Myford Super 7 questions

[davp1971Participant @davp1971]

A few months ago I bought a Myford super 7 in the Netherlands. a metric. I have a few questions here for the experts. the serial number is on the back SK50519. As far as can be found in the lists, it dates from approximately 1961. the lathe has a green color. Also the base cabinet that was there. Normally the green color was from the 70’s (1977 i found now). I had to do a repair on a part and there is a gray layer under the green color.

Does anyone know if some Myford lathes for certain departments were already painted green at that time? How could I tell if this myford has already been overhauled?

The next question is about the raising blocks. Normally there should be an adjustment screw here. I thought a 9/16 bsf. but in my blocks there is only a 5/16 bsw at the top (also on the bottom).

[derek hall 1Participant @derekhall1]

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

[davp1971Participant @davp1971]

Hello, thanks for the answer. So I’m not the only one with a pre-70’s lathe painted green. I leave mine in green too. The question about the raising blocks was a bit unclear but you knew what I meant. These blocks aren’t for sale anywhere, only the ones with the special nuts in them for leveling. At first I thought I would work with shims, but going to try to make a leveling system with M16 bolts. Really a nice forum with a lot of information and willing people. Thank you

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

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.

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Hi, I think there are two types of riser blocks, one with levelling adjustment and one without — not sure why but it maybe the fixed ones are for use with the industrial cabinet and the other adjustable ones for bench to other mounting ?

However I made a “from memory” sketch of the mounting block hole/stud/adjuster arrangement, I’m not certain of the adjuster nut OD thread at 7/16″ BSF it may be 1/2″ BSF ?  I don’t want to disturb my lathe !

Rooting around I also came upon this which might be of help https://misterlinnsworkshop.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/mounting-mounting-blocks/?

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