Myford ML7 Cross Slide Bearing Upgrade

[Dave Jones 1Participant @davejones1]

Its not often that (infact never!) that I comment on a machine upgrade. However I have just complete the cross slide bearing upgrade from arc euro trade, and the difference is amazing! I have no link the company (and they actually list the three bearing dimensions on their website if you wanted to purchase from somewhere else however at just over a tenner including postage it hardly seems worth it hunting the bearings down).

All that is required is a quick rebore of the cross slide end plate and a mill across the ends and its good to go. I was not expecting much of a difference however am I contemplating upgrading the ML7 to CNC and have been looking through the description given on the Tony Jefree's website http://www.jefree.co.uk and it is one of the steps to cut down on the cross slide friction. Even in 'manual mode' it has made a huge difference to the feel of the slide and I would recommend it to all ML7 owners.

[Dave Jones 1Participant @davejones1]

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for that, Dave

… I will treat my ML7R in due course

[currently trying to find enough space to swing a very very small cat in what purports to be a workshop]

MichaelG.

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

Yes, thanks Dave, looks interesting.

I just had a look at the arc euro drawing and the idea could be adapted for my Myford M type

Have to say the small ball bearing seems very narrow at 1/8" wide.

Would it be better to have a longer needle type bearing 5/16" long and 1/4" i/d to give a longer bearing surface for the feed screw?

I've seen one at Simply Bearings but it has an o/d of 7/16" which will fit my M type but may be a little to big for the ML7 end plate which I notice on the arc euro drawing is enlarged to 3/8".

thanks again geoff

[RainbowsParticipant @rainbows]

The radial force is probably fairly insignificant , doesn't matter what bearing you put in to deal with it. May be wrong though

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

This mod to the cross slide bearing is easy, but if you only have a single lathe then you cannot do it.

What I did is to take the same part off my vertical slide and machined that and then swapped to the lathe when complete, then put the one off the cross slide back onto the vertical slide.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Just lock the cross slide and use the compound for feed

Simples

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