ML7 questions

Thanks Howard,
That is helpful. Mine is a late model ML7 built between 1973 and 1975. It appears to have had very little use and looks completely original - fortunately no sign of any bodging.
Regards,
Clive

This extract from an old Bedford catalogue may be helpful:

Sorry about the bleed-through from the reverse!

Clive,

If you cannot source properly sized Whitworth/BSF spanners, I suggest you look at 'Flank Drive' alternatives ... these are much more forgiving.

Note: I believe that 'Flank Drive' may strictly be exclusive to Snap-on, but there are plenty of more modestly priced items using the same principle ... they are designed to drive on the flats instead of rounding-off the corners, and effectively have a wider tolerance.

MichaelG.

Another brand with self-explanatory name is "Metrinch"

I think that "Metrinch" predates "Flank Drive".

Metrinch Sockets and Ring Spanners feel odd in use, (very sloppy) but will fit almost anything AND importantly slacken a fixing which has resisted all efforts until the corners have been rounded.

Personally, I do not like the feel of the Open End spanners, they do FEEL ready to slip, so avoid their use. But the sockets and rings give NO qualms . NEVER have had one slip!

An ideal tool, that will cope with Whitworth, A/F or Metric.

So a good buy where Whit spanners or sockets are in the hens teeth league.

Howard

A trick that usually works to stop bleed-through is to put the target document on the platen of the scanner or photocopier and then lay a sheet of black paper on top of it, then close the lid.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

.

Probably true, Howard

For info. I've just found the Ruzicka patent: **LINK**

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=EP&NR=0525356A1&KC=A1&FT=D&ND=3&date=19930203&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP

MichaelG.

Swarf, Mostly!

Thanks for the tip which I will try.

The platen does, of course, have a cover but it is white. I wonder why black is better in this case.

.

The white provides best contrast for single-sided originals

The black masks the original contrast on the reverse, so the scanner is seeing black on [reasonably even] pale grey instead of black on a pattern.

MichaelG.

BS spanners are still commonly available from sellers who deal with old British car and motorbike restoration etc. And there's always eBay UK.

MEW No.178, Page 46. An Oiler for the Myford Lathe. I made one, and it works very well.

Set a sharp pointed tool at centre height - using a centre in th headstock taper and scribe a line on the tailstock barrel. You will never loose it!

Regards,

Alan.

As an addendum - for our 'beginner' friends....... I use a thread cutting tool mounted at + 90 degrees to the normal position (for thread cutting). Set it to centre height. Lock the tailstock (to the bed). Extend the quill of the tailstock, and lock it. Use the thread cutting tool to scribe a line on the quill of the tailstock - by wracking the carriage. About 25 to 40 mm will be adequate. Stone the scribe mark on the the taistock quill (to make it look 'nice'. You may want to practice on a piece of bar stock that you have' turned earlier - to make sure the scribed line you make is 'crisp.'

CATCH 22.

Before scribing the line on the Tailstock Barrel, you have to set the tool to Centre Height, so either you spend a lot of time experimenting, or you make some form of Centre Height Gauge!

Howard

I'm not sure why there is so much discussion about spanners. It matters not a jot what the label on the spanner says, its across flats distance needs to be just a shade bigger than the a/f measurement of the nut.

Thank you - that seems logical. I did try using a black platen cover and obtained variable results depending on the scanner settings. I did, however, find a clean copy of the catalogue concerned and have added it below:

PS I prefer the PDF format for this kind of thing but understand the software will not allow it.

Edited By ega on 14/12/2018 11:35:40

Well said, JH.

And if the jaws are not quite larger, most will have recourse to a mill to make them slightly larger! But scrub out/cover up/re-mark/whatever, so that the spanner is clearly not what it was marked as, prior to the modification. Alternatively, rely on a monkey wrench.

Edited By not done it yet on 14/12/2018 11:40:39

You were asking the correct spanner sizes. The myford spanner’s that came with my ML7 were 1/4 WW x 3/16 WW and 3/8WW x 5/16 WW. They were also stamped with their respective BSF sizes which were 5/16 BSF x 1/4 BSF and 7/16 BSF x 3/8 BSF. I hope this helps. Alan

My myford has sat for around 50 years on a homemade wooden stand,made from old bedframe timber vary hard and well seasoned,bolted on top there is a 7in by 3 in steel channel girder as long as the lathe,this forms a rigid bed for the lathe to sit on,I made my own raising blocks from thick aluminium plate,these keep the bed well off the steel tray and makes clearing swarf from under the bed a lot easier,I made my stand and blocks as I was too tight to buy Myford parts.The money was better spent on lhe lathe and tooling, Regarding spanners why not just buy a couple of metric spaners with smaller jaws than Whit sizes and open up the jaws with a file or angle grinder,Open end spanners are more than adequate to tighten nuts ad bolts on a Myford,they do not require to be super tight,you are not pulling down a cylinder head.The Myford originals are black drop stamped open ended.nothing fancy.

Thanks Alan,
I had already ordered the oiler from Press Parts when you posted this, but hopefully this will be useful to anyone else who comes across this thread.
Clive

Because when ordering online it is so much easier to order a 5/16" BSF spanner than for example "I need a spanner 15.25mm AF or slightly smaller which I can mill to size"

Thanks Alan,
That is exactly what I was looking for, and thanks to everyone else for the helpful suggestions.
Clive