Bought Another Lathe - a Myford ML7 Tri-Leva

[Turbo]

Thanks for the replies folks.

Aah it's not a gearbox model but still a good bargain nonetheless. I wouldn't worry about the serial number, you have what you have. Did you get the tailstock sliding yet? When you do you should remove it and clean both the ways and the underside of the tailstock.

I would never be that lucky finding a gearbox model. A tri-leva should have a 2-speed motor, this is only single speed. I plan on giving the whole lathe a good 'service' as it has been neglected by the previous owner. The whole carriage needs stripped and checked as everything is very stiff and the lead screw engagement lever won't move!

good haul........now get on with making somat !!!

I have a few jobs planned when I get it up and running. One of the first will be repairing the handle on the tailstock handwheel. One of them has snapped off, probably from trying to free up the seized barrel!

I'd go back to school tooling guy and buy everything he has going, but that's just me...

I went through what stuff I had and what came with the lathe and I went back to him this time with a list of what I needed. I filled my list and then bought what extra tooling I could afford. He gave me 20% discount as a returning customer but I still left him £100! The way I saw it was that I needed this stuff anyway and at least the money was going to a good cause!

The lathe is missing the drum type switch, probably replaced during its time at BT by a nvr type switch for h&s reasons. Anyone any experience with the ebay chinese drum switches? Any other suggestions of a reversing switch with nvr and emergency stop? At the moment it has no switch, the power lead goes straight into the motor so quite dangerous!

 

[HughF]

Dew hurst reversing switch, bound to be one on eBay, stick a contactor beforehand if you want an e stop...

Lead wired to motor sounds fine though, plug in it comes on, unplug it turns off

 

[Pete.]

My Atlas had just a 3 pin plug which was wired to a (metal) toggle switch and on to the motor (no reversing). No kittens died in the making of many parts.

 

[Turbo]

Dew hurst reversing switch, bound to be one on eBay,

Have you seen the price they make - that's why I was considering a chinese one.

Anyway I found a switch unit I got in a box of contents in an auction. It has an on/off and forward/rev switches and a 15a overload so I think that will do the job.

 

[MattF]

Should do. A switch is a switch/ As long as it's rated high enough, it's fine. Like Pete, I'm a toggle switch person. The switch unit I had on the Warwick currently resides on the pillar drill. Couple of toggles; One for on/off, the other for forward/reverse.

 

[Turbo]

After I got the tailstock back together I needed to tidy up the barrel clamp nut. To do that I need to get the top and cross slides freed up. A few minutes with an allen key left me with this on the bench.

I tried a green pad & wd40 and it's coming up a treat. Will post a pic when it's finished.

Any idea what spanner sizes you need for a myford? I've both metric & af sets but some of the nuts are neither. One in particular seems to be common and is slightly larger than a 13mm but smaller than 14mm/9/16". Would I need a BA or whitworth set?

I went through the bags of asstd taps & dies I bought and sorted them. Turns out I have a full set of BA taps & dies from 6 BA to 0 BA, all 3 taps in some sizes and all split dies. There is nearly a complete set of bsw taps & dies from 3/32" to 1/2" plus quite a few asstd bsf.

 

[MattF]

I'd be guessing they're all BSW or BSF nuts and bolts.

 

[Turbo]

Just found this excellent web page that has tables converting bsw, bsf, af and metric.

http://www.baconsdozen.co.uk/tools/conversion charts.htm

Going to print these out, laminate them & stick them above my spanner rack.

Looks like I need to invest in a bsw spanner set.

 

[MattF]

Get yourself an old Bahco adjustable and you're sorted.

 

[Pete.]

Get yourself an old Bahco adjustable and you're sorted.

Oooh you're a bad man. Put an adjustable near one of my machine tools and see what you get

 

[Mr shiney]

I'd be guessing they're all BSW or BSF nuts and bolts.

Yep. All BSF and Whitworth.

 

[Turbo]

Get yourself an old Bahco adjustable and you're sorted.

When the place I worked closed one of the things I made sure came with me was my set of bahco adjustables. That's what I'm using now on the lathe but I would rather use a proper spanner.

Yep. All BSF and Whitworth.

Thanks, need to go shopping then.

I got the top slide cleaned earlier and it turned out well. It now winds in & out smoothly the whole way. The BA taps came in useful to clean up the holes for the gib strip grubscrews.

 

[MattF]

Oooh you're a bad man.

I know.

 

[Turbo]

Compound slide & cross slide all cleaned up!

This is what I started with.

And it now looks like this.

Before I put it back on the lathe I'm going to take the top of the saddle and check if everything is ok.

Have you guys any tips on adjusting the gib strips?

 

[MattF]

With regards to cleaning that surface rust off, (if you want a less scoured appearance when you've done), green nylon pan scourers used with paraffin or kerosene and plenty of elbow grease. A bit more work, but it'll not leave the surface looking abraded.

With regard the gib strips, I always start from the centre working outwards, do up finger tight and then tweak each one between the stiff & loose points. Gib strip adjustment is one of those things where you'll find multiple methods suggested. Just go with what works best for you, but don't overtighten. You want the slides as slop free as possible, but don't be tempted to nip them up past the point where they'll just induce wear more quickly.

 

[Turbo]

With regards to cleaning that surface rust off, (if you want a less scoured appearance when you've done), green nylon pan scourers used with paraffin or kerosene and plenty of elbow grease. A bit more work, but it'll not leave the surface looking abraded.

That's what I am using, though I resorted to using a rotary pan scourer in a drill to get the bulk of the rust off, then finishing it by hand.

Stripped off the saddle and apron tonight and everything looks ok, just need a good cleaning & oiling. The lever that engages the half nuts wouldn't budge but thankfully it was due to old grease acting like glue and jamming up the mechanism.

I think I will replace all the push connection oil nipples with clip on types like grease nipples. I have a spare grease gun I can convert for use as an oil gun.

Can anyone recommend a source for 2BA grease nipples?

 

[MattF]

Must just be a trick of the light then. Looked like you'd had something a bit coarse on there. What's a rotary pan scourer, btw? Never heard of those. The soft bristle brass cup/rotary brushes are good for drill use. Dried grease is a devil, ain't it. Have you considered little oil cups instead of nipples for replacing those oil hole cover jobbies?

That machine's going to look a treat when you've done.

 

[Turbo]

What's a rotary pan scourer, btw?

Something similar to this.

http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/...RY-SCOTCH--60mm-x-25mm--6mm-shank--89709.html

Usually used for polishing steel but I've now discovered they also strip off rust!

Have you considered little oil cups instead of nipples for replacing those oil hole cover jobbies?

To use the standard oil nipples you have to push an oil gun against them and pump in the oil. They are notorious for leaking even when using the proper oil gun - most of the oil ends everywhere but where you want it. A decent oil gun is expensive & I don't have one. I have a spare grease gun which can be modified for oil. For less than £10 I can fit these which will seal better with my grease gun.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PACK-OF-1...652?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19e1bfa13c

That machine's going to look a treat when you've done.

It needs done in order to get it working & I might as well do a proper job while I'm at it. It's a good way of learning how it all works and goes together.

 

[Turbo]

Been getting an hour here and there on the lathe. Got the saddle and apron all cleaned up and ready to assemble. No pics yet, will post one when it's all back together. Next I want to check out the bushings on the leadscrew and clean some light rust off it.

I think I will check all the bushings and oilways before using the lathe in anger as it looks like the only place that has received oil in the past few years is the main spindle bearings. The gearbox in the apron was bone dry!

Got started on wiring up the motor properly.

Here's the switch I picked up in a 'box of contents' for £1 at an auction.

It has a birds nest of wires on the back but a few minutes with a multi-meter had sorted out a wiring diagram.

I bought this adaptable box for £3.

After some measuring, drilling and cutting I finished up with this.

I spent a good while this afternoon going round several electrical suppliers trying to get some 3 core and 5 core black rubber flex to wire up the motor and switch. The only place that stocked it would only sell a full 100m roll. I had to settle for 3-core blue arctic and 5 core grey pvc flex - not as neat looking as black cable but it does the job.

I've had the switch unit temporarily wired up to the motor and it works perfectly. The main switch is a nvr unit and the yellow switch selects forward or reverse. On the right is a 15a overload. So I have a fully functioning switch unit for £11.

 

[penfold]

Ok, been looking up my serial no and I'm confused. I've been reading up on the history of the ML7 here.
http://www.myford.co.uk/acatalog/A_History_Of_The_ML7.html

According to that page my lathe is one of the updated models from april 1973 onwards as it has a 3/4" leadscrew, cast iron saddle and the location of the serial no.



But my serial no is K109183B, which should be the older model!

Bear in mind that Myfords often took older machines back, refurbished them with newer components and resold them; yours may be one of these.