Setting up my Myford ML 10

Hello all,

I am setting up my first ME lathe, a restored Myford ML 10 which I bought locally a few weeks ago. I saw it run at the seller's house, but it was just sitting loosely on a bench, so it was a quick demo without any actual turning.

First order of business was building myself a bench for it in my basement, which is now complete. Top is two sheets of 3/4 plywood glued and screwed together, with some reinforcing 1x4" pine boards underneath to prevent warping. The bench is screwed at the back into a 2x4 screwed level into the wall studs. The front of the bench is supported by two heavy duty Ikea adjustable legs. The top was painted grey and covered with 3 coats of polyurethane to make it oil proof.

I levelled the bench and just put the lathe and motor stand on it to line things up. Some people put stands under the 4 mounting holes of the bed to do some fine tuning of the lathe levelling, but I figured that for my amateur use the lathe can sit on its flat bottom right on the bench, and secure it with a bolt in each mounting hole. Likewise I will secure the motor stand when I have figured out where to position it.

I've centered it, and placed it above the two table legs to minimize any sagging it could generate. That means the cross slide handles are over the top and not sticking out the front if the lathe was moved further forward.

I've also centered the lathe left to right, not presently having any plans to attach anything else to the bench (maybe a small temporary bench vise at one end).

I would appreciate any advice on how to best position the lathe on the benchtop, before actually drilling any holes.

I attach a few pictures to show you my setup so far.

Thank you.

Hi Robert. It looks like it has had a replacement carriage handwheel fitted and in the position shown in your photos your knuckles will certainly foul the top of the bench. Bring it forward or obtain the original handwheel. Otherwise things look fine.

Hi Robert looking at your lathe it needs a couple of spacers under the bed and then bringing forward nearer to the front face of the bench. If you look at the web site www.lathes.co.uk and look for lathes then Myford and then ML10 it will give you a few ideas what it looks like with the spacers. You could make some from a couple of blocks of steel or try and buy some on the internet.

David

Edited By David George 1 on 21/04/2018 20:54:15

Edited By David George 1 on 21/04/2018 20:54:34

Hi Jim and David, thank you for your replies.

I do have the original carriage handwheel, the previous owner had made up that bigger one for some reason.

I would prefer keeping it a bit further back from the front face of the bench, which gives room for some hand tools measuring tools etc in front of it.

Yes, I am aware that some/most place those spacers under the bed holes at head and foot of the lathe. And I gather these spacers help with fine-tuning the levelling of the lathe, but the lathe as it sits is the optimal height for me, and I'm not sure I'll be needing the absolute precision for the kinds of work I am envisioning, in the short term anyway.

Anyway, it's good for me to mull over these issues before I drill any holes in my new bench!

Cheers,

--Robert

I looked at the ML10 pictures on lathes.co.uk.

I see what you mean David about those spacers at the head and foot. And I can see that one such set was made from a block of steel as you suggested. Maybe I misunderstood that those spacers were there for levelling the lathe, and are really needed to elevate the bottom of the bed from the bench-top? The bottom of the bed seems well machined and flat, so I presumed it could just sit on top of the bench top, but maybe I'm wrong. Also, I can see it would be much easier to clean cuttings and oil from under the lathe, if it's sitting on those spacers. Mind you, without the spacers, no cuttings could get underneath it...

Here's what my Speed 10 setup was like:-

The risers made the operating height more comfortable, the 4-way toolpost gave better tooling flexibilty, and the leadscrew clutch allowed use of the leadscrew handwheel and dial for accurate length control with the geartrain disconnected.

The position of the Dewhurst switch was pretty much dictated by available space and cable lengths, but worked well.

I used this successfully enough for 15 years, but eventually the desire for bigger capability overcame my natural laziness and miserliness, and I bought a Warco WM250V.

Thanks for sharing the picture Mick. Sounds like you had a good run with the Myford for 15 years, hopefully I will also enjoy using mine for however long I can or want to.

Looks like your lathe was mounted a bit closer to the front edge of the bench than I was initially thinking for mine, so I'll have to think that over.

In my case, I had built the bench at exactly the right height so the lathe is at the ideal work height without the risers, which is one reason I would rather avoid using them if I can.

I'll also need to think about installing a proper switch for the motor, it's currently temporarily wired by the seller to demonstrate that it worked and that the lathe spun.

I'm not sure what is meant by the leadscrew clutch but I'm sure it will all make sense in the end.

A 4 way toolpost will also be in my future.

My first reaction Robert, was one of the painful sensation when my knuckles dipped into swarf under the hand-wheel. Not enough clearance as has already been indicated by other posters.

Only wish I still had one.

Have fun,

Sam

Point well taken Sam. I'll replace the carriage hand-wheel with the original (smaller) one, which will buy some space. But sounds like I would be advantaged to put some spacers under there, to gain some additional space off the bench. That either means living with the lathe an inch and a bit higher than I had thought optimal (elbow height), or else disassemble the bench and relocate an inch lower on the wall (don't relish that)... Cheers.

Robert,

The previous owner may have fitted the larger handwheel on the carriage to make movement of the carriage a bit easier. It's the one thing I don't like on my ML10 - that smallish handle on the saddle feed. So if you can get some risers to lift the lathe from the bench top you might find the larger handle better.

Jim.

I have to wonder whether that metal bench top won't "ring" a bit if you take any cuts that cause vibes or minor chatter. That was one of the factors (apart from laziness and cheapness) that made me choose a Clarke wooden bench.

Still, if there's a problem, you could probably just interpose a plywood board under the lathe.

You may need the spacers under the bed if you want to do screw cutting, or fine feed, and use a 60 or 70 tooth change gear on the end of the leadscrew?

I would move your lathe to the left by six inches or more, too. This gives you handy bench space at the right hand end to put tools and materials etc, away from the thrashing change gears and belts and out of the swarf zone.

The hand wheel on the ML10 is a bit course for accurate travel, hence the Leadscrew mod. that gives you an engraved drum/wheel that fits on the outer end of the Leadscrewand has a measured 3 mm travel. Easy to set up for zero by using the top slide. The other worthwhile mod is to fit the thrust and needle bearing on the Crosslide Leadscrew.

.

Mick,

I think the photo might be a little deceptive: The text in Robert's opening post is quite clear ...

[quote] Top is two sheets of 3/4 plywood glued and screwed together, with some reinforcing 1x4" pine boards underneath to prevent warping. The bench is screwed at the back into a 2x4 screwed level into the wall studs. The front of the bench is supported by two heavy duty Ikea adjustable legs. The top was painted grey and covered with 3 coats of polyurethane to make it oil proof. [/quote]

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 22/04/2018 14:44:38

Haha, yes, it's kind of nice that my paint job gave the plywood the look of metal!

Sounds like there are enough reasons to consider adding spacer/risers under the lathe, so I will heed this advice, and hopefully it won't affect the ergonomics too much (raising my right forearm a bit when turning the hand wheels).

I also like the advice of moving the lathe a bit off center to the left, to leave some bench space open at the right.

So I suppose it would be better to move it to the left around 6 inches or so, and forward a few inches.

Now to get a hold of some spacers...

Thanks for all the advice, I appreciate it. I'll no doubt have other questions down the road...

--Robert

I moved the lathe to the left and to the front a bit, and now the hand wheels are conveniently clearing the front of the bench so I think it would work well at that spot, and that height, without need for spacers.

Except for the reason that Hopper indicated: "You may need the spacers under the bed if you want to do screw cutting, or fine feed, and use a 60 or 70 tooth change gear on the end of the leadscrew?"

It's too early in my lathe learning to know if the above issues are some I would eventually encounter...

Here's how the revised location could look like.

How high up is the lathe? If you use it standing up (normal) it is nice to have it so the centres are at roughly elbow height.

Neil

Robert,

Don't agonise over spacers!

For my lathe (a Super 7) I drilled the worktop then passed long coachbolts (M8 I think, or or pos M10) through it, with the heads underneath. I then used the 30 mm long hexagonal spacers you get for joining lengths of studding together as nuts. I then screwed on a normal nut followed by another hex spacer, Next you put the lathe in position (on temporary wooden blocks) and screw short bolts through the feet into the top hex spacer, which you can now use to adjust the level of the lathe. Once done, you tighten the normal nut up against the top spacer (to lock it) and screw down the short fixing bolts.

My lathe had been bought with a badly drilled (in several places) deep drip/swarf tray which I replaced with an oil drip tray from Frost Automotive (meant to be slid under a vehicle to stop oil stains on the floor and approx 1200 x 600 x 15mm deep). Its a bit flimsy, but has been Ok for the last 5 years, or so ands tops most of the swarf from dropping on the floor. You might want to consider something similar.

Regards Tom

The bench height is 38.75". I had put it at that height so that with the lathe sitting flat on it the hand wheels would be in line with my elbow height. I'm glad I had read about that, it helped me to situate the bench properly.

Doh...!

Serve me right fer just lookin' at the pictures...