Myford Capstan Attachment.

I managed to snag a Myford Capstan Attachment for my Super 7 on eBay earlier this week. It was described as "as new" (it wasn't) but it is mechanically intact and in reasonable condition. It took me an hour to reassemble it and work out how everything sync's together as it had to be sent in separate parcels. The six stop screws at the back that limit the forward travel, am I right that the lower position of the six is the one that comes up against the internal stop and/or does anyway know an online source for an operators manual?

The stops on mine were numbered, as were the tool positions on the turret, the numbers should correspond. If they do not, lift the turret a bit and rotate stops until numbers are in correct positions. It can be a bit tricky to get the timing right. It's also a bit tricky to fit the attachment to the lathe bed, you have to remove the keep plates and there isn't much room to get them on again, don't turn the attachment upside down with the keep plates off, the screws disappear inside and it's a royal pain to retrieve them if they jam the slide. It's a nice bit of kit when you get it set up though.

Dave

Fortunately, I mastered the fitting and keep plates problem after trying all the hard ways first and found the lift and reposition trick with the turret. I even got the numbers fore and aft matching. I've also got a long bed lathe so I can take the normal saddle down to the tail stock end without removing it before fitting the capstan. That does mean I need a cut off slide now though.

Hi there, Chris and Dave,

Chris: is yours the one that mounts on the lathe bed or the one that bolts to the cross-slide?

Does that impressive-looking lever actually turn the turret or simply release the detent?

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Hello Swarf, the cross slide attachment lever releases the detent only, the turret has to be turned by hand, you also need the multi stop attachment to make full use of it. The bed mounted attachment is automatic, the spider retracts the slide, turns the turret and the stops are built in. This attachment originally cost around half the price of a Super7 lathe.

Dave

..... and it did again even secondhand. They're relatively scarce.

Does anyone know if an instruction manual came with this or am I looking for something that doesn't exist?