Myford lathe

[bluejets]

Before and after of which first appeared a hopeless heap.

 

[awake]

That before picture does not look hopeless to me - mostly just dirty. Hopeless is one that has sat out in the rain for the past 10 years, and is a solid block of rust!

 

[DanP]

The prices on the Myford site will include the VAT. If you have the product shipped out of Britain you don't have to pay it. I haven't bought anything from Britain for some time but it was around 20%. Always when ordering ask in it's VAT in. For those of you who don't know, VAT means Value Added Tax.

 

[bluejets]

That before picture does not look hopeless to me - mostly just dirty. Hopeless is one that has sat out in the rain for the past 10 years, and is a solid block of rust!

I guess some just know everything then.

 

[Wizard69]

There is a Myford lathe for sale close where I live it a 7"x 22" with tooling, but he is asking about $1300.00 for it
are Myfords worth that much.? I am in the Western USA..

You have lots of responses here but it comes down to the condition of the machine. I’d rather take a machine in good condition and ignore whom made it. Unless of course you want a rebuild challenge.

the interesting thing with lathes used by model engineers is that age isn’t a big concern. What is important is wear and abuse. A clapped out lathe is no joy to work with. You really will not know the condition until you physically inspect the machine. It might be worth the asking price or it might be junk!

the other thing to look out for is that the asking price can buy you a variety of new Chinese and maybe even machines from Taiwan. At the extreme low end you are still getting kit machines. At $1300 you start to find better quality so you need to weigh new against used.

Beyond all of that don’t dismiss personal preference. feel can be important, consider this example. I purchased a generic 9x20 years ago, it might not be the best lathe out there but the price was right at the time. One thing that really bothered me about the lathe was height of the saddles year bid above the chip pan. It was just too crowded for my big hands. So I made 1-1/4 thick risers to add to the risers supplied with the lathe. This added clearance has worked out well. Other things I’ve learned include the fact that I hate screw on chucks!!!! No easy fix for that issue. Also the compound on this lathe is a joke.

The point I’m trying to make here is that you will not “know” until you use the lathe if it fits your intended usage. That and there is a bit of required adaptation with any new machine.

 

[goldstar31]

[QUOTE="Wizard69, post: 332381, member: 14419"
So I made 1-1/4 thick risers to add to the risers supplied with the lathe. This added clearance has worked out well. Other things I’ve learned include the fact that I hate screw on chucks!!!! No easy fix for that issue. Also the compound on this lathe is a joke.

.[/QUOTE]

As we seem to have moved on from 'rusty boat anchors' to 920 lathes, I always could afford proper anchors for my ventures into the briny and the 'not so briny' The tidal River Tyne has both and a note that it was once the biggest open sewer in the World. Ah??? So the 920 or 918. I had one with with a Myford 'nose'. Myford at the time- that is the original firm would not supply me with a new saddle for my- I think that it was a Super7B.
I've been through a LOT of Myfords! So I moved ALL my Myford accessories onto the '9180'. Yes there was one!
As for the saddle on the 9180, I moved quite sensibly to putting a sub table on as the tee slot are 't'other way around' I still adopt the same idea on my Sieg C4!

As for 'rising blocks',this is quite normal. Myford still sells them but I'm quite tall being once over 6 feet.

I have a pair of steel riser blocks on the Myford Super7B but a pair of wooden ones on the ML10.

Which all brings me to another point which the pontificators who never owned a Myford ML7 or Super 7 will never have discovered.

The Myford 7 series suffer from imbalance! Uncorrected, they are prone to tipping away from the operator unless bolted down. You might get away with a 1/4 HP motor but a 1/2 or a 2/3rds HP affair are rather rickety!

More to learn and think about?

Norman

 

[awake]

That before picture does not look hopeless to me - mostly just dirty. Hopeless is one that has sat out in the rain for the past 10 years, and is a solid block of rust!

I guess some just know everything then.

Bluejets, please accept my apology. I was making an off-the-cuff remark, not intending to be offensive in any way - my mouth was engaged before my brain (or rather my fingers were, in this case).

I realized after I saw your response that my remark probably came across as a dismissing or diminishing of the restoration you did. I did not intend that in any way, and again, I am profoundly sorry. Your restoration is clearly excellent, far more meticulous and beautiful than anything I have done - I have done my share of restoring machine tools to working condition, but I have never come close to the aesthetic excellence you have achieved. As I should have said instead of my flippant response: well done.

One more time: I am very sorry for offending.

 

[packrat]

Quote by Wizard69 " At $1300 you start to find better quality so you need to weigh new against used"

I did pick-up the lathe, seller was willing to drop his price substantially and gave me a lot of tooling.{needed cash & did not need lathe}
After seeing the posts here about the price of the used Myford ML7 lathes specially in the UK, I think I did O.K. on price.
I had never seen one in the USA for sale {Myford} and after seeing the quality of this British small lathe, I am
glad I went to see the lathe and make a offer..{over here in the USA small lathes go for more money then bigger
ones} due the weight of a larger lathe to moving and the three phase power needed..
packrat

 

[accelo]

You will never regret the purchase.
Myfords are a great small lathe with lots of feathers you will love.
The only thing, I really don't like, is the chuck thread. It is a 55 deg Whitworth thread.
Backing plates can be purchased from Myford at a reasonable cost.
I have cut them on the lathe but I found it much easier to purchase spares.
Pull the cross slide off and clean and lube it as this is a maintenance item that isn't typically completed as often as it should.
Only takes 15 minutes.
Congratulations.
Rick

 

[packrat]

Just a up date on the ML 7 Myford lathe I found here in the USA, I have taken it all apart and cleaned it good with kroil oil, it was a dirty mess. I think the previous
owen was not a lathe person, I say that because of how dirty it was and there are pipe wrench marks on some of the parts and two arc strikes on the lathe.? Both the drip oilers were broken and will not hold oil, Oh the oil zerks are{were}all full of grease the apron also, the counter shaft and belt drive assembly all full of grease...
One of the good things is that it has a nice quality US made 1/2 HP motor {Baldor} on the lathe that looks fairly new and lots of tooling....Oh and the back gear has broken teeth..??

 

[goldstar31]

Packrat, whilst you initially will have a far amount of remedial work on your ML7, most of the parts are available from RDG Tools albeit at quite an outlay but you will have a nice lathe if and when you change the awful grease to to ISO 32 Hydraulic oil. Again, the bed etc would take a change if yu use this gooey ISO 68 stuff.

I once had to overhaul a friend's ML7 which on checking was so worn that it would turn banananas. I wrote it up in the Model Engineer Post bag. I had the bed Blancharded and did a little grinding on a surface grinder and did the following to removed the problem of the worn key underneath the saddle.
What is not immediately apparent is that the old ML7's original works on the narrow guide principle where the number 4 shear is untouched but can be adopted with packing the rear shear part of the saddle which surprisingly is rarely worn. You can see it shows the fine milling for when it left the factory.
After a week's work in the evenings, I had the lathe able to turn within half a thous over 6 inches.

I think that the cost was only £25. I hope that this insight- which is not in the book is of assistance to you.

Cheers

Norman

 

[packrat]

Thanks goldstar31 ..This old Myford does has some good things going for it like a nice lead screw, bed is not worn or damaged cross slide and saddle are good and tail stock is good to go. The one thing that is bugging me the most is the back gear with missing teeth.??
packrat

 

[DanP]

Packrat, you should be able to get a back gear. That may bug you, I have a Super 7 and what bugs me is the "small" hole through the head stock. :>)

 

[skyline1]

Packrat Stripped teeth on the back gear is quite a common problem on ML7s

Mine had it when I got it.

I repaired it by a rather unorthodox and primitive method but it worked well. I had a blacksmith friend Cast Iron weld the teeth back as best he could then very carefully shaped them with small files until they matched the other teeth

I was not expecting it to work at all but it did and has been going strong for years. There is a very slight "clunk" as the new teeth pass the other wheel but nothing I can't put up with and these gears rattle a little anyway during normal use even on fairly new machines.

Best Regards Mark

 

[DanP]

Try this site. https://www.myford.co.uk/

 

[goldstar31]

Perhaps there is another answer and that is to buy a second hand 65 tooth 20DP(?) bull wheel from one of the numerous people who scrap Myfords.

RDG Tools who owns the Myford name sells new at about £58 pus carriage. Again it must be choice.
For myself, I'm hoping to exchange my old but quite good Super 7B for an old new newer machine with a power of cross feed. More anon


Norman

 

[awake]

Packrat Stripped teeth on the back gear is quite a common problem on ML7s

Mine had it when I got it.

I repaired it by a rather unorthodox and primitive method but it worked well. I had a blacksmith friend Cast Iron weld the teeth back as best he could then very carefully shaped them with small files until they matched the other teeth

I was not expecting it to work at all but it did and has been going strong for years. There is a very slight "clunk" as the new teeth pass the other wheel but nothing I can't put up with and these gears rattle a little anyway during normal use even on fairly new machines.

Best Regards Mark

Not unorthodox at all - thousands of gears have been repaired by building up with weld or brazing, or machining an insert that gets locked in mechanically (dovetail) and with braze or silver solder, then cutting the teeth - either with a file or a machining operation.

 

[packrat]

Packrat, you should be able to get a back gear. That may bug you, I have a Super 7 and what bugs me is the "small" hole through the head stock. :>)

Thanks, I am working on fixing or replacing back gear...yes small hole in ML7 in head stock is not good. I am thankful my South Bend 13 inch lathe has the large spindle hole.

skyline1 & awake good information about the repair of teeth, I do not have the teeth that are broke but I am able to build up the gear with silver solder or braze..

 

[awake]

skyline1 & awake good information about the repair of teeth, I do not have the teeth that are broke but I am able to build up the gear with silver solder or braze..

Right, I don't think I've ever seen anyone attempt to braze or solder the broken teeth back into place; I've only ever sees a built up or insert repair done. I suspect the broken teeth are generally fractured into lots of little bitty pieces ...

 

[packrat]

Quote by norm"Perhaps there is another answer and that is to buy a second hand 65 tooth 20DP(?) bull wheel from one of the numerous people who scrap Myfords."

If anyone knows of used ML7 parts {gears} let me know....