Which stand for Myford ml7

Hi again everyone,

I have my lathe at the moment, cleaning it and adjusting it on a chest of drawers.

but obviously I would like to get something a lot better.

id obviously like the proper Myford stand, but they are selling these for ridiculous prices.

would I get away with some riser blocks and a drip tray on the chest of drawers or is this just asking for trouble.

any help appreciated as always.

cheers

chris m…..

It really needs something more rigid then "just a chest of drawers"

When you adjust the mounting bolts to correctly set up the lathe bed in accordance with the Myford ML7 Manual, there will likely be some twisting force that a chest of drawers will not resist. That said, when I first had a ML7( 68 years ago) it just sat on a bench and did what I needed at the time.

Although now unused (I have oher lathes) it sits mounted on a substantial bench, the top of which disguises the fact that underneath there is a large piece of channel girder!

I made mine, fabricated from RHS (square section tube). There was a lot in the scarp bin at work. The Myford stand might be too low for you, I finished up with 6" square timber under mine, much less backache. Get the cross slide handle level with your navel is about right.

You can make it deeper front to back as well, the motor sticks out anyway, making it deeper gives more storage space and more stability

Edited By duncan webster on 30/05/2022 15:47:05

LOTS of ML7 users on here to help you.

You don't have to have the Myford stand.

What is needed is a sturdy, stable, support for the lathe.

Riser blocks are a good idea, they will make "levelling" the lathe a lot easier. The main object is not to set the lathe absolutely level, as such, but to eliminate twist from the bed so that it cuts parallel.

It might be an idea to make the bench top from some thick kitchen worktop. Within reason, the thicker the better, for stiffness. A lathe mounted on a flexible surface will never give consistent results.

Having got a stiff surface, the riser blocks are useful to adjust the mounting feet of the lathe to eliminate twist from the bed.

HOW?

Ian Bradley's "The Amateurs Workshop" and his "Myford Series 7 Manual" both quote the method advocated by Myford. Sometimes known as "Rollie's Dad's Method"

Ian Bradley relates the procedure, and says which mounting to adjust and in which direction, to minimise twist..

Basically, you set a length of steel, at least 1" diameter, (the thicker the better, so aim for 1.5" or even 2" ) set to protrude 4 - 6" from the chuck.

Skim the OD to just clean up, before turning a thinner sectiojn in the middle, to leave a collar standing proud at each end. (A bit like a long cotton reel ) A light cut , without any any further adjustment over both collars should tell you if the lathe is cutting parallel. Different diameters at each end will indicate that it isn't, and the need to adjust the mounting feet under the Tailstock.

Follow the instructions to correct the fault, and take another very light skim, (0.003" or so The minimum to just clean up the collar ).

Repeat this procedure until both diameters are the same. Make small adjustments each time.

There is a certain amount of trial and error to begin, but having fixed the Headstock end, sensible adjustments under the Tailstock end should bring things to where they need to be.

Ideally, both collars will finish up being the same diameter.

It can be also done with an alignment bar held only in the chuck using a sensitive spirit level

Once the bed is free from twist, then the Alignment bar, between centres, can be clocked to align the Tailstock.

It would only be moved from this setting if it is desired to turn a taper, longer than can be achieved with the Top Slide.

Howard

Edited By Howard Lewis on 30/05/2022 16:26:27

Something rigid, i.e not going to twist, bend, flex or wobble. A well-made chest of drawers might just do, and a length of kitchen worktop on top to spread the load would help. Self-assembly furniture would need substantial stiffening, for example the usual sheet of hardboard tacked on the back isn't good enough to stop lozenging.

Cheap kitchen worktop is good enough provided it's reasonably supported underneath, say by 2 by 4" legs and some side struts, Even better if two of the legs are replaced by a battened wall. More for rigidity than strength: the lathe won't perform well if the worktop moves under it. A mini-lathe would be OK on a chest of drawers but Myfords are heavier and more likely to twist (not a bad thing on a sturdy bench, because it allows bed alignment to be fine tuned.)

Dave

Good afternoon, Chris and Good'ay, Kwil,

I would advocate making or procuring a metal stand rather than a wooden one. Wood is not dimensionally stable, it will warp when the humidity changes and a stout piece of natural wood can exert very high forces. I don't know the situation with MDF, it might be OK if reinforced and supported in the right places.

My own ML7 sits on a home made sheet metal stand reinforced with angle iron. The front and rear top edges are reinforced with long pieces of angle and there are 'bridges' going from front to rear that take the weight of the lathe via the raising blocks and through the sheet metal drip tray. Steel does expand and contract when temperature changes but it does so in a more predictable and manageable way than the type of movement exhibited by wood. The important thing is to design the structure so that any movement of the stand has the same effect on both raising blocks - it sounds as though Kwil's bench satisfies that criterion.

My stand started life as a stores 'bin', the term 'bin' is misleading, it was actually a steel shelf unit about 6 or 7 feet high with adjustable shelves. It had side pieces with flanges front and rear, these were connected by a rear steel panel secured with nuts & bolts. I had lunch-time access to machine shop facilities at work and cut the side pieces into four lengths to suit the desired height of the cabinet. Two of those lengths were folded 90 degrees down their centre lines and screwed to the other two which, in turn, were connected by a cut-down portion of the original rear panel. Part of the remaining piece of the rear panel was folded to form a floor while the top was reinforced with angle iron as described above. The drip tray was made using a piece of sheet steel purchased through the Firm's 'Staff Sales' facility. A couple of shelves completed the cabinet.  The original intention was to add lockable doors to the front opening but I never got 'round tuit'!  It isn't perfect but it has served me well for fifty years.

There has been much debate on this site regarding the need to secure the lathe cabinet or stand to the workshop floor. My own cabinet is free-standing. It also has two lengths of the angle iron secured to the ends of the cabinet at floor level, web downwards and pointing outward. For the first twenty years of its life, it stood on a couple of strips of half-inch hard felt. That seemed to work OK.

While I'm writing, I'll add my two penneth about H32 oil. As has been said, it is a hydraulic oil, the same as farmers use in the hydraulic equipment on their tractors. Farmers can't afford to pay more than absolutely necessary for anything. So, I buy my H32 (or equivalent) in 5 litre flagons from my local agricultural engineers. Considerably cheaper than either eBay or other suppliers selling by the pint!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 30/05/2022 16:13:28

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 30/05/2022 16:16:17

When I moved my ML7 into the new workshop, I built a stand from 50mm square steel tubing. The lathe was originally in a spare bedroom on a piece of kitchen worktop on some old kitchen units. It worked fine but I wanted something better in the new shop.

I already had riser blocks and an original Myford driptray but I replaced that with a more substantial one that I picked up from a workshop clearance. That one is 3mm steel and very solid. The crosslide handle is at elbow height as has been mentioned which makes using the lathe for long periods quite comfortable.

It now has two shelves fitted on the rails which hold all the chucks etc.

John

Edited By John Baguley on 30/05/2022 16:30:45

Although the Myford bed is at the light end of substantial lathe beds it is still fairly substantial. The motor and pulley drive are mounted on the back of the bed and may put a load on the bed that is inclined to twist the bed. I think it would be a fair assumption that the bed was true when it was manufactured but it would not be impossible that it could no longer be true due to being bolted down carelessly or age has moved it. When you set the lathe up it is desirable that it will machine the same diameter on as long a piece of work as possible so many people talk of twisting the bed to make it cut true but I think the exercise is to bolt the bed down without imparting any twist. The desirable bench needs to be stable and strong. Wood is material that is affected by humidity and does move so a metal bench or cabinet should be stable whatever the humidity. If the bed does actually need to be loaded to turn true then the bench or cabinet will need to be stronger than the bed to move it. As the Myford is mounted at 4 points then care should be taken to adjust the riser blocks so they do not twist the bed or if the bed has acquired a twist then it can be corrected with careful adjustment.
Mike

I suppose it depends on your definition of "ridiculous prices", but there's one in the for sale section if you are anywhere near south London.

John

Myford base

edit - added link

Edited By John Hinkley on 30/05/2022 17:01:50

In the pasted 25 years I've made two,Most of the copied the Myford outline details, internally the same as John Baguley. Most of the material was from the tip when recycling was recycling. I was up there recently with garden rubbish and could believe what folk were throwing out, most of it was easily fixable, I'm sure thing will change very soon. John

Ah! A typical engineer.

To the practical, many things can be repaired or improved.

Look at how many Drummond lathes are still in use, ditto Myford ML7s dating from 1947.

Some Austin 7s are still on the road and running although over 80 years old. But I fear that my 67 plate car won't be running in 80 years time, even if petrol is still available!

For those without practical skills and knowledge, if it doesn't work as intended, "It can't be fixed, so throw it away and buy a new one",,aided by designed in obsolescence.

A good quality lawnmower, bought cheaply, secondhand, served us well for many years, until the casting finally rotted through; ONCE I'd fitted the blade the right way round!

Howard

Edited By Howard Lewis on 30/05/2022 19:01:14

I would recommend against the use of boards such as MDF or chipboard used in kitchen worktops. Whilst the material appears initially to be strong enough to support the load without excessive deflection, over a period of time it creeps without further loads being applied. This is often seen where rough shelving is made of chipboard, particularly when the moisture content may be relatively high, as may be the case in a garage or unheated shed used as a workshop.

I don't know its trade-name name, but the bench surface under my EW lathe is a material made for laboratory and light-assembly benches, and my piece was indeed one of such, obtained from the scrap skip at work!

It is a very dark synthetic resin-bonded paper board 15mm thick, with thin, light-grey outer laminae for appearance. It is hard and abrasive to cut and you don't want to breathe in the saw-dust, but it is very stable. The exposed edge can be polished to a tidy sheen.

Even so, and I think this particularly important for any machine-tool bench, the lathe's weight is transferred through it to cross-members on a welded angle-steel frame (itself on castors).

I have also used same to cover my inherited timber work-bench which though well made, has what look like scaffold boards for its top. This carries both a Meddings bench drill and a Drummond hand-shaper without problems, both held by bolts in though-holes tapped in the laminate itself.

For the price of a used copy, the section on making a bench & setting-up the lathe in Sparey's 'The Amateurs Lathe' would probably be a good purchase for you - it contains a drawing, and useful comment on choice of material and construction..

..as well as all his other useful advice..

I see several answers recommend metal stands because wood is 'dimensionally unstable' due to changing humidity, Whilst I agree metal stands are a 'good thing' in that they avoid that risk, I wonder if the risk of wood moving due to humidity is overstated. My pine wooden bench is reinforced with a kitchen worktop and I find it hard to believe the combination would move enough to disturb the accuracy of even a delicate Myford lathe!

Of course a wooded bench moves slightly, but provided it's stiff enough in the first place, it all moves together and the top stays level. And although metal stands are don't move due to humidity, they do with temperature change, and are more likely to vibrate. (Both fixed by by adding a heavy granite slab top, but rarely done even by perfectionists.)

I suspect metal stands are a council of perfection, when all that's really necessary for hobby purposes is a sufficiently stout support.

Anyone know what Bert Munro's bench was made of?

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 31/05/2022 08:30:09

At the rate commodities are increasing in price, that offering in the sales section may soon be at a sensible price!

I note some, on epay, are asking 75 quid for a pair of riser blocks! Arrghhh - one pair at £145, too! Lots of things for sale are over-priced.

There is a myford stand on BIN (or best offer) for less than £200, so that one seems OTT.

Maybe a ML8 stand might do, with a robust drip tray (say 10mm thick steel🙂 ) would suffice? Much cheaper on epay.

Dunno who the seller might be on the classified. Could be a genuine forum member or even just someone who joined just to sell parts. Worth ringing, if only to make an offer? It does say ‘ONO’ so see if your offer is near enough🙂 , whatever it might be?🙂

Ok here is my twopence worth.

Regarding wooden stands/benches. Much has been said about movement but sealing the wood will prevent or at lest drastically reduce changes due to humidity.

I believe that for a Myford sized lathe the important thing to look for in a stand is mass. The stand should be substantial to better absorb vibration rather than concerns about small amounts of movement upsetting alignment. I would rather have a set up that turns to a good finish is not prone to chatter and does not generate a great deal of noise from drumming panels etc and have to give the front tailstock jacking screw a tiny tweek occasionally when I want something dead parallel.

I have a standard Myford stand which has large 45 degree panels on all four corners making of a structure that resists twist to a high degree. My friend built a heavy oak cupboard style bench with the drip tray attached to that and never had any problems either.

regards Martin

What is the shed floor? Rigid stand on wibbly wobbly wood is waste of time. How about concrete floor and pile of breeze blocks under the headstock end, bricks under the tailstock. Can't find a cheap drip tray - cast in concrete.

£275 is a good price but I have seen them as low as £100 on Facebook and free ad sites like Spock.
I have always wondered about using an Ml8 wood working stand but not sure about the length.

Also machine mart do substantial benches with plywood top. Perhaps a kitchen worktop top on top would help?

Bazyle -

I was faced with that problem in my previous home, so made a concrete base for the shed, then cut holes in the wooden floor to build brick plinths on the concrete for the machines.

David -

That sounds reasonable though I would fit steel angle or channel cross-pieces to the bench, below the boards, so they rather than the boards take the weight.

.

Regarding riser-blocks, I don't see why structural steel channel could not be used, with levelling screws as its own surface or the bench on which they stand may not be very flat or free of twist. It may be possible to obtain short off-cuts from a steel-buildings company or a steel-stockholder that cuts to order for its trade customers. Fit it with the web upwards, like a little tunnel.