myford super 7

Clean headstock base and bed.

Place headstock on bed.

Tighten the four vertical clamping screws no more than finger tight.

Lightly tighten the two horizontal gib screws until they are firm.

Finally tighten clamping screws.

If the headstock is now out of alignment, something's broken.

Mark Rand RTFM

--There are two Yahoo groups for Myford; try asking over there?

's_Dad's_Method.pdf

Yeah, why is this guy asking metalworking questions on a political newsgroup?

ste had written this in response to

:

ste

------------------------------------- Mark Rand wrote:

thanks for that mark i will give it a go

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It should work, since there's nothing involved that is normally subject to wear.

If the headstock appears to be out of alignment it's far more likely that the bed is twisted. They are not the world's most rigid lathes... (although the long bed version is much more sturdy)

Mark Rand RTFM

Well, doesn't lathe alignment have to be done with respect to the tailstock, both vertically and horizontally? - thats for between centers - and for faceplate or chuck work, it isn't so critical as you turn to diameter anyway. (Didn't know headstocks had gib screws in them - will have a look at mine...)

Andrew VK3BFA.

Get hold of the lathes manual (Google it) and you will find it has the necessary diagrams. Also, get hold of a basic textbook - the Southbend Company "How to run a lathe" is good, available as a free .PDF download if you look for it. Karl Townsend gave you a link to a method of alignment if you dont have a precision calibrated test bar - worth looking at that as well. Andrew VK3BFA.

No, the headstock alignment needs to be done with respect to the bed, i.e Rollie's Dad's method or similar. To ensure that a piece held just in the chuck can be turned parallel.

The tailstock needs to be aligned to the headstock after this. Specifically on the Myfords, the tailstock is adjustable by about 1/4" either side of centre, so you can't know if it's exactly where it should be until after you've done the headstock.

On the Myfords they're not really gibs on the headstock. There are horizontal screws that push the casting sideways so that a machined step on the base of the casting is firmly up against the inner vertical shear of the bed. Theoretically the headstock is now aligned with the bed, since the same feature was used to locate the casting when boring the bearing holes (this assumes that the bronze bearings are symmetrical :-). Once the headstock is pulled up against the bed by those screws, the vertical screws going through the casting into tapped holes in the bed clamp it firmly.

All very Myford specific.

Regards

Mark Rand RTFM

Thanks Mark - I re-readed(?) the Rollies Dad file, and you are quite correct in your setup order - I do have a test bar now, so will see whats going on with my 9 by 20 - at the moment, and without touching anything, the headstock is 0.06 inch lower than the tailstock, with the bar between centres. . And thanks for the explanation re Myford adjustment screws - anothing thing learnt! Andrew VK3BFA.