Hemingway Myford Saddle Stop kit

Hi

Has anyone made and installed the Hemmingway multi position saddle stop kit on their Myford 7. I'm fairly new to model engineering and am having difficulty understanding the plans. In particular the main block needs to be split in a couple of places but I'm not sure where. Has anyone got any photos of the build or final product which would give me a clue?

I've phoned and emailed Hemingway but they haven't answered.

Any help would be much appreciated..

Many thanks - Jonathan.

Hello Jonathan, I will dig mine out and send photos if you give me an hour or two. It’s a really good piece of kit.

Have made a couple of them, PM me and I will send pics etc. Would upload them here but is a bit beyond my abilities.

Have you got a photo of the casting - the Hemmingway site only shows the end result.

Thanks for the rapid response folks.

Bazyle - here are the pictures of the casting.

Hope the images are helpful, not sure about slits but there is a t slot at the rear. I did not have a casting mine is from a block of black steel

just occurred to me ---I have a brand new un used Myford stop unit for sale if anyone wants to Pm me

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 20/10/2020 15:24:01

Thanks Bernard. The photos are really helpful. I understand now that the slits in the drawing are showing the cuts of the Saddle and Guide rail clamps although in your version you haven't split the Saddle clamp. Is that correct?

Also I understand that when you use the stop you clamp the stop block to the guide rail, but how is the saddle clamp used? Is it just clamped in place when you are setting upand then release during operation?

Thanks again - Jonathan

My personal opinion is that the saddle clamp is unnecessary, Myford provided a perfectly good one on the back of the saddle.

Good point Baz. That saves some machining as well.

I found another thread on the forum which explains some changes which allows the kit to be used with a cross feed. It involves reducing the width of the rail so the saddle can slide over it. Has anyone tried this approach?

No but I should like the details.

regards Martin

Here is the link :-

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=61441

The brass clamp (split cotter) does need to be split, one half is threaded and the other half clearance. Then tightening the screw pulls them together clamping the bar from both sides which is better than a simpler cotter that only clamps against one side.

It’s a nice project but if you want something that does the job for a fraction of the work there’s one in ‘The Amateur’s Lathe’ by LH Sparey. His only provides one length stop but it’s a simple enough modification. I fully agree with Baz,by the way,that the place for a saddle lock is at the saddle.

I think the saddle clamp part is 'mission creep' or adding a feature for added 'value' like those electrically operated slide out computer cup holders.

Challenge: think of another feature to add.
My offer for this is a flip down 5 thou shim that makes the stop stop short until the final cut when you take it out and clean up the face to dimension.

I did buy this from Myfords at a show a few years back. It does not do a great range of length but for small parts up the chuck end it works well in conjunction with a chuck backstop. The device makes use of existing tapped holes so no modification of the lathe required. Don't know if they still have any, maybe worth an eMail.

regards Martin

Martin, I much prefer a stop on the left hand side, if you had different length screws you could possibly get a greater range of lengths, the Hemmingway version is only any good for a couple of inches and the big downside of it is that you cannot wind the saddle towards the tailstock, the clamping block being on the right hand side of the apron limits this so it is impossible to get say a boring tool far enough away for you to be able to measure a hole.

Actually Baz my issue with it was the screws were too long. I was turning pivots on clock arbors with the material in a Myford collet so the tool tip needed to be very near the spindle nose. The screws shown could only be wound in until they touched the mounting block. My solution as I was reluctant to cut down the nicely blacked screws was remove them all and intsall a cap head screw in one of the positions screwed right in. That gave me a dead stop with the top slide adjusting for exact length.

The Myford boys were just playing around with an idea and made a few up for the show.

I have never really missed not having a saddle stop until I bought this one but I can see it is handy now and again.

I do have Graham Meeks Saddle handwheel which I find a great help.

I guess it makes it even less likely that I will modify my Hemmingway kit but you never know.

regards Martin