Member postings for choochoo_baloo

Thanks for the info. I am keen to up the mandrel speed. I have original Myford reservoir headstock oilers fitted - do they need to be set to fully open?

Would it be feasible to replace the mandrel bearings with something capable of higher speeds, say graphite or phosphor bronze (though I am not sure of the ideal material!) ?

Hello all,

I am a newcomer to model engineering. I have good condition ML7 with all the standard tooling and have been playing and practising lately.

One issue has arisen which I would really appreciate some help with please. I am getting lacklustre performance from turning and facing, and even drilling from the taitstock. This is most noticeable on brass. I am convinced that this is due to the rotational speed of the mandrel being far too low, even at the highest belt settings. I have the original Metropolitan Vickers 1450 rpm motor with 1-7/8" dia pulley fitted.

According to Bradley's Myford Series 7 manual, thus all gives a highest mandrel speed of 640 rpm. Now from checking a basic spindle rate reference table:

http://www.southbaymachine.com/setups/cuttingspeeds.htm#Quick%20RPM%20Table

for the 1/4" dis brass that I was practising with, 3200 rpm is the approx. rpm I require.... !!

Hence this is what I'm planning to do to increase the mandrel speeds available:

swap the 1-7/8' motor pulley for a Super 7 4-3/8" and 1-3/4" dual puller. This bigger pulley brings me up c 1500 rpm. Possibly buy a new faster motor?

What have other ML7 owners done to tackle this issue?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Matthew