I just bought this 50s vintage ML7 and am by no means an expert in lathes or Myfords, but it appears to have somewhat of a non-standard feature.

If you look down in the far left, bottom corner of the photo, there is a chrome lever. I don't see this in the manual or in other pictures of ML7 lathes on the web.

It shifts one of the gears outwards, on its axle, so that it is no longer in mesh and disengages the feed to the leadscrew. But isn't this redundant, as the tumbler lever just above it on the back bearing of the headstock includes the same function in one of its three positions – forwards, disengage, reverse.

I bought the lathe without guards but have sourced some on ebay. The change gear guard looks like it will foul this lever if I fit it. Though, to be honest, I've only had a quick look so far and not actually dismantled any of the gears to try to fit the guard. So, maybe all will be well.

I wonder though if anyone has seen anything like this before or can offer a good explanation as to why this lever is present.

Thanks and regards,

Matt.

Thanks chaps.

I should take some photos of the business end when I get the chance. It is still on a trolley on the workshop floor.

Not a dog clutch though, it is regular gears so it might crunch a bit operating it on the fly. Maybe not so bad given the slow speeds. It makes sense that it will make the manual leadscrew wheel much easier to turn without as many gears attached as you would have using the headstock lever.

A friend had a look last night and suggested it was a "production line" modification, like the lever tailstock. Though, as far as I know, the (one) previous owner was a hobbyist. It's been in a self-built garden shed since 1950. He could still have been doing repetetive runs of things though.

There's an odd extension on the cross slide and I knew from the start that the topslide and tool post was missing. It looks like the last few things to be turned on the machine were wood, using the rear toolpost.

Not a dog, not single.

There is a gauge/pointer on the right hand side of the apron (you can just see it in the fuzzy phone photo). This might allow engaging the leadscrew in correct sync if you can eyeball it against the thread – with some practice! – but that would be using the apron lever, not the additional lever I think.

Thanks Hopper and Neil.