ML10 toolpost advice

Hi,

I have just bought a Myford ML10 from a friend. It appears to have had very little use and is in excellent condition. I have to buy some tooling for it now. I am leaning towards replacable tip type tools initially.

It is currently fitted with a 4-way toolpost but it seems that the base of the toolpost recess to center height is just a little over 6mm so limits the toolheight. I have previously been using a friends ML7 fitted with a quick change Dickson style toolholder for various jobs and covet one of those but again it is height limited.

I did read about reducing the topslide height in order to use 8mm tools. I have access to a Bridgeport mill so can do that, I just wondered if others had been here before me and what advice was available.

Regards,

Colin

I think the problem arises because the original ML 10 top slide was not designed to have a 4 way toolpost, just a single tool clamped directly onto the slide.

I had similar situation on my ML10 which has a "foreign" top slide, and I took quite a bit of material off the slide and the toolpost, using the 4 jaw chuck and an alternative toolpost mounted on the cross slide as I had no other machine available. This worked out well, though at the expense of the indexing ratchet.

If you only need 2mm or so you should be able to take all that safely off the toolpost, and if you have a mill you can do it be deepening the tool slots rather than reducing the underside. The lower flange on my toolpost is now 7mm thick and it still seems very substantial, so 6mm is perhaps a safe limit.

I hope this is some help.

You can deepen the slots in the fourway toolpost by machining it in the lathe, with no need for a milling machine. I have done this before on an ML7. I held a suitable (16mm from memory) end mill cutter in the three-jaw chuck and used packing strips under the tool post to raise it to the correct height and then took a couple of cuts across each surface. A bit of fiddling about but not too hard. In fact, in your case, a 16mm cutter would be just right height to suit an 8mm tool bit with no packing under the tool post. Be sure to lock the carriage and topslide in position when taking cut and use the cross slide for feed. (Even if you have to nip up a topslide gibscrew to get the locking effect.)