super 7 bed problem

According to Bradley's, The ML7 lathe, the dimension is 1.375" between the shears. Having said that RDG's offerings are from the foothills of the Himalayan's and given the time of the year, monsoons, tsunami's etc and the state of the rupee, working to the nearest 20 thou with an angle grinder doesn't come easily.

Looks like it may be easier to do a bit of careful dressing with a flat file sooner than play swopsies given you may get identical to what you have.

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Visit the new Model Engineering adverts page at:-

Sale of Goods Act 1893 which reads that goods shall be of a merchantable quality. Still in force! As I remember it, the gap in the bed of both 7's is 37mm. Somebody can correct me but that is your first check. The second check is that the tongue does not project further than the depth of the bed. The third check is that the loose key on the steady fits the bed. Move the tailstock toeards the head to give access to this test.. If this all lines up, the steady is ok. If it don't, you have been conned.

You still have a weights and Measures mob. Advise them of the fact.

Now, might I go on? Go into YahooGroups and join the MyFord Forum. The Super7 ,manual is on file there for you to access.

Norman

see

Time to get the file or grinder out ..OR if you have a milling machine do it properly

As long as the centre height will be roughly there within 5mm or so....you dont have to worry

just gring each side equally ....so you end up with a nice fit ..and the fingers will do the rest.

I made a steady off another lathe fit mine ok .....it involved quite a bit of work...you have a lot less work ....but mines ok and works ...

see pics

or maybe you have a one off.......or myford altered things at some time along the way.

btw nice mint lathe, you have there

All the best.mark

see

I have two Myfords (both S7s and neither has been reground) here and have just measured the gap as a touch over 1.375". I also have a set of drawings for the steady from a long time supplier of castings and they give that dimension as 1.375. If your calipers are accurate there is no way that steady would fit either of my lathes.

Incidently measuring that gap in the bed with that type of caliper is more difficult than it would seem, it is very easy to get an under- reading. If you set your calipers and lock them at 1.375" I'm certain you will find that by rocking back and forth and up and down gently they will slip through your bed nicely when the jaws are square in both planes. I gave up measuring mine with calipers and ended up using an inside micrometer to get an accurate reading.

I have in the past bough items from RDG that didn't quite fit, the last example was some T nuts for the Myford that needed reducing with a file to fit in the slot. I chose to do it rather than return to save another lot of postage. In their defence you are not paying Myford prices but as Norman says they should at least do what it says on the tin - fit the Myford 7 series. In the past they have changed items for me without a problem so if you don't feel like "fettling" them yourself or don't feel you should, give them another try.

As others have said that dimension is not particularly critical and could be reduced and made parallel by careful use of a flat file. The cast iron is very soft and cuts easily but it does make a mess. I suspect I would "file to fit" and put the lesson in the "learnt" locker.

Regards

Keith

Are you serious? I'd rather spend 5 minutes with a file than faffing about with P&P arguing whyo pays for the return, getting one back thats the same as the one I already had! I haven't dealt with RDG in ages they were always responsive and helpful. On one occasion I bought a MT3 slitting saw arbor and the drawbar wouldn't screw in. 12mm tap 2 minutes later fine. Minimal energy solution.

I didn't think that way when I first got started, it's just grown on me as I got more competent at tackling things. (and the tooling inventory has grown to allow me to tackle more)

Steve

Hi all, I have just been out to measure my two myfords and would agree the gnat's c*** over 1.375" for both.

Cheers

Norm

Thanks chaps for the sage advice, particularly Keiths diplomatic pointe

that I was using the wrong instrument for measuring the gap. Hav remeasured it - 1.376. I have also closely inspected the underside of the steady. Its still t big to fit the gap, - more so at one end than the other. As John say the manufacturing standards are less than Hardinge's. There are no 9 degree angles anywhere on the tongue and every dimension is different. As the man says you get what you pay for. I'll get my file..... cap

-- capnaha

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I got the same steady from RDG, the problem with mine was the fingers didn't meet in the middle. No problem at all with RDG, they paid for return carriage, and refunded as soon as they got it back. I also had the problem with thetee bolts and had to turn a bit off to make them fit the Myford slots. These things are so simple, stuff like this shouild never get through, but for the prices you pay........?

I bought from Myford next time . People whinge about their prices, but when they have all the spares to keep a 60 year old machine running, plus the advice they can give, I think it's not unfair. Plus their stuff works!!

Stu G

I am some 3,000 miles from the only known Myford dealer in Canada. The fixed and travelling steadies were never purchase for my ML7. At the time I bought the lathe, new, we had two dealers in this area. Sigh! I recently acquired a fixed steady, that is meant for those small 3 1/2 " (7 inch swing) oriental mini lathes. An adapter will have to be made, but it seems like a straight forward operation. The middle of the base bottom will have to be squared off, an easy job on the mill drill. One drawback is that the steady has a smaller capacity than the Myford. I can live with that!

Steve R.

I have been winding up the present editor of ME about old mags and it seems that there might be internet postings again. 'Martin Cleeve' constructed a fixed steady out of solid for both his ML2 and later his ML7. Perhaps a note to ME might get you the old article and the drawings.