Hi, my Super 7 is a similar vintage to yours around 1963.

I can confirm your rising blocks, my myford had the same as yours. I got fed up with trying to use shims between the top of the block and lathe feet when trying to level the lathe, In the end I converted the rising blocks to be a copy of the current ones.

The current rising blocks have an adjustable nut that is underneath the feet of the lathe instead of shims and screws into the top of the rising block. A stud is then fed through the bottom of the (now drilled out for clearance) modified rising block and straight through the clearance hole in the nut. One end of the stud is secured by a nut in the cabinet of the lathe, the other end a nut is fitted to the top of the lathe foot.

As I said the adjustable nuts that are screwed in or out of the rising block, impact on the underneath of the feet, raising or lowering the lathe as required.

Hope this makes sense. There was a thread about this some time ago.

Mine is also green, but it must have resprayed by the dealer I bought it from in 1984!, as far as I am aware the default colour during the era of “our” lathes was myford grey.

I have left it as is, it’s a lathe not a car, as long as it is installed correctly and is accurate enough then it’s ok for me!

Good luck with the lathe

I also have a set of raising blocks that only have the 5/16″ threads. Drill out and thread 5/8″ or 16mm for about 3/4″ or 20mm deep and then take suitable bolt shorten to 1″ or 25mm long and thin the head to 3/8″ or 10mm then drill 5/16 clearance hole through the middle. You now have the delux version. The colour was grey into the 70s. Good Luck. Noel.

On 15 January 2025 at 09:36 noel shelley Said:

Johns sketch is unlikely to work as the 5/16 clearance hole and the 7/16 thread will leave nothing to support the lathes weight. The original may have been 9/16″, but for simplicity 5/8″ or 16mm will work. There is no need for the recess for the jack screw head, it was not considered required on the original and would require a large drill or mill to make it. Noel.

Yes it will Noel,  the 7/16 nut is screwed into the riser block, the lathe foot sits on this, the stud passes through the bench/cabinet with a nut on the bottom then through the riser block, then the 7/16 nut and the lathe foot with a nut on the top to clamp.   The 7/16 nut is used as a jack to level the lathe foot and clamped with a nut on the top.

Danny,

1) Your S7 was made in September 1961 and would have been grey.

2) The fact that you still have the serial number on the back says it has never been reground so that’s a good indicator.

3) Your raising blocks did not originate from Myford. Various companies made the cheap version that you have but, as others have said, they can be made into the Myford pattern.

Dennis

Not a lot of metal twixt the core of 7/16 bsf (0.366″) and 5/16 clearance holes. I just used 2″sq bar and shims. It takes longer to set up, but not as long as the fancy scheme for adjustable blocks. There again my ML7 was on a substantial diy stand made from RHS, not a wooden bench, so only needed ‘levelling’ once.

Adjusting the level is easier, and can be as precise as you want, with riser blocks, or any sufficiently sturdy, screw adjuster.

(My larger, lathe, weighing 300 Kg, sits on six 1/2 UNF adjusters, but only two are adjusted to remove twist)

Shims will bring things “almost there”, but even with 0.0015″ shims there is likely to be a tiny error.

Howard

On 13 April 2025 at 11:01 Bootlegger Blacky Said:

Hi, there seems to be a lot of misleading articles about the correct RAL. or BS colours that Myford originally used on their lathes.

I have now resigned myself to restoring my Super 7 in their premium colour that is Aqua.blue. More aesthetically pleasing than dull old grey?

RAL. 5018.

 

That’s a matter of opinion

From memory John your right, 9/16″ and I think BSF I bought the taps and die to do this, but can’t find the roundtuit ! Yet. Noel.

Neat adaptation! Should do the job admirably. It looks like you have added a locking nut on the 16mm adjusting bolt, the original didn’t have any. The original also had an “O” ring around the mounting stud in the bottom of the casting as per John F’s drawing above. Was to seal the hole through the bench top and is only needed if flood coolant/cutting fluid is to be used.

John

As has been said, The lock nut is not really needed as the long through bolt holds everything together, in fact could make things difficult setting up. On the Myford version a shallow spot faced hole in the bottom face of about 5/8″ dia held an O ring ( about 2.5mm  section )to stop lubricant or suds leaking into the cabinet below.

For those with a flood suds pump and jack screws on the stand, setting the stand to a gentle slope to the left whilst the raising blocks set the lathe horizontal  allows the suds to flow back to the reservoir. A small magnet near the return will catch the small swarf.

Danny s pictures and the job give a good example of the task and a good choice of thread in this modern world. Noel.