From the ground up!

I just realised what those 'studs' nuts and bolts are in my left over box. Thank you for the complete and in depth reply. I'm back on it today. More settling and pics to follow. I'm not putting any punctuation at the end that turns into funny faces but I am 'down with the kids' and may do if I get to the finish line this weekend.

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 29/04/2019 23:00:43

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 29/04/2019 23:01:04

Just about jiggling the gears about till something clicks. I have seen photos of two gears besides each other so will try to achieve that. Why is there no blueprint with the configuration laid out for lazy people? :funny laughing face:

Hi John!

It doesn't look as of you have a complete set of changewheels.. I would have expected to find two 20T gears and then the others going up in 5 tooth increments to a final 65T.

The gears are driven by Driving Collars, (You should have two, one for the Mandrel, and one for the Leadscrew ) which drive the gears by the 3/32" pins, and lock to the flat on the shafts by 1/4 BSF grubscrews. The gears are aligned with each other by means of spacing collars, either inside or outside, as required.

The gears are compounded by 3/32 diameter pins inserted into the drilling in the gear. the drilling does not go right through, to stop them falling out. Gears from ML7s will fit (Same bore, Diametric Pitch and Pressure Angle  they just need a 3/32 hole drill half way through. Mount, on one of the gear studs ( from the banjo ) one of the original gears and drill tight through into the ML7 gear. Avoid the keyway in the 7 Series gear! You should then blank off part depth of the hole in the original gear.

The gears must have backlash, to avoid nolse and wear. Run a sheet or two of writing paper into each mesh before tightening the stud to the Banjo; starting at the Mandrel.

You can use the Leadscrew to provide a power feed for turning, if you wish. The finest feed that you can get will be 20:60/20 (Compound on Stud 1 ):65/20 (Compound on Stud 2 ):60 (on Leadscrew ). This should give you a feed rate of just over 0.004"/rev.

The tumbler reverse will decide whether the Saddle moves towards, or away from the Chuck.

Incidentally, I would remove that stud and nut , and use a 5/16 BSW setscrew , (near the Leadscrew ) to clamp the Banjo, to avoid any chance of a foul with a gear on the leadscrew.

When you feel confident enough to think about cutting threads, (without using Taps or Dies) take a look at Brian Wood's book on "Gearing of Lathes for Screwcutting". Your lathe has a 8 tpi Leadscrew, although I suspect that it is Right Hand thread, unlike the 7 series, (and most other lathes ) which have a Left Hand thread.

I think that I have already repeated what Tony Griffiths says about the Cross and Top Slide Leadscrews being 12 tpi, and each of the 80 divisions on the dials not being exactly one thou!

Heed his warning about removing the Grubscrew from the pulley on the mandrel before engaging Back Gear.

DON'T use back gear to lock the mandrel to unscrew a Chuck or Faceplate, it is a quick way of breaking teeth off the gears!

HTH

Howard

Thanks Howard. I will try to take all this in. I'm still getting to grips with all the terms. I am sure it will wind a few people up but we all have to start somewhere. The Lathe was even more complete than I originally thought so I haven't had to buy any bits as yet. I guess I will have to sooner or later. These Lathe strippers are ruthless on their prices. I will post how I get on tonight and once again thank you to everyone posting help it is very much appreciated.

Hello John,

From memory, the gear cover at the headstock end with the two humps in it is very similar to pictures of Mickey Mouse, so I think your's is correct for ML4. The change wheel cover also looks familiar, but the last time I saw mine was >30 years ago, so don't quote me

Thank you for the lavish praise you have directed my way but I think it should really be aimed at other contributors, they have really taken on the baton holder's role now and with my recollections based on such a long time ago, they will be far more likely to give you reliable advice over the mounting of change wheels for instance.

I know you plan to sell the lathe on, but I have a comprehensive gearing pdf for 8 tpi non gearbox lathes that will include yours for a £2.50 contribution to the REMAP charity, a worthy cause that aims at making life a bit easier with bespoke gadgets for those unfortunate individuals who are handicapped in some way.

If you would like a copy, send me a PM with your email address.

Regards

Brian

I have to agree with you on your comment regarding the help received from other members here and am very appreciative of any advice given along the way. To take time out of your day to help and especially with such comprehensive replies has not only been a massive help to me it will also help others in the future with their own renovation projects.

As for selling the Lathe on I just don't have room to store this as my next project is already here and I am chomping at the bit to get stuck in on that one as soon as I have completed the ML2/4 I hope that this thread has rekindled memories of times with your father Brian and it hasn't been a chore to fix up this Lathe and when I get a workshop I could go the very same route again.

I had a box of bits delivered with the Lathe and some parts were in that were probably lying about that were just thrown in. I have a Fixed steady that is completely over sized for the Lathe purchased possibly from a Harrison or a Boxford and probably worth more than the Lathe itself. A back plate with a thread far too big again. It looks like it's painted in Myford Blue although i can't find it on the internet as yet but I'm too engrossed in the ML2/4 to give it any attention as yet.

I don't want to cobble something together at the last hurdle so will take you up on your offer of the PDF document. Should I pay you or make a payment online to REMAP?

One down, one to go

REMAP paid via text Brian. thank you for the document.

You know how it is. You finish (you think) and there you are with a handful of bits left over. Any help identifying these items would be appreciated.

Hi John, the one on the far right is a catch plate. You put this on in place of the chuck and then use a dead centre in the spindle and dead or live in the tailstock, you then put your piece of bar between the two centres with a dog on the spindle end of the bar and this will catch on the peg on the catch plate. This is known as turning between centres. Of course you will need a centre drilled into each end of your bar. The second one from the right looks like a milling cutter to me. don't know what the rest are for.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 29/04/2019 06:34:51

Yes - I'd say the 2nd from right is a milling-cutter, for forming chamfers and slide-way dovetails.

3rd and 4th: possibly either change-wheel studs or tool-pots studs. Do they fit the appropriate places on the lathe?

Number 5 looks to me like some sort of broach.

6, the ball-ended pin, does not look like part of this lathe, but for something else entirely.

7 (from right): it's a bit thin-walled for the task but might have been a work-holding clamp for a milling or drilling machine table, especially given the presence of that milling-cutter.

8, the disc with two handles, might have been made as a handle for the lathe's top-slide. It doesn't look an original part but could have been a past owner's custom-made fitting.

Finally, 9... could be almost anything! That does look like a bearing bush in the smaller end. I wonder if it was made as a secondary banjo for the lathe, to extend the change-wheel ratios possible - but that's only a guess. Like the ball-ended pin and the slotted bar, they might not be lathe accessories at all.

It is possible the mystery bits were intended for some user-built accessory for the lathe, but more likely were part of some project or other. Old machine-tools acquired umpteenth-hand tend to come with useful or even important bits missing, but with an assortment of strange-looking items, odd nuts and bolts, worn-out tools and such like!

I remember someone once donating my model-engineering club one of those old-fashioned, foot-cubed biscuit-tins, full of just such an assortment of small nuts, screws and odd-shaped bits of metal in fetching shades of verdigris and ferrous oxide. We tipped the lot out onto a bench to pick potentially useful from mere scrap.... Most items were innocent (and scrap) but it was just as well one club member was a police officer, for he was able to take away for proper and legal disposal, the dozen or so revolver rounds!

Hello John,

I agree with the analysis from both Nick and Graham but would add that I don't think the catch plate would fit your lathe spindle, the central threaded hole looks too large.

Regards

Brian

2nd from the right looks like a valve seat refacer for car cylinder er heads, screws on to a mandrel and cuts the face of the valve seat. Usually come in sets with different angles for inlet and exhaust valves.

Still have a set hiding out from when I used to play about with BMC a & b heads.

Spent hours polishing the ports etc to a shine, but saw the other day from a respected head tuner that the best results came from leaving the finish as ground, as it gave better mixing of the petrol air mix.

Wish I had known that 50 years ago😩.

Second from the right is a globe valve seat cutter.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I had no idea about anything apart from the Catch Plate but despite two people explaining it to me it was not until now I realise what it is. I need a dog I guess. Sorry for the late replies but after the disappointment of missing out yesterday on an eAuction a trip over to Yorkshire means I'm the proud owner of.... yes yet another Lathe.