Rodney VM-D vertical milling attachment for a Super-7

[flatlineParticipant @flatline]

Good Evening,

I am a complete newbie, and back in May bought a 1955 Myford Super-7B which I am really enjoying learning to use.

I would like to expand its (and mine) capabilities, I am considering a Rodney VM-D vertical milling attachment, but have read elsewhere that the ‘D’ is in some ways actually a step down from the earlier versions….

I am clueless in this respect; can those more learned please advise if the VM-D is a worthwhile addition, or is there a better route to go down??

I am limited in terms of space, and also funds – but appreciate that this isn’t necessarily a valid reason for not creating ‘space & funds’ if there is a more viable alternative… many thanks in advance 🙂

 

 

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Might be better to go the Amolco route as its self drive leaving you able to mill turned jobs while still in the chuck

[Phil BoylandParticipant @philboyland37326]

If you’re a newbie to machining I’d suggest using a vertical slide with cutter in the chuck/collets for a wee while and get some experience first. If you take light cuts (10 thou on steel etc) you can get some surprisingly good results. Cost effective way to dip your toes!

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

My experience is milling on a lathe is grossly inferior to a real milling machine.  Very useful before milling machines became available to hobbyists, much less so today.   Consider this picture from the wonderful lathes.co.uk.

• The Rodney has to be lifted on and off the bed
• Rigidity is compromised because the accessory attaches to the lathes narrow bed ways, never designed to take milling forces.  The Rodney’s height doesn’t help, and the structure is flimsy compared with a real mill – even a small one.
• The size of the table and short quill movement severely limit the size of work that can be tackled.  A nasty non-obvious consequence is that the tiny workspace makes work-holding much harder.  Easy jobs become tricky simply because there’s no room for a couple of clamps.

Combination machines are better – bit more space,  but not recommended unless the owner doesn’t have space for separates.

My advice, save up for a real mill and make space for it.  Not that the alternatives are hopeless, lots of good work done on them in the past, but they are fiddly time-wasters.

Dave

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Notice that old advertising photograph is so staged there is not only nary a scrap of swarf or oil anywhere, but the operator has not plugged or covered the top-slide hole to keep the chips out!

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

If you were able to find an Amolco I still don’t think it would be recommended even compared to say an X1 mill, and might not be much cheaper.  I used to have a complete Amolco mill and it was the head and column that let it down.  Not very rigid, limited height, not very good speed range.

[Dave WoottonParticipant @davewootton]

I have no direct experience of either the Amolco or Rodney attachments, but years ago when I was struggling to build a Simplex on my ML7 and vertical slide in a tiny shed, a fellow club member had a Rodney attachment for sale. I was very keen to buy it but the chap selling it said “it’s a pain in the a**e mate, you are better of with a vertical slide until you can get a mill, I wouldn’t like to sell it to anyone in your situation” which is obviously why he was selling it to buy a mill. Not my words or experience but pretty much from the horses mouth. I gather from what he said that he found it lacked rigidity, was awkward to use, and as he was an older gentleman was difficult for him to lift on to the lathe. I believe he traded it in with Warco against one of the Emco copies they sold at the time which he happily used for years.

I carried on with my vertical slide for a bit longer!

[Nigel Graham 2]

On Nigel Graham 2 Said:

Notice that old advertising photograph is so staged there is not only nary a scrap of swarf or oil anywhere, but the operator has not plugged or covered the top-slide hole to keep the chips out!

And no safety glasses!!!

Tony

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

The Amolco being self powered was better than the Rodney etc. To compare an attachment to a stand alone mill is hardly fair. Having used an Amolco I found it an easier and workable option that could be left fitted to the end of the Myford bed only needing the tailstock to be removed . The Amolco attachment was also made as a stand alone unit with it’s own XY table. Horses for courses ? Noel.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

All of the above critical comments are valid. I have a smaller version of the Rodney for an ML10. I find it useful for small jobs and use it when my mill is otherwise occupied. I prefer it to my vertical slide, which again gets used on the odd occasion. The small Rodney set up is a bit more rigid than the slide.

If I were in your shoes, I would go for the cheapest option (vertical slide) and save for a mill.

Andrew.

[flatline]

On 10 September 2024 at 19:50 flatline Said:

[…] is there a better route to go down??

 

Some excellent advice and opinion has been given already … but let me add that purchase, and thorough reading, of “Milling in the Lathe” would tell you a lot.

It’s been out of print for ages, but is much more informative than anything recent.

MichaelG.

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Prices vary widely !!

But this is the book to which I refer:

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I see there is an “Amolco milling machine” on eBay at the moment, which is actually an Amolco column married to a Dore-Westbury table.

[Martin of WickParticipant @martinofwick]

Rodney/Amolco etc. meh! Unless you are getting it for free or a peppercorn, I wouldn’t bother – all comments above are valid. Flimsy, inconvenient and relics of a bygone era, often peddled at ludicrously high prices well beyond their actual utility value.

Even the most modest small footprint oriental mill, belt drive Seig SX1 size will be miles better. The older gear head ones can be had s/h for £150 to £300 but need care due to use of plastic gears. If you are prepared to be patient and look around you could do even better

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

+1 on try a vertical slide. A lot can be done with them for smaller jobs. Get the fixed slide, not the double swivel one, which is too flexible and chattery and you never need the two-swivel feature unless doing exotica like cutting helical gears etc. The small Myford vice to fit it is very useful too, as is a box of T bolts and clamps and bits of flat bar with holes drilled in.

A leadscrew graduated handwheel is essential for use with it, as are locks on the cross slide, carriage and vertical slide. And graduated dials for the cross slide and vertical slide will save much tearing  of hair.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

By the time you have bought a vert slide, handwheels, etc that Hopper mentions you are half way to the cost of a small mill. Rodney’s seem to be going for £850 and you would still want the handweels etc on top of that. An  SX2PG size machine can be had for around £800 and will offer better capacity and be a lot easier to use and if you get rid of a bench drill you will have some extra space.

I started with a rear mounted drill/mill attachment on the U3 then adapted that to fit my larger Emcomat as well as buying a Myford Vertical slide. They did the Minnie in my Avitar but having now got a mill or three would not want to go back so if you can find the space and must already have the funds I would suggest a dedicated benchtop mill.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

I bought a vertical slide and vice used on eBay UK for 70 quid. Graduated handwheel cost a few quid. Made my own resettable dials. I buy cheap milling cutters off Aliexpress  for a quid or two each and toss them when blunt. And I hold them in the lathe’s regular three jaw chuck. Investment was minimal.

The one thing I dont like about it is I get a crick in my neck from working “sideways” on the vertical slide instead of a horizontal table!

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

More on the Amolco and Rodney: both have a Myford-style spindle nose because they were intended as lathe accessories.  To maximise daylight under the spindle you ideally need to use Myford pattern collets or MT2 single tool holders with grub screw.  Those collets are like hen’s teeth and cost a bomb, and from what I gather don’t hold milling cutters very tightly.  If recall correctly, you can’t use a 3/8 drawbar in the Amolco because the ‘ole is too small, OK for metric finger collets but most imperial ones have a 3/8BS thread.  If you put an MT2 ER collet chuck in the spindle there’s not much daylight left.

[flatlineParticipant @flatline]

Many thanks for all the valuable input from the forum members here.

When I bought my Super-7 it (she??) came with a host of tooling, including two vertical milling slides, one fixed & one we that rotates. I have been using them as I’ve been working on my next Hemingway kit – the offset-centre for machining tapers.

Having read all the advice I shall definitely be saving up for a second-hand bench-top mill, as suggested it will free up a little space because it means I can get rid of my pillar drill – so a win-win situation.

There are a couple of old-school refurbished machines around & I’ll be aiming to get one already fitted with a DRO.

Many thanks again for all the advice 😎🇬🇧👍

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

As well as the book recommended by Jason, there is another one by Tubal Cain  with a similar title. I find it every bit as good as the Westbury volume and is cheap new.

Andrew.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Why would you dispose of a pillar drill???

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

Why would you dispose of a pillar drill???

To make room for the milling machine

MichaelG.

[flatlineParticipant @flatline]

I have Tubal Cain’s book, very useful 😎🇬🇧👍

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Having tried a Vertical Slide, and then a Rodney attachmenmt on my (Then) Ml7, i bought a Mill/Drill (Warco Economy – RF25) because neither was rigid enough in my view.

The RF25 was the largest that would fit into the workshop, at the time.

Recently, for another job, which could only be done in the lathe with a Vertical Slide, I made an adaptor and fitted a Vertical Slide intended for a SC6 lathe, to fit it to my larger BL12 – 24.

Although it was suitable for co ordinate drilling; when I started trying to mill, I was forcibly reminded of the flexibility of the set up, compared to the Mill/Drill, even with very light cuts.

Milling is essentially a series of interrupted cuts so rigidity is necessary, and Vertical Slides, in my experience, are not suitable for anything other than extremely light cuts.

Why else would we buy and use Milling machines?

Howard

[Martin of Wick]

On Martin of Wick Said:

Rodney/Amolco etc. meh! Unless you are getting it for free or a peppercorn, I wouldn’t bother – all comments above are valid. Flimsy, inconvenient and relics of a bygone era, often peddled at ludicrously high prices well beyond their actual utility value.

Even the most modest small footprint oriental mill, belt drive Seig SX1 size will be miles better. The older gear head ones can be had s/h for £150 to £300 but need care due to use of plastic gears. If you are prepared to be patient and look around you could do even better

Martin, is the X1 size mill now available new with belt drive, or are you thinking of a belt conversion?

Ian P

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