ML7 cross slide mystery screws

Can anyone shed any light on what these 2 2BA socket screws x 3/4" on the cross slide on the left of the photo are intended for? If they were for an accessory, they are very small

Note the missing oil nipple centre photo, now replaced

Hello Brian,

I suspect you actually mean the pair on the right hand side of your picture! Those are screws, not the only ones, that hold the apron up to the saddle.

Another Brian

Now pay attention at the back

2 screws top left and bottom left on the cross slide

I've a Super 7, rather than an ML7; mine are used for securing the top of gib key.
Slacken them slightly, adjust the key with the horizontal grub screws, and nip up the vertical ones.

Bill

You can find the Myford ML7 operator manual as a pdf file online, which includes exploded parts lists. The standard ML7 cross slide on the parts list doesn't show anything like your screws, but also shows a slide that appears to have fewer t slots than yours (3 behind the top slide pivot hole). Does you machine have the optional accessory extended cross slide ? Do the screws just tap into the cross slide, or do they pass through into something else like a Super 7 block gib strip as Bill mentioned above ?

Nigel B.

I believe that this was a super 7 cross 5 slot slide added. Its longer than the original 3 slot version

both screws screw into the top slide, (correction screw into the gib below) the bottom left one i could see right through to the floor as I ran a tap through to clear the hole. They were both tight and didnt seem to affect anything when loosened.

see below - I was looking through the gib strip

Edited By brian jones 11 on 11/08/2021 11:52:34

Mystery solved, I have 3 screws holding the single gib strip vertically (not two as in the super 7 diag)

https://www.myford.co.uk/acatalog/Myford_Super_7_Carriage_Assembly.html

so in fact I need to slacken off these screws before adjusting the gib strip (not obvious to me)

So Im glad I queried their function

Cheers

So I have been thinking about this gib arrangement and havent met this before, so I dont really understand the proper way to adjust the vertical vs horizintal degrees of freedom

Can anyone tell me if there is a correct way to proceed (bit like tightening bolts on a cylinder head, the hand book should tell you which order and how much torque)

Mine has a single length strip on a 5 slot cross slide with three vertical gib bolts

Slacken the top screws just enough to let the gib move …then adjust with the side screws.

Then tighten the top screws and hope that it’s not too tight.

Repeat until you get it right

MichaelG.

Can anyone tell me if there is a correct way to proceed

I don't know if the method I used on the 4 screw, 2 piece gib arrangement on my S7 is "correct" or not, but it seemed to work.

Slacken all the clamping screws (the ones you originally asked about), then tighten them just enough take up the slack without fully tightening them.

Slacken the locknuts on the adjusting grub screws & reset them as above.

I have a recollection that I disconnected the cross slide screw bracket to be able to slide the cross slide by hand to set the adjusting screws - easier to move the slide through it's full stroke & feel for slack or tight spots by hand rather than use the feed screw.

When you are getting close to a nice "feel", snug up the locknuts on the adjusting screws - feel for any changes in tightness & tweak the adjusting screws to suit. When the locknuts are quite firm & the slide is still moving freely, start to snug up the clamp screws & check for changes to tightness. When all screws & nuts are snug & the slide is still moving freely, fully tighten the clamp screws.

Screw the cross slide screw into the nut (minilmal thread showing) and refit the screw bracket to the cross slide in that position.

When you are getting close, only very small adjustments are required. You are aiming for a smooth sliding movement without binding or slackness & it takes a bit of tweaking here & there to achieve that. You will probably end up backing off the adjuster screw you started with slightly as the others are taken up. Oil up the slide before you start. Use the short end of the Allen key to apply the adjusting screw torque lightly by finger & thumb - you will not be applying much beyond the point that the screw stops moving. When you get to snugging up the locknuts, you will probably have to hold the adjusting screws with the Allen key while tightening the nut to stop the screw moving.

I just tighten the screws & locknuts by "feel" - they are only small screws, so don't need cranking down on hard. Just tight enough to stop them coming loose in operation. Diffiicult to describe "feel", as it is also to describe how much resistance to sliding motion on the slide is "just right". Sorry I can't be more precise than that.

Not something you will need to be doing that often, though. I don't think I have had to revisit mine since I went over the machine after I bought it over 20 years ago. It hasn't seen a huge amount of use since then - though that may change in a year or two - but I still don't expect to have to tweak the gibs on a regular basis.

HTH

Nigel B.