Dilemma

Hullo all

I have a an ML7R - Trilever with gearbox. It came from an industrial location via GandM tools. Darren and his colleague came down and worked their magic on it.

However, the carriage is tight close to the head-stock and towards the tail-stock. As the lathe came with many Hardinge collets and the operating lever (since sold) I can guess why it is worn in just the one place. I have since (with some muscle help) installed an inverter and 3-phase motor. Also every time I try using it I get awful chatter. I have HSS, Indexable and Trangential tools but always the chatter.

As I am a carer I have little time to spare in the workshop - usually about 1 - 2 hours a day , and as I can be called in at any time I cannot really start anything where I cannot stop just whenever I need. So boring a cylinder is out.

I cannot find anywhere in West Sussex (where I live) to regrind the bed.

Also I am now 81 so lifting heavy stuff is out and I use my lathe for recreation.

My problem is should I sell the Myford and go foreign or should I try and get a firm to collect the lathe and put it into as new condition? And does anyone know of such a company locally?

And what do I buy that has a mandrel clutch and a lever operation for the

tail- stock and has speed control from zero to 2-thousand odd?

Or is there someone locally who would come, look and advise me for payment?

I will be very grateful for any help or advice.

Richard.

Richard ,

May I suggest you search Myford Lathe Service from 14/10/2011 in this Forum section. There you will find references and contact details for Darren and Pete who are ex-Myford employees and whom I am sure you will find most helpful and would heartily recommend both . I have no connection with either of them , other than as a satisfied customer of both.

I hope you will find this information of use.

Trevor.

"So boring a cylinder is out."

Hate to see you being limitted like this. If you arrange to bore with the self act from left to right and make an electrical stop switch that you can fit on the bed you should be able to walk away with confidence. ( of course a stop switch could be fitted on the left of the saddle for conventional feed direction but it will feel safer going the other way. )

Richard,

The first thing to address is what do you intend to make on your lathe. You have bought a used machine that may have some problems but these may or may not be an issue depending on what you are doing with it. You mention some wear to the bed which can be rectified but more serious is the chatter you are experiencing. This could be caused by using blunt or incorrectly set tools or it may be caused by play in the slides. More worryingly it could be the bearings/mandrel in the headstock that need attention. If you are unable to diagnose and rectify these problems yourself then you will need the services of someone who can, and if that someone is a professional engineer trying to earn a living then it could be quite expensive.

However as stated it does depend on what you want your lathe for. The speeds you are asking for and lever tailstock suggest small drills and tiny components, if this is not the case then 2000 revs whilst desirable is not essential. Like wise a lever feed tailstock is only really needed for very delicate operations.

It may be that a cheaper and better option for you would be to buy a more suitable machine for your needs and now a days the far eastern products can be a better choice, they are moderate in price and accurate enough for most applications.

Finally as the above poster says there is no reason why you cannot bore a cylinder even if it takes a few sessions. As long as you leave the job set without disturbing anything you can just do a single pass then leave it for another day before you do the next one. Even if you have to stop halfway through a pass it would not really matter except on the last one.

First of all the OP says that Darren, trading as Myford lathe service, has been down to fix this machine so my first port of call would be a call to Darren asking why it chatters like this.

There are so many unanswered question in the first post like is this the first lathe Richard has used and perhaps it's his setup and use of that's at fault. We don't know all the answers.

I think he has made a good choice when he asked for local help just to look at it.