Myford ML4 ?

Hi,

I have just bought what I believe is a Myford ML4. (1940's ?)

Is there a serial number on the bed somewhere to identify this lathe and perhaps date it.?

There seems to be just one nut which holds the headstock to the lathe bed. Is this correct, or is there a hidden screw/bolt somewhere ?

There is a shaft that sticks out at the rear left of the headstock held on whitha small bracket.. What is the purpose of this shaft ? The headstock is fitted with v belt pulleys.

Mike.

Ahah. As a man who has [EXTENSIVE] knowledge of taking apart myford lathes.

There are three fastners that keep the headstock on the base. There is the nut between the bearing arms then there are two tabs near the right of the headstock which stick out forward and backwards of the headstock. The headstock is tapped so you will find the bolt head on the underside.

I think you are referring to the back gear shaft? It should have two gears mounted on it. It basically gives a low gear on the lathe for slow speeds.

Know little about Myfords (I've got a Raglan) but I doubt it had a V belt drive originally. More likel

y a flat belt, I would guess, but I may be wrong.

the shaft that you mention on the left and rear of an ml4 normally holds the change gear cover

.

That's probably when it lost the back-gear.

MichaelG.

Picture might help to work out what the thing at the back is then.

I will post a photo later when I get the lathe up onto the workbench.

I have read that early ML4 lathes had flat belts, but after late 39, they changed them to V belts, so mine could be original, if from that year.

Were these early lathes painted in same grey as the later Super 7 lathes ? What other colours could be used as per factory ?

The lathe came with a later factory cabinet that will have to be stripped and repainted, but might have originally had trestle type cast stands ? There is no large drip tray but a home made small one.I might get a decent sized alloy one welded up later.

Thanks for all replies so far.

Mike.

Mike.

My father bought a new ML 4 in 1945 and was able to pull the wool over the eyes of the civil servants of the day by using the business he ran as the front.

You needed a machine tool license in those war time years by buy new machinery.

It came via a London dealer called Steadall if I remember correctly complete with the 3 speed Vee belt countershaft unit as a bench machine pained in battleship grey. It came to me after he died in 1963 and I eventually sold it on to buy a Myford 7 about 30 years later for 15 times what Pop paid for it.

​Brian

.

Mike,

I hadn't realised that the 'final' version used V Belt

... There is an excellent photo on this page

http://www.lathes.co.uk/myford-ml2-ml4/

MichaelG.

Sparky Mike,

​I forgot to add in my post that I still have an original handbook for the ML 4 lathe. I have copied it into my albums.

Because of a strange incompatibility with Microsoft Edge I can no longer post pictures from those albums on the forum, the appropriate button can no longer be accessed. Neither can I find a way of changing settings in Edge which might allow me to address the problem.

If you would like a copy please send me an email with your address to wood_y (at) btinternet (dot) com; all in lower case without spaces.

There is an underscore between the d and y

Regards Brian

If you look at my albums, you will see pictures of the back-gear assembly on the ML4. They weren't taken to show that detail, rather the actual headstock bearings. Irrespective you can see how the assembly works.

There is a lever to control the position of the back-gear on its eccentric peg. There is another lever to lock the eccentric peg in place. The lock mechanism works the same way as the tail-stock barrel lock. On the tail-stock the lock works to prevent sliding motion, on the back-gear the same scheme locks rotary motion.

There is no detent for the back-gear lever. Each time you engage it you have to carefully monitor the degree of mesh before locking the position.

There is a cast iron guard that covers the back-gear and a thin piece of sheet metal that screws to the guard casting to close the back-gear fully in.

Mine has a vee pulley now but it originally had flat belt. They came from Myford with either as a customer option, but early ones were sold as default with flat belt and later ones with vee pulleys.

I doubt you will want to paint it its original colour, which was a rather hideous shade of green. Not the modern soft green, but a vicious shade of malachite. I think it had a bit of yellow in it. I have seen flakes of it in areas of mine that have never properly been cleaned.

Edited By Andy Ash on 26/08/2016 10:57:08

Mystery solved re. shaft at left hand rear. It is for the cast iron guard, which was in a box of bits that came with the lathe.

The electric motor is fitted with a step pulley with the largest pulley on the outer end of the long motor shaft, but only one drive pulley on the bench mounted counter shaft casting assembly. A bit odd, but I have seen photos of the same lathes with exactly the same set-up.

Mike.

Brian, I had the same problem with photos until I started using Chrome.

Ian S C

Thank you Ian, I also use Chrome as that will support the Norton software and Rapport protection against malware for when I am using the computer on accounts etc at the bank.

​I'll try it to see if it works for me.

Regards Brian

I have uploaded some photos to an album. perhaps these will determine the model ?

I stripped the motor today and found that one end was filled with sawdust.

Apart from that, it looks in good order with quiet bearings, so apart from a repaint, I will leave well alone. The alloy end covers and foot have been stripped and etch primed and I just have the centre section to derust and prime.

Not sure if this morot can be fitted to a Dewhurst switch, as only one set of windings are on the terminal studs.

Motor has a centrifugal switch which brings in the other winding for starting.

Mike.

I now have a list of the change wheels that are with the lathe.

65/ 60/ 55/ 50/ 45/ 40/ 35/ 25/

Is this complete set ,or are any missing ?

Mike.

Mike

I had a lathe like yours to start with - it was a good introduction!

Click HERE for the best information I've found.

Norman

Edited By NJH on 26/08/2016 19:33:28

I think you might have some missing there.

Not including the ones that are part of the tumbler, I have;

2 x 20

then

25 - 65 in steps of five

Eleven in total.

Thanks Norman for the link.

Good information on there and when I looked on there previously, I had not realised there was a page 2, so now more in the clear.

I am still not sure of the difference between the ML3 and ML4. Is the ML3 a longer bed lathe ?

The motor, by the way ,is an AEI and would seem to be original.

One other question, is the headstock driving belt a Z or A section. I intend to buy some of the split type belt for easy removal.

Mike.

.

I linked directly to page 2, yesterday morning

... All's well that ends well.

MichaelG.