They are left and right handed, I have no problems with rotational drift on my S7s

Clive, taper pinning a swivelling head is common on industrial machines, so no reason why it would not work for you, I would suggest a taper pin with a male or female thread depending on diameter so you can extract it when required.

Chris Gunn

0BA grub screws pressing against the taper cone is a certain way to ruin it and chewing up the surface. You have little or no bearing surface you are pressing upon, hence movement. With the right use of the locking tapers in front of the screrw, you have considerably more area to press against.

The plugs are available from Myford – **LINK** for the right hand one – don't forget they are handed left and right.

Probably just as effective would be a bit of brass round bar, say 3/4" long of 3/8", with the end cut off at a 60 degree angle. But is it worth the trouble at the price?

O.K. … I have to ask:

Is there really a difference between the Left and Right versions of this item

… or is it like having a left-handed teacup.

Myford lists two items, and uses pictures with different file-names

… but the two images are visually identical.

MichaelG.

[with an ML7R, so innocent in the ways of Super 7]

.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 05/09/2017 08:17:18

Be wary of overtightening the standard Super 7 arrangement. The cross slide is weak at the point where the clamp holes intersect the top slide bore. On the 2 Super 7s I have had, both cross slides were bent at that point & required regrinding.

I only apply a slight nip to the clamp screws after regringing the cross slide to try & prevent a repeat & have not had an issue with the top slide moving under load.

It has been a while since I had mine apart, but I seem to recall that the ends of the clamp pads are cut differently – the use of one photo for two part listings is probably laziness, as the original Super 7 parts list has them as different part numbers and describes them as handed.

Nigel B

"Is there really a difference between the Left and Right versions of this item"

Yes there is. Not visible in photographs, (and even difficult to see when you've got one in your hand) but there is a slight curve across the face of the plug, slightly diagonally, so that it seats on the topslide spigot properly. So the diagonal on the left hand is opposite to the one on the right hand. Because of the taper on spigot and plug the plug not only presses against the spigot but draws it down so the topslide is pressed against the crossslide.

What looks like a simple plug is quite cleverly thought out.

"Myford" descriptions are not the most accurate since they became a branch of RDG, so they may have used the same image.

Edited By Robbo on 05/09/2017 09:38:33

Using an adaptor plate of the same dimensions as the taper cone of the topslide, the clamping force is strong enough to hold a swiveling vertical slide with dividing atachment in place. Usually the wheels I cut are small and this works better for me then clamping the vertical slide the normal way. Niko.

Edited By speelwerk on 05/09/2017 09:47:21

As a Boxford owner, I'm wary of entering hallowed Myford territory, but the Boxford top-slide fixing seems similar to the S7 with steel thrust pads bearing on a cone.

Can I suggest that brass might not be the best material for the pads. It may well spread where it's forced onto the cone and then, unless enough clearance is present in the drillways, they won't move outwards to allow top-slide removal. And your stuck!

Clive,

The pressure pad studs don't intersect the bore at right angles, as you surmise. They are offset from the centre of the diameter, and are about 1/3rd of the diameter from the front edge of the bore. This makes the need for curvature on them easier to understand.    They are opposite each other though.

The offset is easy to see from the headstock side of the S7 cross-slide – which you can't do!

Edited By Robbo on 05/09/2017 19:20:28

Edited By Robbo on 05/09/2017 19:21:58