Installing a Super ML7

Jim, I used about 4.5" and rather than cast a whole pad, just cast a couple of strips - one for each side of the lathe stand. Where the lathe is positioned on the stand it doesn't overhang very much, if at all, but some room is needed for wiring etc.

Have just taken a couple of pictures, as you can see there's plenty of room:

Jim,

According to the Super 7 manual (page 2) on the MyMyford website, the distance from a vertical line drawn through the main headstock spindle to the back of the motor/pulley cover is 13 1/2"

Might be worth looking for yourself though.

Regards,

Garth.

Many thanks to you both, Garth and Duncan. I didn't know about the MyMyford group - have just applied to join. And I hadn't considered just using two concrete strips either!

Jim Hawkins

Why do you need a concrete pad? It's only a Myford and not all that heavy. If you're just putting it in the garage it shouldn't really need it unless the floor is really bad.

Peter

Hi Peter Unless, of course, Jim is taller than the midget the Myford Industial stand is designed for. I, myself, have to have three courses of bricks to bring it up to a height so as not to have constant back ache, even now I am thinking of another layer. T.W.

Hi Peter, I propped my Myford stand on about 5" of concrete to get it to a comfortable height and I'm not the tallest person in the world. Also the garage floor was on a generous slope for drainage so it needed something putting down to get the lathe level.

Thats fair enough, the working height aspect hadn't occured to me. Mine is on the standard Myford stand, and although I'm around 5'11" I must admit I've never really noticed it as a problem, but perhaps I'm just used to leaning over it now.

Peter

Ah-ha! We know the correct working height for a vice but is there on

for a lathe? Or a general concensus? I am soon to set up my lathe on adjustabl mounts so hopefully I can get height right. Apologies for highjacking the thread! Ro

-- elj221

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Depends what vice you have in mind

Regards, Tony

I think that the gnomes at Beeston got it pretty close.

Of course, I can walk under tables without ducking :-)

Mark Rand RTFM

Hi Elj221c, or can I just call you Elj? If you stand up straight and bend your elbow at 90 degrees, that is the approx. height your twiddly bits (Hand wheels)should be for comfort. If however you are short sighted it might be an advantage to have the lathe even higher. When you are setting up your engineerium, put the lathe on lumps of wood or bricks and raise till it is comfortable to use, then make a more permanent support, at that height. I know some people who have put up with lathes on supplied stands, for years until the error was pointed out to them, Sometimes just 2" under the stand can relieve that annoying ache in the lower back. T.W.

British Standard states:-

"When we are nose to nose, my toes are in it.. When we are toes to toes, my nose is in it and when I'm in it I have nothing to talk to .."

How 'bout this as a general rule.

It's going to vary, depending on the work being done, and the size of the lathe.

The big lathes I have used, tend to be low to the ground, compared to the small ones.

Cheers Trevor Jones

It depends so much upon your own height and reach, that a general rule is difficult to give.

Our Littlejohn 5" lathe is on a flat-topped bench which is about 34" off the floor. The Ward 2A at home has 3" wooden blocks under it because it was too low for me, and I am over 6ft in height.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Rushden, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

I'll take your word for it John

Regards, Tony

From experience,as much room from the back wall as possible.I wish I'

sited mine with more room at the back.

Problems with being too close that I have found....

If you need to change the motor it's a right pig standing at one en trying to hold it up with one hand while you're leaning sideways.

Adjusting the tailstock taper with the stupid slot head screws tha Myford fit with a screwdriver.However I did change them for hex hea screws to get over this.

Oiling the rear facing nipple on the saddle,why the hell didn't the put the oil nipple on the top of the saddle.

Retrieving fallen objects from behind the lathe if like mine there's n room at each end.

On the subject of oilers..why did Myford fit a straight nipple on th gearbox under the reversing lever ? I have to unscrew the knob off th reversing lever to get the oil gun on the nipple on the gearbox.

I did actually query this at the time I bought my lathe (2000) and wa told it would cost too much because they would have to buy them in bi quantities.

Alla

-- Allan Waterfal

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Ro

-- elj221

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Aha, this is another benefit of casting two strips of concrete instead of a single slab. You can get your hand under the stand and easily retrieve the stuff that's fallen down the back :-)

When I had my original ML7 against the garage wall, with a bench on each side of the stand, I made up a bit of wood that filled the gap between lathe, benches and wall. Then when things fell off the back, they were retrievable.

They didn't used to... They used to have 45 degree nipples on both ends of the top of the gearbox. As for the quantities Myfords would have to buy, 2BA angled nipples are a bit hard to come by these days, but M5 are common. They use metric threads in places on the lathes already, another couple wouldn't make much odds. In fact M5 is close enough to 2BA that the 2BA thread can be cleaned up with a tap and the M5 nipple used on existing kit!

Mark Rand RTFM