Myford ML7-R long bed lathe stand/cainet

My Myford ML7-R long bed lathe came with a wooden stand and whilst its sturdy enough to take the weight, its not geometrically stable... I've had to set it up a few times over the years and I appreciate the solution is to mount it properly on a metal stand.

Whilst second hand Myford stands do some up for sale, they command robust prices for what they are, so I'm wondering if anyone knows of anyone who makes good quality stands or even if there is a design out there which I can either make myself or give to a fabricator to make up.

I've no idea where you are in the world, but have you seen this ML8 stand?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115730382351

See also
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325546995127 

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 24/03/2023 21:05:12

The ML 7R long bed was the same as the S7 long bed ! If you want dimensions I have one and could give you a dimensioned sketch. Noel.

I made the stand for my ML7 from 40mm sq tube. The standard Myford stand is a bit on the low side, mine was about 150mm higher. Get the cross slide handle level with your navel is about right. Can't measure it up as it's long gone.

I would think that a sufficiently rigid steel sheet (10mm or thicker?), between lathe and stand, would solve your problem?

It’s easy to start ‘chasing the theory’ on this one. What I mean is you think you need a perfectly massive and stable mounting for your lathe. Whilst stability is good for obvious reasons that once installed your lathe needs very little further attention to alignment and mass can help to damp out vibrations so as to limit chatter issues it can be far less important than you think. I once realised that my Super 7 had been in use for several months with the nuts on the mounting block studs loose without any loss of accuracy or performance.

The lathe bed is a fairly massive casting (OK not anything like as massive as much bigger lathes) but compared to a flimsy wooden bench the lathe is more likely to deform the bench than the other way round. Move to a very heavy steel structure and yes you can get the bench to twist the bed if it doesn’t provide neutral support to the lathe (hence the jacking screws to adjust the support for each ‘foot’.

Leaving aside the supplied cabinets from Myford which are perfectly adequate to the job the advice is to mount on a sturdy bench and I would add that mounting blocks with jacking screw adjustment is at least desirable if not downright necessary.

Obviously the bench must support the weight and further to that should be reasonably stable in as far as not changing shape too much or too quickly. Wood absorbs moisture from the air and swells or shrinks accordingly so if you make your bench of wood then a good varnish all over will limit this. Joints need to be glued as well as bolted or screwed (unless you are into mortise joints) and the intelligent use of cross braces will resist twist. A symmetrical design will ensure that any movement of one half of the bench is balanced with a similar movement from the other half. Mass may help with vibration but the lathe does most of the work in that respect.

The aim is to support the lathe without introducing any stresses into it so I would say then that a badly designed sturdy bench can be worse than a lightweight well designed bench.
To return to the OP. He says his stand is sturdy but not stable over the long term. I would suggest that an alternative to starting again with a new stand would be to address some of the issues with the existing stand. Painting to stop moisture absorption and the use of either cross bracing or sheet ply to fill the sides which have the same function and will stiffen up the structure.
I hope this helps.

regards Martin

Thanks for the detailed replies there are some good ideas here. I'm currently exploring the ML8 stand but waiting for a reply from the seller.