco 8 after using the bigger lathe.
 
If you can get the help, the Colchester Student will give you a lifetime of service...

I lean toward 'bigger, heavier, more rigid school... (at least I know I'm biased!)
 
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