Not forced to be... The size and class of myfords mean they tend to have lived their lives in some potterers shed making steam engine bits or the like, rather than flogged to death making things in their earlier life...
Plus people in sheds tend to love and care for their things with the same sort of skill that they use it, so its probably going to have seen a lot of love over the years...
Get a bit bigger into boxford or harrison class, and the lathes are often shagged mind
Best thing is to inspect it in person, read for rollies dad's alignment method, get a test bar and a dti and use it to measure parallellism and bed wear. If its not too bad but showing some you can negotiate on that too...
http://www.neme-s.org/Rollie's_Dad's_Method.pdf
Plus people in sheds tend to love and care for their things with the same sort of skill that they use it, so its probably going to have seen a lot of love over the years...
Get a bit bigger into boxford or harrison class, and the lathes are often shagged mind
Best thing is to inspect it in person, read for rollies dad's alignment method, get a test bar and a dti and use it to measure parallellism and bed wear. If its not too bad but showing some you can negotiate on that too...
http://www.neme-s.org/Rollie's_Dad's_Method.pdf