Member postings for Mike Crossfield

The maximum bore size in the small bore 7 series lathes is limited by the MT2 dimensions. The small end of a standard MT2 taper is .572 inch diameter, which is roughly 14.5 mm. The MT2 taper is .050 per inch, so if the bore is opened up to .625 (5/8 inch), roughly 16 mm, you lose about an inch of the taper. This seems to have been done on some late machines, but on my early ML7(long gone) and Super 7 the minimum bore is less than 15mm, though beyond the end of the morse taper the bore opens up to more like 16mm. Same story on the late model Speed 10 I had at one time.

Mike

There are 3 techniques that I've used:

Firstly, you can fill the engraving with paint such as Humbrol, then wipe off the excess before the paint has fully dried. Trick is to use a piece of newspaper lightly soaked in white spirit as the wipe.. Done carefully, this will clean the surface and leave the filling intact.

Another method is to use engraving wax. Usual method for clock dials. Heat the surface until the wax will melt onto the surface, then when it's set hard you can scrape/sand the excess off. Warm up again to restore the gloss finish on the wax.

Last method is to immerse the item in blacking solution. After blacking, the surface can be polished up with very fine emery or wet&dry paper, leaving the scale blacked.

Example of a scale that I blacked using the last method:

Mike

I have used material salvaged from old feeler gauge sets to make shims in the past when I didn’t have the right size shim stock to hand.

edit. Didn’t type fast enough……..

Edited By Mike Crossfield on 03/10/2021 16:40:00

Just wanted to say thank you again for all the advice. I used the method suggested by David and Keith using silver solder, and to my pleasant surprise it worked a treat. I tinned the 4 surfaces, clamped the two parts together, then reflowed, adding some more flux and solder. Flowed nicely and gave good strong joints. After cleaning and a coat of matt black heatproof paint the repair is almost invisible

Mike

Many thanks for all the good advice and generous offers of materials.

In the first instance I will try with the materials I have to hand, but if that doesn’t work I will be in contact with one of more if you to take up the offer!

Best wishes

Mike

Thanks all. I’m sufficiently encouraged to give it a go.

if the silver soldering doesn’t work out I’ll dig out the stick welder and try that with some suitable rods.

Mike

A friend has asked me if I can repair on the cast iron grid from the top of her range cooker. New parts are not available, so few options. The grid is in the form of an outside frame, with internal arms to support pans. The frame is broken in half. The section of the frame is about 12mm x12mm. There have been a few threads on the forum which suggest that cast iron can be silver soldered if it is first heated to red to burn off the carbon from the surface, so I am planning to give this try. The reason for the post is to seek out advice as to whether I am wasting my time trying to effect a repair with solder. If not, would it be better to tin the broken surfaces first, then bring them together and reheat, or to flux them and run in solder after bringing them together and heating.

Advice from anyone who has successfully repaired cast iron would be appreciated.

Mike

I keep a bottle of Jenolite rust remover under the stainless sink in my utility room, and when I see the dreaded red spots a quick rub with a few drops on a cloth soon removes them. The key ingredient of Jenolite is phosphoric acid.

Like you, I have found RM pretty reliable in the past, but I had a problem with the last parcel I sent. This was about 3 weeks ago. I paid for Signed For delivery, but 3 days after the recipient received the parcel the tracking service was still showing it as undelivered. I complained to RM, and they refunded the postage cost (in stamps). First time I ever had a problem like this.

Mike

-Are you quite sure that the problem is with the thread? I agree that it is most likely the thread being tight, but I have seen situations where the problem was with the register on the backplate being a tinch (technical term) too small. In fact in the "old days" Myford used to supply chucks with registers which needed to be lightly scraped to suit individual spindles. Since it would be quick and easy to check by knocking up a gauge with exactly the same diameter as that of your spindle, why not try it, if only to rule this out as the problem?

Mike

Yet another change quietly slipped in by the government in the name of emission reductions without proper consideration.

E5 and the soon-to-be introduced E10 are gifts to the fuel companies. Alcohol is cheaper than petrol, so they make more profit/gallon. Anyone seen any suggestion of petrol companies passing any of this on to the customer - no, I thought not. Alcohol is also less calorific than petrol, so E10 gives fewer mpg, leading to more sales for the petrol companies. Win/win.

Alcohol attacks certain plastics and rubbers, so if your vehicle is more than a few years old, and wasn’t designed in anticipation of alcohol in fuel, there is a real risk of damage to fuel system components. This can be expensive and difficult to rectify. If your motorcycle has a plastic tank, watch out, it may slowly dissolve.

Alcohol also readily absorbs water, so if you use your vehicle infrequently there is risk of corrosion attacking the tank and any internal fuel pump. There are also chemical reactions which can occur creating acids which lead to bacteriological black slime creation in the tank. I’ve had personal experience of this with E5 in a classic mini, and E10 will be worse. Adding a fuel stabiliser goes some way to reducing the problem, but there is a non-trivial cost involved.

And there will surely be ecological issues involved in producing the vast amounts of cheap alcohol required.

Since petrol engines vehicles will be phased out in the next few years, wouldn’t it have made sense to leave things are they were for the interim, or at least make alcohol-free fuel available for those who need it for their old vehicles?

Mike

I use ER25 collets for holding cutters in my Mk1 DW. I use a shop-made chuck which screws on to the Myford nose. You can of course buy similar chucks ready-made. My early DW will only accommodate a 5/16 drawbar, so I have fitted simple adapters into the 3/8 inch or 10 mm threads on MT2 items like boring heads.

John,

+1 for the DRO. I’ve made several improvement to my Mk 1 DW, but one of the most useful was the addition of the DRO. Space is a bit limited on the DW, but if you go for compact magnetic scales, they can be fitted quite neatly without losing any travel. Some photos in my album if you’re interested.

Enjoy your new toy.

Mike

Andy

Hemiingway Kits sell plans for a gearbox to suit the ML10. http://www.hemingwaykits.com/acatalog/_Archibald__Screwcutting_Gearbox___ML10.html
As for spares, well of course you can get some direst from Myford, though the range is pretty limited. Otherwise it’s probably a case of searching for s/h parts, eBay etc.

Good luck

Mike

Mr Tinker produced two versions of the Tinker. The standard, and the smaller and slightly simpler “Mini Tinker”. 20-odd years ago I bought a set of plans for the Mini Tinker. I can’t for the life of me remember how I got them - at the time I was travelling to and fro to the US quite a lot, so It’s possible I bought them there. Anyway, my plans changed and I never used them. I came across them during a recent tidy-up, so if anyone is interested I’d be happy to sell them. They consist of 1 x A4 sheet of Construction Notes, 1 x A4 sheet of Operating Notes, I x A4 Materials list, and 5 x A3 sheet of drawings.send me a PM if you’re interested.

Mike

Ivy,

I rebuilt an early (1957) Super 7 on an unworn bed from an ML7 capstan lathe. I believe this is the same bed used on the standard ML7. There were only 2 issues. As TB has pointed out, the Super 7 needs a new mounting hole for the countershaft arm drilling and tapping in the back of the bed. The other issue was that the mounting holes for the saddle rack were offset. I needed to drill and tap new holes to suit the Super 7 rack. Otherwise plain sailing. No issue with clearance for the backgear.

Hope this is of help

Regards

Mike

That’s interesting Clive, and exactly consistent with the dat from Mitutoyo that I posted earlier.

Mike

There is a very helpful note on the Mitutoyo website discussing the accuracy of their gauges. They state that for a plunger-type dial indicator with a range of 10mm, the total indicated error over the full travel of 10 dial rotations should be within +/- 12 microns (about 1/2 thou). I have a 0-1 inch Mitutoyo dial gauge, and 1 must say I have never been aware of any significant errors over quite wide travel ranges provided I have set it accurately and rigidly mounted. Maybe other makes are less accurate?

I can vouch for Bilt Hamber Atom Mac. Dilute with water and spray to prevent corrosion. Very high dilution ratio, so a small bottle lasts for ages. I use it to spray the brake discs on my cars after washing to stop them flash rusting. Works a treat. Incidentally, for any car enthusiasts out there, Bilt Hamber’s other car care products are also good value. Wide range of products, and all the ones I’ve used are excellent. Their “2 speed wax” is the best I’ve ever used (and I’ve tried a lot), and their alloy wheel cleaner regularly comes top in comparative tests. Same goes for their rust removal products. Usual disclaimer - no connection just a happy user.

Regarding the tailstock, Gray also designed a very nice resettable tailstock dial. Unfortunately it is for a Super7, not an ML7, so unless you are prepared to obtain a Super 7 tailstock it’s not a solution.

regards

Mike