Traveling Steady

Hi All,

I'm a newby, having 'lurked' for the past month to get a feel of the group but now I do need some advice.

I've bought a Myford ML7 which seems in very good condition and am slowly building a workshop. One item purchased on eBay has just arrived

- a Traveling Steady - and in my naivety I expected it to simply fit on the cross-slide and travel with the apron to support the work (particularly while screw-cutting) immediately behind the tool cutting edge.

There is one fixing hole in the base and it came with a 1/4" nut and bolt but I can see no way that it can be attached anywhere on the apron

- never mind the cross-slide - if it helps at all, the image should still be available on eBay (item 3823875570).

There must be someone here who uses a traveling steady on the ML7 so I would appreciate any advice they are prepared to give.

Thanks

JG

Reply to
JG
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On my ML7, the travelling steady is attached to the saddle rather than the cross slide or apron. I've just taken a pic of the attachment point:

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The hole it bolts into is ringed in red, note that I leave a gash home-made bolt in there to stop the hole filling up with swarf. The eagle eyed will spot that it won't fit with the top slide at the angle it's on right now, so that would need to be re-fixed to get the clearance.

Reply to
Duncan Munro

In message , JG writes

Hi, The steady is attached with a single bolt (or screw) to the tapped hole in the saddle to the left hand side of the cross-slide.

No nut is required,

Regards,

Reply to
Pat Martindale

Thanks very much indeed Duncan. Of course I meant the Saddle rather than apron how soon one forgets nomenclature (I've only been out of engineering 42 years - served my time at Coventry Gauge & Tool) :))

Once I knew where to look, there is a hole (well it is now). It was so choked with fine swarf and metal dust mixed with oil that it looked like a drill dimple. I had tried to put the fixing screw in there (the one supplied is a 1/4 BSF) but one is cautious with any 'new' equipment. Now all I have to do is find a screw of the correct size (3/16 BSF?, 2BA? M6 surely not?)

JG

Reply to
JG

from Pat Martindale contains these words:

Thanks Pat, see my reply to Duncan.

JG

Reply to
JG

Though the nut is very useful to prevent one loosing the bolt/screw when putting the steady back in the tool cupboard.

Also, leave a screw in the hole on the saddle to stop the hole filling with swarf.

- Nigel

Reply to
NC

from "NC" contains these words:

I've already made a mental note to do so, Thanks

JG

Reply to
JG

Don't you worry... I had to look it up in the manual myself! (It would have been inappropriate to post "the big fat bit that moves left and right").

It should be 1/4" BSF (26 TPI), if the bolt supplied with the steady is

1/4" BSF it's the right one anyway. The nut on the end is simply to 'keep' the bolt with the steady and prevent it from getting lost.

If you've made a start on cleaning the hole, my tip is spray it in short bursts from a can of WD40 with the spout down the hole to clean it out, and thereafter keep the bolt in the hole (not on the steady). This will save having to dig all the muck out again...

Reply to
Duncan Munro

from Duncan Munro contains these words:

LOL

It is.

Initially I didn't think I could get a 1/4" tap in the hole but by the time I had got a clear bore with small drills (hand held of course) I was more adventurous with a taper tap and 'voila!' it is now fully cleaned out and the 'Keep' is in place.

JG

Reply to
JG

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