ML7 lathe bed

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

I thought it was time I checked the wear on Mrs M turned 60 this year. She has been looked after no signs of abuse from former owners

Ive looked at vids on the subject but they seem to avoid. skirt around the basics

Short of taking the saddle off the old horsewoman, I am a little puzzled as to what is guiding the saddle, ie which 6 surfaces are the important ones

given that we have

outer vertical – OV

outer flat – OF

centre outer vertical – COV

centre inner vertical – CIV

inner flat – IF

inner vertical – IV

assume underside surfaces are for clamping only

We have the adjustable wearplate in front ofr the saddle, but which is the opposing vertical surface CIV or OV?

I assume the flat surfaces have no real effect other than to guide the tailstock and carry the weight of the saddle

So maybe the COV is an unused surface that could be the original datum?

Sounds too good to be true, but then a twisted bed will give you the tapers

Would some generous member pls shine upon this mystery

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

should I ruffle its feathers

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Brian

May I suggest that you search [both on the forum and on t'internet] for "wide guide" and "narrow guide" variants of the ML7

All very logical, but too complicated to describe in detail here.

MichaelG.

.

Hint: Use the search box that's roughly half-way-down the home page:

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 20/07/2021 16:07:06

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

thnx MG it seems other have been questing here some 4 years ago

interessting to note that beds were gang milled on 4 verticals at once on a horizontal m/c leaving a "rough" surface – which worked and bedded in quickly.

here a sketch of the ML7 bed for clarity. My naive query has opened up an ulcer it seems

So the question remains, if OV and IV are the guiding surfaces with the gib strip on IV, which of the remaining sheer faces CIV and COV could be used as a datum – assuming they are unused and so unworn?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

CIV and COV guide the tailstock and stop it twisting horizontally. Likely to be the least worn particularly towards the headstock as the tailstock seldom goes there

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

At 60 years old, she shouldl be narrow guide. In that case, the rear vertical is unused and can be used as a datum.

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

well these are interesting observations from JB and MR. this will need some practical tests with my dti

so by the narrow guide we mean CIV and IV with the back OV being unused

So if I changed the bearing from CIV to OV then I would have a brand new surface thats too good to be true?

as you can see i am very wary of being misled by choosing the wrong surfaces

I watched a vid of a naive machinist who bought a Harrison not realising it had a hard life as a production machine – he should have spotted the hint when it had been fitted with a QR collett handle back end of the headstock (used one of them)

the up shot when using a test bar was the saddle on traverse showed a 4 thou curved wear around the chuck end

getting that bed re-ground – £thousands inc handling so he is in deep ***************

So i wondered how bad was Mrs Myford?, but if I cant turn a short length 50mm to within 1/2 thou then that will restrict my designs and i better know now

With the miracle of DRO could the error be designed out – lets not go there

sometimes if you have to ask the question you dont need the answer

Edited By brian jones 11 on 20/07/2021 21:16:32

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

Found it – have a read of this more recent thread;

Evaluating Wear in an ML7

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

Oh wow thats blown me out of the water DII

 

Im on a narrow bed so I must get the articles 285,7,9

this ought tobe a sticky for every ML7 owner

 

thnx10^6

 

well thats going nowhere, you cant buy copies unless you sign up to a monthly subscription = ive had bad experiences with the {………………….} found it difficult to get unsubscribed and still took money from my account (i had a serious battle with the daily telegraph over their tricks, took me 6 months to finally get them off my back

 

Edited By brian jones 11 on 20/07/2021 22:16:33

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Posted by brian jones 11 on 20/07/2021 21:50:20:

…..you cant buy copies unless you sign up to a monthly subscription …..

Don't think so.

Rob

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

look GC flat contradiction thats not helpful, i only report my search experiences

if you have a better link to share pls oblige

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Well, " {………………….} " wasn't too informative either…

Black bar at the top of this page, right hand side where it says Back Issues. Follow that link. Find the issues you want, add them to your Cart, proceed to Checkout. Checkout as a Guest if you wish, or create an account. Pay using one of the methods available.

I'm out.

Rob

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

Well thats better GC I can work with that. In fact I had been there already – it seems MEW is selling off its pulp. so no issues for 2018 or 2019. The member had shown above a digital download he had made of specific articles. I followed this and found this dodgy subscription site I moaned about – so dead end so far.

as one door closes another slams in your face

btw

Well, " {………………….} " wasn't too informative either…

is an invitation for members to think of their own shopfloor descriptors. Monsignor MOD does not allow any toilet talk in his diocese. we have to keep the faith

PS

further digging has shown up Magzster offering on line access, once again its a subscription model wants your credit card up front (no Paypal – far easier to stop payments and reclaim false debits)

They promise the moon to stop auto debits in 24hrs but Ive been cheated before like this. It took 6 months to stop Daily Telegraph debiting my account which I had cancelled and for which i no longer had on line access. Its not the only example

but I shall persevere and see if this service has the back numbers i need

PPS

frustrating thing about Google is that it will dish up to you only those search results it decides you should see based on the profile it has on you and also paid sponsors, so Magzster didnt show up

I would ask if anyone else has used this subscription, but this probably is against state law

All in the pursuit of enlightenment (a reground ML7 bed £500 + carriage)

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

You'll probably get 'em on Ebay – here's an example

Ebay MEW #285

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

Posted by DiogenesII on 21/07/2021 06:29:29:

You'll probably get 'em on Ebay – here's an example

Ebay MEW #285

link doesnt work

try this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224541259661?hash=item3447b3b78d:ga0AAOSw6Ulg9s1x

Edited By brian jones 11 on 21/07/2021 06:42:52

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Online back issues – Pocketmags is the online viewer that MTM (publisher of MEW etc) use and digital back issues are available back to 2012 which I think should include Hoppers article. Click here

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by brian jones 11 on 21/07/2021 06:34:19:

Posted by DiogenesII on 21/07/2021 06:29:29:

You'll probably get 'em on Ebay – here's an example

Ebay MEW #285

link doesnt work

try this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224541259661?hash=item3447b3b78d:ga0AAOSw6Ulg9s1x

Edited By brian jones 11 on 21/07/2021 06:42:52

You are half way there, just copy the item code out of the url and paste that into the e-bay search box 224541259661

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

… or even just copy the first part of the URL that DiogenesII kindly posted.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224541259661

**LINK**

[ everything from the question-mark onwards is superfluous ]

MichaelG.

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

I have finally managed to dl copies of 285, 287,289 from pocketmag @£4.95 ea

fair enough no subscription needed after being pestered with this nuisance during my searches

I suggest MOD makes this a sticky for other seekers of the MEW truth

 

I found Mrs Myford's ser no tucked away behind her tail K21187 ca 1950-51 so she's ^&*&^ – you cant ask a lady her age straight 20" ML7 complete on its original solid steel bench. She's had the longer 5 slot cross slide fitted and a different topslide (to the CI one), otherwise all original Was £35 new bought 2nd hand 10 yeas ago from a grandad

I am now bringing her into C21 with a QC tool post and covid teeth (much against valid caveats). What surprised me is that suddenly I could slim down som 7/16 ht bolts for tee slot use and the carbide cut this steel with ease , I would never have considered that with HSS and resorted to the grindwheel

Its a narrow bed system so I will make some measurements and revert. More study is need from mags above to explain why a wide bed surface was also available? Suspect some manufacturing compromise when building down to a price

 

btw I came across this trove of Myford history (could this be placed in a library?)

http://www.lathes.co.uk/myford/

so much info i couldnt take it in

 

also it contain info on early Myford clones

 

 

Edited By brian jones 11 on 21/07/2021 18:30:54

[brian jones 11Participant @brianjones11]

Well stand back from success. I finally got my App Pocketmags to work properly WARNING do not try to use this on Firefox, there are several annoying bugs and the printout is unusable (some html5 issue?)

BUT use it on Chrome and its all sweetness and light and does its job well and NO SUBSCRIPTION just buy the back issues you need and they go straight into your library

I also give full marks to their help line who responded immediately to my FF problems but they really should warn users about FF then I wouldnt have wasted a day of frustration in a blind alley

Its a rare opportunity I get to wax lyrical but Ive spent a week trying to get to this space – YEEEHAAA

Now to study the mystery of the Myford saddle

[Author]

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