ML7 cross-slide and compound slide bearing upgrades

Apologies if I've already asked this at some point - I got side-tracked with finishing a project rather than fettling equipment.

Does the Arc-Euro ML7 cross-slide bearing upgrade also apply to the compound slide?

Thanks.

Apparently it only applies to the cross slide. Not sure why.

I this the needle roller bearing thrust washers.

Steve.

Yes.

I was having issues with my cross slide with play. Not sure if you saw my youtube vid addressing this, without any needle roller bearings. I do prattle on a bit but you will see the basics of the problem i had & managed to fix.

Steve.

Super 7 cross slide play

If you do this mod to the cross slide remeber you cannot do it on the lathe you take apart.

It might be better to buy a spare bearing bracket and machine that and the replace on the lathe.

I did this on my ML10 and it makes a big difference to its operation.

In this case I took the bearing bracket off my vertical slide and machine that and the swapped them over.

Whether the ML7 vertical slide bracket is the same as the lathe cross slide bracket i do not know.

I locked the cross slide and used the top slide swung round to 90°, it’s handy to have a leadscrew handwheel sometimes. Luckily you need very little travel for the facing operations so just make sure the top slide handle clears the cross slide for the required travel and the cross slide is locked in the right place. A bit of a fiddle about but it worked for me.

Mike

I can’t remember how I clamped the top Slide to the cross slide as the ML7 doesn’t do 90°, must have been one of my alternative engineering solutions.

Edited By Mike Poole on 24/10/2020 09:13:50

My friend did this to his ML7, on the cross slide, top slide and vertical slide,as far as I know using the bearings from Arc for them all. I know he was extremely pleased with the results. He either jury rigged a bracket to replace the cross slide bracket or used the vertical slide one, I can't remember, and as he sadly passed away a couple of years ago so I can't ask him. I remember offering him the use of my lathe to carry out the machining, but overcoming obstacles and being independent were all part of the fun for him.

It seems a very worthwhile mod which I intend to do to my ML7R which has the same cross and top slide to the ML7.

Dave

I did this mod to both cross slide and top side. I posted about this in December 2017, if you check my posts it will explain how I did it. All the best.

Malc.

Thanks guys.

yes I’ve figured out how to use the slide in question using a dummy bracket, so that I can use the lathe to make the mod - no problem there.

Looking at the castings I can’t figure out why Arc have told me the kit is “not suitable” for the cross slide? I’m sure it’ll become clear at some point (leadscrew dimensions perhaps?), so I wondered if there was a reason you *shouldnt* do it as opposed to not being able to use the same bearing set as for the cross slide? I doubt very much this is the case.

I converted both axes of my SX2P to needle bearings without issue, and it’s made a massive improvement to the overall feel of the machine.

If you look in Arcs. listings and go down to projects there is the detail for the clross slide modification for the 'ML7'

It also applise to the ML10

Thanks Clive, I realise that, but was just wondering why it couldn’t also apply to the top slide.

Hi

I am almost at the end of the modifications to my Myford super 7 crosslide as per the design by George Thomas. I fitted two sets of needle bearings etc as per the design.

I will try and post some pics soon.

When I had to modify the crosslide bracket I had to mount it on the faceplate and then having no crosslide function, I swung the topslide through 90 and used that as the crosslide. It went ok, but I was extra careful as didnt have a spare bracket if it all happened to end in disaster!

So far it's looking to be a fantastic upgrade to the old super 7 crosslide.

Regards to all

Derek

So I had a quick look at the the slides this morning, and there seems no problem with fitting identical bearing sets to both. I have no idea why Arc said they weren't suitable. No doubt some unforeseen issue will raise it's head when I've machined some critical part!

Leadscrew ends:



Bearing housings:







Not sure what the three indents are on the inside of the topslide, but they're not modified anyway.

My intention is to mount each casting on the faceplate, aligned using a tight-fitting drill in the hole, then turn away the required amount of material. Then open up for the spindle bearing with a boring bar or appropriate sized drill.

I'm also fitting the Myford settable dials. KWIL very kindly sent me his drawings to modify the existing cast dials, but I'm a bit ashamed to say I'd rather spend the minimum possible time modifying machines. Having said that, £40 per dial is a bit steep, so if anyone knows of alternatives to Myford items I'd be interested in knowing.

Anyway, regarding the comment that it can't be done on the lathe that's being modified, I don't understand this. I can lock the topslide gibs, because I don't need it to slide, and use that casting temporarily on the cross slide. Machining a temporary housing or buying a replacement seems a waste of time and/or money; I propose to simply secure the existing one with the original caphead screws in conjunction with large washers and a couple of spacers like this:



After all I'm only going to use it once, and it seems to work fine. Can anyone see anything wrong with this method?

Cheers all.

Not sure what the issue was supposed to be with fitting the Arc bearings to the top slide - if anything they're easier to fit than the cross slide:



All back together - I added two locking nuts for the top-slide gib while I was at it. All seems to work fine and a massive improvement in terms of smoothness. The re-settable dials are a bit stiff, but they'll no doubt free up with use, and make things so much easier in terms of calculating cuts.