Evenings all

John here. A Taunton based wave, anybody local do feel free to reach out.

So annoyingly my dad died a decade back (He was a radio engineer though with huge mechanical skills, very old school) and amongst other things my inheritance included a few hundred copies of M.E starting off in the 30's and progressing through the war and to the years beyond. This included the issues around The bombing of the M.E publishing house and their refusal to not get waylaid by such a triviality. fascinating stuff. The interesting thing is that basically all issues and articles pretty much ignore the war completely, lest it interrupts with the important stuff!

So having got the bug and having moved to a new residence with a decent sized garage I decided to revert to second childhood early and bought myself a Myford 7, a Centec 1a mill and an Alba shaper. Job lot from a guy in north wales. Heavy metal indeed!

Why? shrug, engineering fascinates me and I wish to make stuff, no idea what, lets get a workshop up and running first! The journey is the experience not some end product, I like knowledge and the gaining of it.

I practise and teach a martial art for 30 years, was in I.T. (back when it was interesting) so very used to people looking to me for the answers, so it is also very refreshing to admit that i know very little here, all going to be a brand new journey, as a result I will no doubt be asking some very daft questions. Rest assured I will have tried to find out the answer first .

The Myford came with a rubbish stand so have managed to source an original and first job is mounting that on an uneven floor. Am 6'4 so need it raised, so decided to place it on high density concrete blocks eventually hoping to get the drip tray and raiser blocks as time and money allow. Self levelling compound and sit them on it or just four mortar beds?

I admit some things confuse me, why are four levelling screws £60+ from myford, is this not the whole point of having a lathe?

Anyway forgive the above ramble, its all a bit overwhelming at this point, but that of course is the fun.

John

Welcome along John, ask away on here always someone with an idea.

Hello John,

You don't need to pay Myford those sort of sums for raising blocks, I made mine from 100 x 50 x 6 mm welded box section with long bolts through to the bench frame below. The benching is all in Dexion slotted angle with a top surface of 20 mm flooring grade chipboard and 3 mm hardboard for a clean surface,,, well it was clean once!

If you have welding skills the level adjusting can be done with short M12 bolts through M12 nuts welded to the top surface of the rectangular box section, through which are long bolts to the lathe mounting feet. To lock the adjustment nyloc nuts were fitted under the adjusters to secure the setting once it is achieved

I have a compatability difficulty with posting photos etc on the website, but can send to your email address of course

Mine is wood_y(at)btinternet(dot)com

Welcome to the forum by the way

Regards

Brian.

Welcome to the kindergarten John, you are sure to find any help on here. What are you intending to make in your new workshop?

Brian

Welcome! I'm not a million miles away in North Dorset, near Shaftesbury. I've an ML7 as well, still a novice but learning fast (most of the time the hard way).

Welcome.

A plethora of Brians! Cheers guys. and Chris. Thanks for the welcome.

No idea, first desire is to build a functioning workshop from the packed garage mayhem that currently exist. No welder as yet, that of course is a must have and might need that sooner than i thought. did stick a mg midget back together a good few decades ago with a mig, so hopefully that will come back easily enough. Once got lathe functioning then milling machine, then the shaper. With learning how to use them at least to a basic level competently, that will no doubt take me up to next summer at least given rest of life.

As for what then, no idea, just wish to be able to make what i need, whether in metal or wood. Home foundry work is of interest, fascinated by the 'Gingery' home casting books.

Yeah that £65 price wasn't even for the raising blocks, just 4 adjusting bolts!

Thanks for the description, will drop you a mail.

John

Welcome John , how’s about making yourself some simple tools , like a pin punch and a center punch , both are relatively easy for a beginner to make and will be useful to have in your workshop .

Hello John, as Kevin suggested try making some tooling for the machines first then try something like a simple oscillator/wobbler engine. It really adds to your confidence when you have a simple running motor that you can say "I built that". Another John

Hi John and a warm welcome from mid Dorset, hi also to a 'fellow Dorsetshire swarfmaker' Jon

I am slightly further away (near Dorchester), you are welcome to give me a shout and pop in for a cuppa if passing this way.

In case you are building up your tooling I might have some bits of interest as I have collected excess of things like morse taper sleeves, end mills and tool bits over the years (plus some other more random items).

Don't be embarrassed if you have no specific projects in mind as there are plenty of us that enjoy 'fiddling' and learning new skills as much as producing a particular masterpiece. Many of us have had no training and rely upon learning from others and asking what to many may seem daft questions. The question is not daft if you need to know the answer.

My suggestion for a useful turning project is a tailstock die holder.

Reading this thread I am wondering if you have to be called John to participate!!!

(another) John

Don't be embarrassed if you have no specific projects in mind as there are plenty of us that enjoy 'fiddling' and learning new skills as much as producing a particular masterpiece. Many of us have had no training and rely upon learning from others and asking what to many may seem daft questions. The question is not daft if you need to know the answer.

I've spent the best part of 30 years doing just that! The interesting part comes though when you are asked to do something - and you suddenly realise that your skills have increased such than you can do it!

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Hi John,

Welcome from another (retired) martial artist, over 40 years of Aikido. Enjoy the learning and playing with the machines.

Russell

Hello John, Taunton you say, thats just ten miles from here.

There is a pretty active local club if you are interested http://www.tauntonme.org.uk/index.html

I'm not a member at the mo due to other commitments.

Edited By Tim Chambers on 11/11/2018 10:54:10

I need to move my machines around some times esp spring time for a total w/shop clean out.....

the heavy / akward machines (4) and metal cabinets are on a chassis type frame that u can use a pallet truck under.......

U could just make em a bit taller to suit ur needs.....

have some fun......

… 'Yeah that £65 price wasn't even for the raising blocks, just 4 adjusting bolts!'

Have a look at …

**LINK**

'Machine mounts'.... usual disclaimer.

George.

.

I am bewildered : **LINK**

https://www.myford.co.uk/acatalog/LEVELLING-SCREWS-FOR-RAISING-BLOCKS-2684.html

... Was it the big yellow anti-vibration pads that you were pricing ? **LINK**

https://www.myford.co.uk/acatalog/4-MACHINE-ANTI-VIBRATION-PADS-3661.html

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 13/11/2018 14:10:39

John Paton, PM sent!

Martin

Hello John, welcome to the forum.

Neil

Hi John,

Dont worry about not being sure what to make. I bought my lathe over 20 years ago and you might ask "What did you make over that time ?" Not sure,but I think I must have made something [along with many,many mistakes ] Even if you never make anything useful,it,s a great way to let of steam or pass a wet Sunday.

Beware ! You are on a slippery slope and there,s no going back ! How do I know? ask me !

Enjoy your new hobby,I do ! Once you get started you will find loads of things to make/repair. It,s great fun,and there,s no one breeding down your neck,and you can clock in and out any time you feel like it. What more could you want ?

Welcome!

VAST quantities of skill and experience on here. You may well be able to give as well as to receive.

I have made raising blocks, before from box section, with studs carrying two nuts inside the box, and three outside.

The bottom internal one carries the load onto the box section. The upper internal one locks against the first external one. The next one up carries the foot of the lathe, and the uppermost clamps the lathe foot onto the stud.

basically, the studs do the work of raising the lathe, whilst the box section stabilises the stud to minimise bending.

This arrangement raises the lathe, and allows easy adjustment for removing any twist from the bed, which will improve the chances of turning parallel over any distance.

My 300Kg lathe sits on six 1/2 UNF setscrews in this way, so your ML7 should be OK on M8 studs (mine originally used 5/16 BSF bolts from memory)

Now you are in for hours and hours of enjoyment. By all means start by making some tools that you will need. As your confidence grows, so will the range of work that you can do. (When I first got a ML7 never imagined that I would eventually cut gears or screw threads)

You would be amazed by the work that has been done on a ML7, or even smaller lathes.

Howard