Myford Super 7

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Hi,

I have just purchased a Myford Super 7 in rather a sorry state. Maunly needs cleaning and re-painting. However, with the lathe is a quick change gearbox which is missing the layshaft and two ? gears. I don't believe this was ever fitted to the lathe I have here and there is also an extra end cover to suit the gearbox. Now where could I obtain the missing parts? Are they likely to cost an arm and a leg and as for the missing layshaft, does anyone have the dimensions, as I could get that made locally ? Second question is the clutch mechanism. Mine does not resemble the drawings in the Myford 7 info that I downloaded. The clutch is in the cluster pulley. Does anyone have the layout for this early type of clutch as I think that there might be a plunger missing from the shaft center area.? Strange thing is that it engaged and disengaged when I operated the lever, but on the bench the cone clutch does not grip and seems slack.Last question.Where is the serial number on this lathe.? I believe it is quite an early one as the headstock oiler has a sight glass on the side of the headstock.Mike.

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

[Maurice Cox 1Participant @mauricecox1]

Hi Mike,

Regarding the early Super Seven clutch, this was an expanding ring of iron inside the cone pulley. The pushrod to opperate it has a "ramp" which forces a wedge into a gap in the internal ring. If you look in the bottom of the belt groove on the largest pulley on the countershaft, you should see a screwed plug (mine is missing!). this gvies you acccess to the adjuster.Rotate the assembly inside the cone till you see a hole. Inside this is an alan grub screw,this is the adjuster locking screw. Remove the grub screw . You should now be able to screw the actuating rod in and out to adjust the clutch opperation. Not sure if this is another alan key job, or a flat screw driver. Replace the locking grubscrew when finished.

I have the manual for the early Super Seven. If you can give me you email address, I will copy the relavent parts for you.

The serial number is on the rear of the bed at the tailstock end.

I hope this helps

Regards Maurice

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

I have now found the serial number which was on the back of the bed slide near the tailstock position.

It is SK 198* . Early 50's I presume. The adjusted plug and adjuster screw are both missing, so if anyone has details of sizes/threads etc. it would be a great help.

Anyone know how the sight glass for the oiler is held in place?

Next stage is to order some Battleship Grey oil resistant paint.

Mike.

[TomfileryParticipant @tomfilery]

Mike,

There is a diagram of the clutch actuating mechanism HERE (hope that works) – though it doesn't show the actual clutch, which sits inside the cone pulley as Maurice describes above.

The adjuster screw is a BSF one (1/4 or 5/16 from memory).

The chrome ring around the sight glass unscrews, allowing easy removal – mine had an opaque plastic "glass" which I replaced with a crystal watch glass, bought online and which are available in 0.1 mm incremental sizes – cost about £4.

Your machine is clearly early – mine has a serial no in the 5600s and left the factory in late Nov 1956.

Regards Tom

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Hi Tom,

No sign of any chrome ring on my sight glass, so I wonder if only later models had the screwed ring, or mine has been lost at some time in the past. The glass just seems to be stuck in some kind of sealer.

Thanks for advise, all very useful . The drawing link you put on your post worked, but the clutch there is different from mine, which works in the stepped pulley and the shaft does not have the elongated slot at the end milled in it.

 My working lathe is a Boxford, but I have always wanted a Myford so grabbed it while the going was good. I now have the bed stripped to the bare metal and now mostly coated in etch primer. (The lathe, not me !!)

Mike.

Edited By sparky mike on 23/07/2012 18:36:49

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

I have now removed the window from the headstock sight glass. In fact this was just a small plastic disc that a previous owner had glued to what remains of the sight glass plastic tube. I want to remove the plastic tube, but the oil drip needle brass tube passes into this tube which prevents removal.

Is this brass tube pushed in under pressure or is it screwed in? I do have a slide hammer here, so I can withdraw it if it is pushed in. However I do not wish to damage anything until I have more information to hand.

Mike.

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

I would like to post photos but don't know the method. Can anyone direct me to how to post a picture posting ?

Mike.

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Create an Album of your photos and use the black camera symbol above the text box to " insert image from album "

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Well I have now removed the brass tube ,that holds the adjusting needle ,which controls the flow of oil to the main front bearing of the headstock. Not an easy job, I tried a slide hammer ,but that did not work. In the end I drilled out the top half of the tube which then loosened the tube enough to allow me to pull the remaining part out. The bottom half is of reduced diameter which allows the oil entry from the top reservoir.

I have enough left of that part to turn up a copy. I can now remove the sight glass housing. I don't know if that is original or not, but I will probably make a new housing up from a nylon rod of the correct diameter.

I have just put some pictures on Flickr and hopefully the link with work.

**LINK**

Mike.

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

I am now painstakingly removing all the paint from the various parts. Does anyone know what type of primer Myford used. I believe they probably used an etch primer on the bare alloy parts, but on the cast iron parts they used a very thick primer that was used to hide all the imperfections in the castings.I need to know what one more part is used for. It is on the right hand top side of the countershaft arm (part no. 60 in the manual) It has a flat disc shaped knob about 1" in diameter and the shaft is threaded and there is a spring on the shaft. It is not in the Seven manual that I downloaded, so might have only been fitted to the early production models. perhaps Maurice knows the answer? (Did you get my email address ok Maurice?)

Mike.

Edited By sparky mike on 26/07/2012 09:27:09

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Does anyone know what the original complement of change gears were when the Myfords were originally markeded? I also need to know which gears were supplied with the lathe from the headstock shaft ,down to the change wheel banjo. I have a chance to buy some change gears at a reasonable price, so would like to know which ones to look out for.

Mike.

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

I need to know how to remove the twin Tufnell gears . Do the holding pins unscrew or are they push fit ?

Mike

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

I have uploaded some photos and a drawing to show how the early 1950's Myford Super 7 clutch operates. I had thought that some parts were missing, but it now looks like I have them all.

This clutch is totally different to later sevens and any worn parts would have to be re-manufactured.

Mike.

Link below.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/7800240056_ef366c3eb2_b.jpg

 

Edited By sparky mike on 17/08/2012 08:11:44

Edited By sparky mike on 17/08/2012 08:14:06

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

The photos are on http://www.flickr.com/photos/jentune  Look for Myford rebuild set.

Edited By sparky mike on 17/08/2012 08:15:28

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Well the Myford is progressing rapidly, two months down the road and I am down to one small box of bolts etc. All the parts are now painted in Myford grey and as previously promised, I have uploaded around 20 more photos on Flickr. See link below.

I have not as yet finished the gearbox, so for the time being I will use the lathe without and will fit the box later when I have all the parts to hand.

Two more small questions for you experts out there !! How do the electrical cables from the motor get to the control panel on the industrial stands and /or the reversing switch on the octagonal stand ? I have wired the motor with the four single wires plus earth in tri-rated 1.5mm cable which should be adequate for the job. I have shielded them in some flexible conduit of around two metres in length which should be ample I hope.

The other question is this. Should there be a screw cutting chart inside the normal lower end cover of the lathe ? I have a chart in the other cover which will be used with the gearbox, but that is a metric chart I believe.

Mike.

**LINK**

[chris jParticipant @chrisj]

Mike

My guess is you will know that lathe very well by the time you finish.

Just a comment it seems to have a very powdery finish, are you going to laquer it maybe or is it my dodgy eyesight

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Hi Chris, are you looking at the photos of the parts in the primer? The flash does play a few tricks on shiny surfaces as well.

Mike.

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Mike, what a grand job you are doing, well worth the effort.

My only comment is that I would make the stand have a very substantial top. It is unlike;ly that you will achive a stiff enough frame to ensure that any adjustment of the bed levelling screws remain effective in ensuring the proper bed setup according to the Myford procedure.

K

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Hi K,

Thanks for the encouragement !! I have been very impressed by the way that it came to pieces easily on the whole and by the quality of the original engineering and design. On re-assembly I have put a dab of Copperslip on the screws/bolts etc., so that they don't seize in time. The stand top is only a temporary one and will be replaced with a piece od 20mm. Wysedeck, which is a very strong ply board that is used for the flooring of truck bucks and van floors. A drip tray is planned in either alloy or stainless with welded corners. Any idea of the correct size of the motor drive belt? I did have a ref. no. somewhere, but have mislaid it.

Mike.

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Mike,

Motor to layshaft, I use Optibelt-VB Z33 1/2 (10 x 850) To be honest I would not expect even 20mm board to be stable enough. I have one bench that is very substatially made in wood but have a piece of steel girder under the top, to which the mounting blocks are bolted, nothing will move that!

K

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Hi Kwil,

I don't think it can be seen on the photo, but there is a centre cross-member in the framework. The Valuframe is 40mm square and very strong, but I intend to infill all the side and rear framework with 8mm plywood, and the drip tray will be heavy gauge. In addition, where the lathe sits I will add more cross members at the appropriate points to match up with the rising blocks which I have here. By the time it is complete, it will be belt and braces technology I can assure you !! Mind you, with the type of work I do on the lathe, I am not looking for 10ths of thous.,but I do understand that if the stand is not rigid enough it can introduce errors and patterns in the finish.

Mike.

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Well at last I have the lathe running !! It still has to be boted down to the stand, once the drip tray is fabricated. I am impressed how quiet it is and the clutch is a very handy facility that I am not used to. The clutch is so far not making any noises, as I understand that the early clutches like mine are prone to do.

The new oil sight glass is now complete and working as intended. The removable front is a good tight push fit into the tube type holder and the actual sight glass was turned up from Perspex rod, which I found easy to turn and not as tricky as I had been led to understand. I re-polished the ends after facing, with a cloth soaked in Brasso while turning at a fairly high speed.

Regarding the oil feed, there was no wick in the drilled hole that goes to the front bearing. Should there be one on the early lathes with sight glass ?

One small point, the leadscrew is making a noise when turned by hand, that I can't pinpoint at the moment. It sound like it is binding slightly, but all points are well oiled so any advise here would be helpful. I have slackened and retightened both leadscrew brackets in an attempt to line it up better, but this makes no difference.

The QC gearbox is not complete yet but I am making slow progress on it day by day.

Mike

Link below to photos

.**LINK**

Edited By sparky mike on 01/10/2012 08:51:00

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

You need to make sure that the leadscrew is a) parallel to the Bed and b) when the half nuts are engaged they do NOT deflect the leadscrew in either the vertical or horizontal planes.

[sparky mikeParticipant @sparkymike]

Hi Kwil,

On further examination I tried various things like releasing the allen bolts at both ends to see if there was any miss-alignment but on tightening the bolts same thing occured. However, a small aplication of oil on the leadscrew where it fits in the left hand bracket has done the job, but I could detect a slight amount of play in the bush on that bracket ,so now need to find out if bushes are available, or leave it until I fit the QC gearbox and then it will not be needed. I might just correct it anyway as I do like things to be "right".

Mike.

[Author]

Posts