Update on toolpost bolts

Hi all,

I managed to find some of the toolpost bolts I was looking for and they fit perfectly.

so if anyone else is looking for these bolts, I got them from Westfield fasteners.

one question tho, these 4 way Index toolpost are supposed to be on a ratchet if I’m right, but mine just turns anyway Willy nilly, even tho it seems to work ok and also what is the grub screw and spring for.

thanks

chris m…..

Pics from previous post….,,

Edited By JasonB on 15/07/2022 14:00:08

Chris, rather than start a separate thread to add photos you keep forgetting, just reply to the first one and put the images into the reply

Grub screw and spring push a plunger on to the ratchet.

As Baz says there should also be a little plunger about 3/16" round and 1/2" long. It's hollow at the back so that most of the spring fits inside it..

Look in the driptray, on the floor, in the T slots on the cross-slide and especially in the channel between the shears.. ..all kinds of things turn up in there..

Let us know if you find it or not.

Edited By DiogenesII on 15/07/2022 14:39:11

Hi,

there is no plunger there, this is how it’s been since I got the ml7.

I’ve still been using the toolpost without any problems tho, but was wondering how the ratchet part of it was supposed to work.

I see what you mean tho, I found this picture online which shows the plunger.

I don’t have this part I’m afraid.

thanks

chris m…..

Edited By Chris Murphy on 15/07/2022 15:36:10

It seems, from your first post, that you have the spring and grub screw and Diogenes11 has given the ( approx ) size of the plunger. Now, if only you had a lathe, you could make one!

John

It'd be easily formed on the end of a piece of 3/16" Silver Steel.

The hole is 1/8" (0.125" ) diameter, drilled 1/4" (0.250" ) deep.

The overall length is 17/32" - 0.530" - call it 'a wee bit over 1/2"' - it's not a critical dimension.

The end of the plunger is turned (or can be filed) smooth and has a small chamfer about 1/16" wide all the way around.

Edited By DiogenesII on 15/07/2022 17:32:52

Chris,

Apologies for a daft question, but have you got a sprocket wheel on the bolt that the toolbox rotates on and that then fits in the recess on the bottom side of your toolbox when its all assembled. If not you won't get a positive index. The plunger on its own wont help much.

Regards Bob D

Edited By Robert Dodds on 15/07/2022 20:23:06

Bob,

Have a look at one of Chris' other posts, Topslide question thread. The ratchet wheel is displayed there. It's just the plunger that's missing.

John

I hope that you didn't loose the spring and plunger when you took the toolpost off the Top Slde!

Take a GOOD look all over the floor and in every corner!

One of your photos shows the grubscrew that closes off the hole on the outside of the toolpost.

If you cannot obtain spares from RDG / Myford, you will need to make a replacement, and find a suitable small spring. (Again, you could make one from some piano wire.

The Pawl will just be a short piece of round bar with one end filed at an angle to suit the ratchet wheel. For the sake of durability, Silver steel would be better than mild steel. Go to Cromwell Tools and buy a 13" length and start building up your store of metal that "Will come in handy one day".

If you had the dimension of the spring (Can anyone tell Chris? Wire gauge, OD, free length, no of coils  

a) you could get one made. (If they are still trrding, Vincent Springs of Peterborough, would oblige, I am sure )

Howard

Possibly a previous owner lost it! It's one of the hazards of owning older equipment; likely to have been dismantled for good and bad reasons in the past! Apart from losses due to unwise curiosity many careful experienced workers have seen a spring, plunger or ball-bearings take off, and been unable to find them.

Might have been removed deliberately too. Some folk prefer to clamp tools at an angle. If so, an indexed tool-post is a nuisance.

Even though it must reduce rigidity and increase the risk of slippage, I find cutting with tools clamped at an angle works well enough. Possibly my reason for working that way saves the day: I reserve it for delicate work like getting into awkward corners, not roughing out. But that's just me, as much habit as logic! Anyone do it most of the time, and why?

Dave

Hi,

the small plunger has never been there; I didn’t even know it had one until I saw a picture of it.

the toolpost is fine as it is, but I will see I can make the small little plunger.

thanks for the suggestions.

chris m….

There is, though, one problem with the type of bolts (or screws) you show. Whenever you are turning anything which produces a powdery swarf (wood, brass, etc) the hexagon holes will fill with swarf, and this will stick there because of the oil spray which is there already. So, your Allen key won't fit.

My guess is that the older lathes were fitted with square heads for this reason* (and small because the clearance around the head is reduced). When you get fed up with this effect, you might try cutting small square heads on ordinary hex heads - but find a nice small spanner of the right size first.

* and not just because hex socket heads were not introduced until around the time of WW2.

Cheers, Tim

Square-headed screws on anything like this were normally meant to be operated with an appropriate square-socket key, though there's nothing to say that if there is room around them, you can't use hexagon-heads with a 1/4" drive socket, or a tubular spanner / nut-driver.

I find an old, well-worn-down paint-brush usually quite effective for cleaning out Allen sockets.

.

Took a while to catch on, then

**LINK**

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search?q=pn%3DUS960244A

MichaelG.

Not really useful in this context, but I'm sure I saw mention in an old issue of ME to oiled wooden plugs being driven into hex socket head bolts to keep them clean. Although it does occur to me that getting them out again might be more trouble than it's worth.. Probably OK for large sizes, pull them out with a woodscrew?

Rob

Indeed, Michael, they did seem to take a long time. My guess is that among the factors involved were:

1. The fact that the Allen idea was patented, and perhaps they wanted too much for licenses.

2. The need for 'concentrated tightening' only became serious as aero engines, torpedos, etc were developed in wartime (ie WW2).

3. The design only works well in high-tensile steels, which were themselves slow in development.

And thank you for filling in a gap in my knowledge. I have wondered, now and then, if the spelling was allen or alan, etc and whether it deserved a capital.

Regards, Tim