Toolholders for Myford ML7 and ML10 lathes

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Hello,

I am involved in a project that requires constant tool swapping on my Myford. I hanker after a Dickson tool holding system that I had many years ago.

Scanning the advertising media, the RDG tooling (4 way tool post) looks just the job! I looked at the price and then started to have some niggling doubts! Rotagrip have similar tooling but at a higher price.

Can anyone tell me the difference in quality between these 4 way tool posts? I am by nature tight fisted, but I learnt a long time ago that quality always costs, but maybe not a fortune?

Thanks for any help or advice on this one.

Regards,

Andrew.

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Hi Andrew,

Unfortunately there are Dickson toolposts and Dickson toolposts.

I bought my Dickson from A&R Precision a few years back who went into liquidation and came back as Lynam Engineering. Lynam are still selling toolholders which having tried the Myford, Chronos as well are IMHO the best out there, with the thinnest lower shelf to allow the maximum thickness of tool.

**LINK**

These fit the Myford toolpost which I notice are out of stock at the moment.

I hope this helps

Jon

[ianjParticipant @ians]

Have you seen this ad on the home workshop site

**LINK**

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

It is said, but I don't know how much fact is behind this, that one make tool holder may not fit another tool post very well, and you should keep like for like.

The Lynam ones are supposed to be good, Bison aren't bad either. You can normally tell Bison by the engraved numbers on the lower face of the holder.

Plenty of hookey 'Dickson' stuff out there (or 'Dixon' even, that makes me cringe).

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I wouldn't bet the dearer ones are any better quality than the budget offerings, all made in the east but some will have a bigger markup than others [other opinions are available.]

Lynam seem to have gone into hibernation, they were good quality but I can't see how they made much profit being made in the UK & competing against China, India etc.

Perhaps that's why they packed up?

Tony

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

I would go for rotagrip,I have found them very good & knowledgeable, for over 25 years,have bought items via post and visits

[Douglas JohnstonParticipant @douglasjohnston98463]

I bought a number of the Lynam ones a few months ago after they were highlighted here and can confirm that they are very nicely made and were cheaper than other imported ones I looked at. I think they were producing them in small batches to test the market so they may well appear again. Not much help if you need them now but they may well be worth contacting to see if more are in the pipeline.

Doug

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

My interpretation of Andrew's original post is that he is actually after comments on the various four way toolposts e.g.

**LINK**

Rod

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Hello Roderick,

Spot on! I want to buy a decent set of Dickson tooling! I appreciate it might not be ethical to call the dodgy 4 way toolposts. But those that are satisfied can surely say so. RDG toolposts and tooling look OK, but they seem very cheap and I presume you get what you pay for?

Andrew.

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

removed.

Edited By Jon Gibbs on 09/11/2016 16:53:03

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Now I'm totally confused (what's new I hear you say). Do you mean these **LINK** – not normally referred to as "4 way"

Rod

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 09/11/2016 17:06:42:

Now I'm totally confused (what's new I hear you say). Do you mean these **LINK** – not normally referred to as "4 way"

Rod

I think the reference to 'Dickson' in the original post makes it clear.

And you will note that RDG (the parent of 'new' Myford) sloppily refers to them as 'Dixon' – grrr!

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

Posted by Nigel McBurney 1 on 09/11/2016 09:21:05:

I would go for rotagrip,I have found them very good & knowledgeable, for over 25 years,have bought items via post and visits

Rotagrip QCTP and holders are of course Bison.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Hello Roderick,

I was hoping to get some unbiased opinions of the Dickson tooling which is available. I apologise for my sloppy reference to a 4 way tool post. When I was last active in model engineering some 35 years ago. Everyone I knew referred to a Dickson 4 way tool holder as a 4 way tool holder. Meaning the complete set up of 4 way holder and the Dickson style, individual tool holders. I hope things are now clear!

Regards,

Andrew.

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Hi Andrew,

I can only give my experience based upon my Dickson Toolpost and the toolholders I've bought after-sales which were supposed to be compatible.

My toolpost was made by A&R Precision and I have bought toolholders from A&R (and Lynam only difference is that the new ones are blackened), Myford and Chronos (Soba). They are not all equal.

The A&R and Lynam ones are by far the best IMHO in terms of functionality. The screws and fittings are good quality and the lower shelf is the thinnest. With the A&R toolholders I can accommodate 10mm tooling on my ML7 and still have on-centre.

The next best were the Myford toolholders. They were more expensive than the current Lynam prices but fitted my toolholder straight off. The screws are good quality but the lower shelf is slightly thicker than the A&R/Lynam – meaning I can only just about get 3/8" tooling on-centre. Certainly not 10mm.

The worst were the Chronos (Soba) toolholders although these were the cheapest at the time I bought them. The screws were all soft and I ended up replacing them all One screw was off-line and was a bu**er to retap. The slot for the clamp was too thin on all holders I bought and each holder required fettling with a grinding wheel in a Dremel to get them to fit. On these the lower shelf is very thick and I can only fit 8mm tooling in there and get it on-centre.

I hope this helps

Jon

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by David Standing 1 on 09/11/2016 17:38:14:

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 09/11/2016 17:06:42:

Now I'm totally confused (what's new I hear you say). Do you mean these **LINK** – not normally referred to as "4 way"

Rod

I think the reference to 'Dickson' in the original post makes it clear.

And you will note that RDG (the parent of 'new' Myford) sloppily refers to them as 'Dixon' – grrr!

Possibly deliberate if they are 'Dickson'-style not 'Dickson'-make.

Neil

[Nigel BennettParticipant @nigelbennett69913]

My original set came from Nottingham, and I've added to them over the years. Some I bought at shows (they were obviously Far Eastern) didn't fit properly and luckily I was able to return them. If buying more now, I'd take my toolpost with me!

Jon G mentions not being able to use 10mm tools; on some of mine with insert tooling I've skimmed down the tool, but it's also possible to machine the slot a little wider by using a carbide cutter. You can often pick up a used carbide cutter – good enough for the purpose – at a show or off eBay. I mistakenly bought a couple of holders with a vee groove in the bottom for boring bars – and they readily succumbed to an attack by carbide cutter.

Edited By Nigel Bennett on 09/11/2016 19:06:52

Edited By Nigel Bennett on 09/11/2016 19:07:17

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Nigel's right you could mill the slot wider. Another, and possibly preferable option, would be to mill off some material from the whole of the bottom of the holder. That's not as critical to get perpendicular to the dovetails of the toolpost/toolholder as milling the slot.

…but to my mind, any fettling of these holders is a bore and most of us could do without it.

Jon

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Andrew

You can never have too many toolholders ( that's my philosophy any way) :-

Norman

[alan-lloydParticipant @alan-lloyd]

Check out the Multigrip system as well, also available from Rotogrip, but compare prices to Create tools.

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 09/11/2016 19:02:27:

Posted by David Standing 1 on 09/11/2016 17:38:14:

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 09/11/2016 17:06:42:

Now I'm totally confused (what's new I hear you say). Do you mean these **LINK** – not normally referred to as "4 way"

Rod

I think the reference to 'Dickson' in the original post makes it clear.

And you will note that RDG (the parent of 'new' Myford) sloppily refers to them as 'Dixon' – grrr!

Possibly deliberate if they are 'Dickson'-style not 'Dickson'-make.

Neil

Good point……but still grates !

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Lynam still alive and well

**LINK**

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Posted by KWIL on 09/11/2016 20:30:05:

Lynam still alive and well

**LINK**

…but no sign of toolposts from them

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

On 16th November 2016 they had some

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