Inherited ML7 in need of some love - where to start?

ON most of those the standpipe is riveted or peened over into the base to seal it. The whole thing should unscrew out of the lathe as one unit. A good squirt out with spray can degreaser from SuperCheap Autoparts should do it. Or poke a wire through there. Then blow through with air if you have a compressor. They are just a straight through pipe with valve seat machined inside so no advantage to separating them from the base and causing leaks down the track.

You can get some hydraulic oil from the auto parts store too. Often sold as compressor oil or jack oil or just plain hydraulic oil. ISO 32 grade is the norm, although ISO46 seems more commonly stocked and will work just fine. That will do to get you going. (Although I just use any leftover engine oil lying around but that seems to be out of fashion.)

A good thing to do in the early stages too would be to start sorting through all those boxes of accessories and identifying them and getting them soaking in degreaser then oil them up to prevent further rust. Get all those gears in one pile and make a list to compare with the original set in the manual. Then get a length of threaded rod, two nuts and some flat washers to tie them all together in a set so they dont get lost.

Edited By Hopper on 05/03/2021 23:18:50

PS you will need to oil the countershaft bearings too. If they still have the oil nipples in place and you don't have an oil gun (DON'T grease them) you can unscrew the nipples and leave them out and add a few drops of oil to the holes and around the bearing ends repeatedly over a few days to let oil wick into the sintered Oilite bearings there. After that, add a couple drops to the holes everytime you use the lathe. New oil guns are available from Press Parts online. They are handy to flush oil through the carriage ways etc but not essential. You can do the same trick, remove the nipples and squirt oil under pressure into the hole from an oil can by jamming the nozzle up against the hole. Put the nipples back afterwards to keep swarf out. Plus you can oil it like any other lathe and just lay oil on the bed ways and feed screws etc and let it wick in.

Check your electric motor too. If its an older model there might be oil hole at each end to add a few drops of oil to the bearings. Most likely not though.

paint doesn't improve accuracy

Duncan....how true!!!

It always makes me smile when I read articles about renovating machine tools and more care and effort is taken in the paint work!

The machine tools ability to do the job in hand far exceeds the quality of the paint finish.

After all once you brush down all the swarf you just created with that old paint brush, that beautiful paint finish is now scratched by all that nasty swarf.

I prefer "lathe..ing" to painting.......I must must remember to say that to the wife when she wants some decorating done around the house!

Regards to all

Derek

So after a few months of odd evening and weekends, I’ve got this machine back into working order I think! Lots of degreasing, re-oiling and scraping at clods of dry grease!

I’ve collected a couple of queries as I’m been doing this - so here they are.

The cover for the drive belt from the motor doesn’t fit due to the clutch. I’m assuming this means the clutch was an aftermarket add on?

Cover for the lead screw drive train - normal that you can set this up so the cover doesn’t fit?

I had a great encounter with a local hydraulic shop during the process trying to get hold of some oil (couldn’t find small amounts available anywhere!). When I asked them for half a litre, they told me I could have it for free but only if I took the entire container. I’ve now got 25litres of oil sitting in my shed!

Sounds like your clutch is an add-on so the original cover does not fit. If you look at pics of Super 7 Myfords with clutch they have an extra bulge on the large end to accommodate the clutch. No big deal to run without it, as the motor belt is far away from the operator and unlikely to catch cuffs etc in the way the main headstock spindle belt can. Or you could cut a circle out of the old cover and add a puddin' bowl etc as a clutch cover.

Good score on the oil! That will keep you going for life.

The screw cutting change gears cover should fit on without dramas. The "banjo" that the gear spindles fit into can be rotated to engage the gears with the spindle and then locked up with two nuts at the base where it rotates. In that position the cover should fit, unless you have some collection of oversized gears in place. For regular fine feed while turning, you want the small 20 tooth headstock spindle to drive the largest gear - about a 65 or 70 -- coupled to the smallest gear available, which in turn drives the biggest gear left in your set, again coupled with the smallest you have left, finally driving the largest gear left on the lead screw. The Myford ML7 Users Manual PDF is available free all over the net and gives details and pics. Othewise, post pics of the gear train here if the cover won't fit on, plus pics of the cover and we will soon figure something out.

When I fitted a Mk2 clutch to my Mk1 Super7 I just used a 50mm dia hole saw to cut out the guard and fitted a spacer and plate over the protruding clutch shaft.

John

Hi there, Tom,

I'm working from memory here.

My ML7 didn't come with a countershaft clutch - I added the clutch myself. I seem to remember that the cast aluminium belt cover fits OK, it's the steel sheet inner part that fouls the clutch. That's a crescent shaped piece of steel sheet that attaches to the aluminium guard with three or four screws.

The clutch fitting instructions give a diagram specifying how much to cut away to restore clearance. It's a tin-snips job. I'll have a look through my archives later today and post whatever relevant info comes to the surface!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

The clutch visible in the posted pics back on page 1 of the thread looks to be mounted outboard of the original ML7 pulley rather than inboard like the later Super 7 type clutch. Maybe it was a Grandpa Special? Further pics would clarify.

Amused by the comments on painting! When doing a refurb, I always try to repaint to a high standard and do the cosmetics needed. Why? Well I am a very messy machinist and I tended to leave my machines in a swarf covered and filthy state.

Since I have adopted the pristine machine mantra. I find that I tidy up and clean, as I can't stand such a nice machine being filthy! So there is a good reason for keeping machines in a smart well painted state.

I hasten to add that any mechanical defects are taken care of and have a much higher priority than painting!

Andrew.

Hi there, all,

I've just uploaded three scans of the Myford leaflet on the 1466 Countershaft Clutch - see my albums. As usual, the uploading process has rotated all three images to portrait. I apologise for the less than perfect quality of the images - they are photocopies of an A5 format document from the era before doublesided copying was available.

The modification data for the 'Guard Shield Plate' is shown on the second sheet. The instructional text is peculiar to this document: Myford Publication #714A, 'Supplement to ML7 Lathe Pictorial Parts List'. The parts list and exploded diagram content duplicates section P of the main ML7 User Manual.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hopper,

I think the scans I just uploaded resolve your conjecture.

Edit:

Oops!!  Well, then again, maybe they don't!  After first posting this, I revisited the photos in page #1 of the thread.  The clutch actually fitted looks to be some 1466 parts and some original countershaft parts.  The remainder of #1466 could be lying within the belt guard on the floor.

Anyway, my uploads do show the 'official' Myford ML7 countershaft clutch, #1466 (not to be confused with either of the two versions of countershaft clutch for the Super 7) .

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 14/05/2021 11:11:27

Sounds like a recipe for making work to me! First time wasted preparing for and applying a decent paint job, presumably fretting about colour and suitability. Secondly, time-wasted keeping the machine clean for ever after, in order that the paint job can be admired.

Workshop psychology is quite interesting. We divide between those who delight in pristine conditions and those preferring to wallow in an untidy midden! It must say something about the way our brains work.

Though I claim anyone with a tidy workshop must be a neurotic fusspot I am, of course, a lazy Sod...

Dave

PS. Essential for shared workshops to be kept tidy. Although my chaos is helpful, your chaos is a dangerous abomination.

A friend who worked for Broadbent's told me there was a team whose only job was to apply filler (presumably cellulose) to the rough castings and sand it down ready for painting.

Your friend is correct. IIRC there were two painters when I worked there & they used polyester body filler on the castings (Isopon P38 type). After filling the castings were brush painted. Boxfords were the same, though they spray painted the parts.

This is a photo taken in the loading bay at Broadbents, probably Sping 1982. The older gent on the left was the foreman painter, I am the handsome one in the middle & the hairy chap on the other side was one of the fitters. The machine was a Hayes Digimill & I seem to think it was due to go on the stand at the Mach exhibition. The photo shoot was for the machine brochure & the photographer had a couple of shots left, so we got rounded up to finish the roll. I had wired the machine & Micheal Highley (fitter) had done the fitting on it. I had forgotton about this until it came to light in a drawer recently.

It wasn't unusual for the painters to follow a machine down the shop when it was going to be despatched, touching up the bits low down that they had not been able to get at.

Nigel B.

Thanks for the photo, Nigel, very interesting. Sadly, my friend passed away a couple of years ago, or I would have shown it to him. He would have been at Broadbents in the 1960s, I think, or even late 50s so I would guess before your time.

Rob

Hi Tom. If you need to see graphic work on the ML7 there are stacks of youtube video's of guys working on them. From mods to complete rebuilds.

Steve.

Thanks everybody for the comments. I’ll have a look through your scans Swarf. Very much appreciate those - I don’t imagine they exist anywhere other than the bottom drawer of someone’s workbench!

As far as workshop psychology goes - I sit firmly in the organised chaos camp. You never know when you’ll need a broken screwdriver, a 6” long piece of pvc or three odd sized bolts - so they should always be stored at the back of your workbench close to hand!

Having made a bit more progress on this project, I’m now in the process of replacing the quick action tailstock with the original hand wheel. I stripped the tailstock, cleaned it and reassembled it all - then found I don’t have the tailstock thrust plate.

In the midst of a lockdown, I’m considering making a temporary measure out of some 3mm aluminium plate I’ve found (that used to belong to a coffee machine). But I was wondering if someone could tell me what the original was made of.

Thanks

It certainly wouldn't be aluminium

mgnbuk:

That Digimill is exceedingly elegant - not a handle or knob to be seen.