Pinning topslide on ML7/Super 7

As a Boxford owner, I'm wary of entering hallowed Myford territory, but the Boxford top-slide fixing seems similar to the S7 with steel thrust pads bearing on a cone.

Can I suggest that brass might not be the best material for the pads. It may well spread where it's forced onto the cone and then, unless enough clearance is present in the drillways, they won't move outwards to allow top-slide removal. And your stuck!

The curve is involved because on the S7 cross slide the clamps are placed behind the centre of rotation and not on the diameter, behind being the operators side.

Easy enough to make, you need a jig the replicates the shape of the cone and approach line, clamp the blanks and a little angled boring finishes them nicely. Have made them for other applications with different angles

Clive,

The pressure pad studs don't intersect the bore at right angles, as you surmise. They are offset from the centre of the diameter, and are about 1/3rd of the diameter from the front edge of the bore. This makes the need for curvature on them easier to understand.    They are opposite each other though.

The offset is easy to see from the headstock side of the S7 cross-slide - which you can't do!

Edited By Robbo on 05/09/2017 19:20:28

Edited By Robbo on 05/09/2017 19:21:58

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... Thus providing a three-point [-ish] clamping/wedging action; which is admirable.

MichaelG.