It's Only Taken Me 46 years!

Hello, My name is Guy and I've finally got my hands on a lathe (Myford ML7) after sending off for a brochure to Myfords in 1972 aged 9. In the intervening years I've cultivated a love of railways and engineering in general. I am also an O Gauge modeller mainly scratch building locos from the pre-grouping era. As for work, I'm a Blacksmith specializing in the restoration of architectural ironwork (both cast and wrought) and, I can say that my forge looks all the better for a Myford nestled in the corner. So, being not very experienced in machine work or bench fitting I intend to pick your collective brains. (Blacksmiths rules only have 1/8" delineations on them so please be patient with me!)

Best

Guy

Welcome Guy, where is the Smithy?

Just give us a general location in your profile .

You're very welcome Guy - blacksmithing is highly admirable and I'd love to have a go. Sadly my back garden isn't suitable for setting up a forge!

Dave

Good for you Guy,remember it,s never a good idea to rush into things ! Took me almost as long to get here,but it,s worth it. Would love to be able to do your kind of work.

Welcome Guy, you're in good company here. If you have any questions then please ask them, there are no silly questions only very occasional silly answers.

Brian

Welcome Guy,

Don't calculate how much you could have saved buying the lathe in the 70s and laying it up...

Neil

Hello Guy,

Before you do much more, I would pay some serious attention to protecting the lathe from forging fumes and abrasive dust.

There will probably be a lot of SO2 released from the coke and not all of it will be carried away in the fume hood. Being acidic it will interact rapidly with machined surfaces and eat into them out of sight. On the few visits to working blacksmith's shops I have been lucky enough to get to, everything gets coated in black dust which is often gritty to the touch and that do will do it's best to make a grinding paste on oily precision surfaces, with predictable results

A clean area sealed off from the rest of the shop is where I would house the lathe. After all this time you will want to enjoy it and you could do so looking at it through a window instead of directly.

Regards

Brian

WELCOME!

Brian took the words off my fingers about protection. A good, impervious sheet, at least.

I know of at least one mini lathe that had a custom made wooden cover. That would make sweeping off the dust a lot easier. Do protect it well, no point in damaging the lathe after a 46 year wait.

Wish that i had not ignored two chances to learn some Blacksmithing! A most useful skill.

Howard

Thanks for your welcome and advice chaps, I realise a forge is not the healthiest environment for a lathe (grinder particles especially) and I'm going to make a Sterling Board cover and perhaps some trace heat in the from of a tubular heater for the 9 months of winter we get in South Cumbria,( the other 3 months being just bad weather! )

From memory the cost of a new Myford ML7 was about £530 in '72, and I can recall making a pocket money graph against time to project a likely purchase date at a rate of 10/- a week.

I think I'm ahead of my schedule so can't complain.

Looking forward to your opinions, help and guidance.

Guy