Myford speed10 / ml10 apron disassembly

Having noticed the volume of swarf building up in the leadscrew pinions and scratches in the bed I think it is about time I took the apron off fro cleaning.

I have the Myford 743L maintenance manual which doesn't clearly explain the sequence of disassembly or reassembly.

The lathe is over 40yrs old and reasonably looked after since new but to the best of my knowledge my father never had it apart for cleaning except for a headset bearing replacement. So I would say that the apron is long overdue a stripdown.

Can anyone point me to a youtube video, instructional website or perhaps even a digital manual. I know Myford do an additional manual 743K I think, but the price seems a bit steep for what looks like some photocopied sheets stapled together.

You do not need a manual or a video, on the front of the apron first undo the nylocl nut on the engagement leaver.and lift off the cam cover, then undo the two allen screws on the top of the apron at the front edge. this allows the front of the apron to come away. At this point you will see two headless screws that engage with the engagement cam lever cover. remove them.

The two halves of the leadscrew nuts will be able to be withdrawn ( Note here:-that the one with the small grubs crew goes to the bottom) it's adjustment iis from under neath and needs avery small allen key which you will put away somewhere and lose!

Now you have a chance to clean the whole leadscrew thread and then wash all the parts in solvent and dry off. Note:- the half nuts will likely have some very hard stuff stuck in the thread.

Re-assembly should be easy enough and for lubrication use Graphite grease.

Mine did when I did the same - I sharpened a rat-tail Swiss file and poked it out. The halfnut thread was - as near as I could tell - pristine underneath the stuff. I used graphite and moly grease, and had no more trouble.

Thanks Clive

What about the saddle, I presume I need to remove the cross slide to take it off and clean any inbedded swarf?

I tried winding the cross slide all the way back, but there is a stop of some sort to prevent it fully dis-engauging.

Jon

There was nothing on my Speed 10 that stopped me winding the crossslide off the far end of the saddle. IIRC it was a bit tricky to reassemble with the long gib strip.

You can take up crossslide backlash reasonably easily by adjusting the dial and handle lockup - but if there's roughness or tight spots the possibilities of a bent leadscrew or damaged bearing arise.

I'd suggest looking for trouble first, and, if it ain't broke...

It seems I was mistaken, given a good tug it came off. Everything much less complicated than I thought, however I still have to get to together. Oddly enough the half nuts werent in too bad shape and fairly clean, perhaps they were replaced.

Next job is to reduce the play in the lead screw. Is there a means of adjustment?

Also is ways oil sufficient for lubrication on re-assembly?

As Clive has said there is not a lot involved in dismantling the carriage. The allen screws are imperial so use the correct key. I dismantle mine every year or two and clean out any swarf that has managed to get trapped under the carriage. I then run a very fine slip stone over the top of the flat bed to remove any minor dings before reassembly. Slideway oil seems to work fine on the bed and leadscrew. I found swarf on the leadscrew was a problem before I fitted a cover to protect it.

Doug

Hi Doug

Any recommendations on slip stones?

I have been meaning to get around to making a leather swarf cover, some day I'll do it.

Yes. Hold the dial on its spanner flats, and unscrew the ball handle. Carefully take up the slack by finger-tightening the dial, then hold it as you tighten the ball handle against it. You'll likely need a few attempts to reach the best compromise - in my experience perfection is unattainable.

Edited By Mick B1 on 16/09/2020 14:50:46

All back together again. A marked improvement from before, I had approximately 40 thou tool movement from moving the carriage back and forth when turning. Now when reversing the carriage there is only a few thou clearance on the tool, very happy with that.

Also I had very uneven cuts on turning or a few thou taper on only an inch of travel. That problem has now disappeared.

Thanks for all the advise guys!