A tale of two Myfords.........

[Turbo]

Chainsaw oil is perfect for oiling the gears, don't forget to oil the spigots before fitting the gears. The excess will drip from the bottom of the cover, I keep an oil spillage mat below mine to soak it up.

I'm not sure about the cream highlights on the cover, I prefer the original red.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Yes, it's been a while since I posted progress.... Been faffing about trying to get the belt/Tri-Leva setup adjusted and sent off the springs which came on the lathe off to Myford to see if they could supply replacements. They haven't arrived after nearly 2 weeks....... Jack there has said this sometimes happens and when they speak to the Post Office, the items miraculously appear

Anyway, I'm now feeling stupid as, having adjusted the belts until I was blue in the face because I could stop the chuck easily, I've discovered that the pulley is turning on the main spindle shaft........ , therefore no drive is being transmitted.

I've had a look at the schematics diagram here https://www.myford.co.uk/acatalog/info-3555.html but it isn't very clear [at least to Numpty here ] so unless anyone [@Turbo ?] can tell me how the pulley is fixed to the shaft [woodruff key etc] I'm going to have to dismantle the spindle to find out if there's anything missing etc....... No great hardship, but I'd like to know what's amiss before I pull it all to bits. Can I assume it's easy to take the whole spindle apart, I've got it on the bench?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Bumpitty bump. Anyone?

 

[Hood]

Hard to say from the exploded view but looks like the key #22 locates the back gear on the spindle and the key at #16 locks that and the pulleys together when you loosen the setscrew and rotate the pulleys. So if you disengage the pulley from the back gear and the back gear rotates on the spindle then it will be the woodruff key that is gone, if it doesn't then it will be #16 that is gone.
Either way it is at least a partial strip down of the spindle.

 

[Dieselman 63]

From experience, anything that swarf can get access to is a place grease shouldn't be. I use standard motor engine gear oil on all the screws and gears on my machines and vices. Grease for bearings, drill quill, inside the (sealed) lathe chucks and inside the rotating part of the compound slide. Oil for anything else.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Thanks lads

I dis-asssembled the shaft components this morning and discovered that the small 'geared bush' [scroll down to part number 70/1229 here https://www.myford.co.uk/acatalog/Myford_ML7_Headstock_Assembly.html ] is actually a separate part, which the diagram doesn't show , and should be a tight fit in the pulley.

I can turn this by hand, so the fit between the two has been 'broken' at some point. I phoned Myford and a very helpful chap explained all, and said Loctite will solve the problem. Happy days - and I know at least that there's no keys etc missing [and as far as I can tell/measure, no undue wear ].

Appreciate as always the help and consideration I receive here.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@Hood @MattH
Just Googled 'Loctite' to see which of their products I should get [I knew there were a few] - there's a bewildering array available.

Can I safely assume one of the 'high strength' one part fluids would be suitable for this application? It's not something I've used for years.......

EDIT: My initial thinking would be '638' Green

 

[MattH]

I'd just grab any one that is suitable for locking bearings rather than a thread loc.
With the amount of surface area I doubt it matters a great deal.

 

[Hood]

As MattH says even the bearing fit ones should be fine. I would probably just go for a threadlock though as you will likely get more use out of it in the future than you would a bearing fit liquid.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Just to update, I went for Loctite 638 in the end, it's the green high-strength bearing lock one.

"Though this be madness, yet there's method in't" as Shakespeare wrote. It'll come in useful when I work my way down the 'projects' list to the linisher I've been gathering materials to make.

 

[Turbo]

Been faffing about trying to get the belt/Tri-Leva setup adjusted and sent off the springs which came on the lathe off to Myford to see if they could supply replacements.

Tis a bit fiddly to get right isn't it! One of the levers on mine still needs slight adjustment as it sometimes jumps off when using the lathe - makes you jump when it happens!

Anyway, I'm now feeling stupid as, having adjusted the belts until I was blue in the face because I could stop the chuck easily, I've discovered that the pulley is turning on the main spindle shaft........ , therefore no drive is being transmitted.

I've had a look at the schematics diagram here https://www.myford.co.uk/acatalog/info-3555.html but it isn't very clear [at least to Numpty here ] so unless anyone [@Turbo ?] can tell me how the pulley is fixed to the shaft [woodruff key etc] I'm going to have to dismantle the spindle to find out if there's anything missing etc....... No great hardship, but I'd like to know what's amiss before I pull it all to bits. Can I assume it's easy to take the whole spindle apart, I've got it on the bench?

Sorry I didn't offer any advice, I've been away on holiday for a few days. Not sure if I could have helped, my thoughts would've been a missing key or grub screw, didn't know about the press fit gear. Glad you got sorted in the end but if you recall I did recommend that you strip & check over the spindle when you were refurbishing the lathe.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Apologies and just to update this, which has been taking me ages due to health issues and other stuff getting in the way. Hoping to move on with this now, as other projects are piling up and the lathe is taking up too much space in the middle of the shed.

I got it all up and running, except for the roller which engages the fastest spindle speed kept running off the belt and jamming . I've investigated and discovered that the arm which holds the roller has a very slight bend in it, don't know if a previous owner did this but a two speed lathe isn't much good, right? Well, not when it's supposed to have three.....

So today I stripped down the Tri-Leva arrangement until I have this


- it's surprising how little detailed info there is about this arrangement on the Myfords and @Turbo 's thread has been more help than most sources.

I don't think I'll go to the extent he did with painting etc, but a little judicious straightening against a straight edge ought to help with the misalignment. I was sweating cobs while dismantling as the parent casting is made from unobtainium, aka that damned Mazak stuff and once broken.... However, patience saved the day.

 

[Turbo]

Apologies and just to update this, which has been taking me ages due to health issues and other stuff getting in the way. Hoping to move on with this now, as other projects are piling up and the lathe is taking up too much space in the middle of the shed.

I got it all up and running, except for the roller which engages the fastest spindle speed kept running off the belt and jamming . I've investigated and discovered that the arm which holds the roller has a very slight bend in it, don't know if a previous owner did this but a two speed lathe isn't much good, right? Well, not when it's supposed to have three.....

So today I stripped down the Tri-Leva arrangement until I have this
View attachment 110377

- it's surprising how little detailed info there is about this arrangement on the Myfords and @Turbo 's thread has been more help than most sources.

I don't think I'll go to the extent he did with painting etc, but a little judicious straightening against a straight edge ought to help with the misalignment. I was sweating cobs while dismantling as the parent casting is made from unobtainium, aka that damned Mazak stuff and once broken.... However, patience saved the day.

When you have it stripped I would advise you to take the rollers apart, wash out the thickened grease & re-grease them. If you don't feel like painting them brush on a coat of chain oil (or heavy gear oil), leave it overnight & wipe of the excess. It leaves a nice matte finish which seems to protect against rust.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

When you have it stripped I would advise you to take the rollers apart, wash out the thickened grease & re-grease them. If you don't feel like painting them brush on a coat of chain oil (or heavy gear oil), leave it overnight & wipe of the excess. It leaves a nice matte finish which seems to protect against rust.

Ahhhh, I'm too late in reading advice ] - I spent today in straightening the arm and re-assembling it all. Maurice now lives!! To be honest, and as I think I said earlier in the thread, the lathe looks to have had very little use as the paint on the contact edges of two of the rollers is barely marked by belt contact.

Did a few very light cuts but the cutting tools are the ones I used on my old RandA and not exactly on centre, so I'll get that right [either shims or new ones] and do whatever fine adjusting is necessary. All works though, and the Tri-Leva system works as intended.

Happy chappy, me........ Doubt much progress will be made for a few days as Doc & hospital visits will take up much of the week but I'm pleased that the worst/most difficult stage(s) are sorted.
I appreciate all the help, advice and encouragement I've had, lads

 

[Turbo]

An easy way to fill your oilers is to use a wash bottle like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pc-Plast...165396?hash=item1a2531b954:g:iTUAAOSwXeJYG~HA

Saves you pumping away at an oil can.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@Turbo Thanks for the 'heads-up' on those, I've got some [linked on here by someone iirc] which I've earmarked for cutting fluid [I used a small brush previously] and oil.

I have a pair of Myford drop-oilers to be fitted - one of which I broke [] but hopefully will be able to repair now I've got the lathe running.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

My cutting tools are from my old lathe, either slightly above or be below centre , so until I can regrind them [or try to] or get a set dedicated to a Myford I'm trying to resist with bashing ahead and playing .

See if this video I made works, if not I'll have to research why not. Taken on my Android phone - a 3 minute clip is 410 Mb , so probably too big a file to add here

Mhhhhh, message appears -

The following error occurred
The uploaded file does not have an allowed extension.

VID_20170602_160629.mp4

Any ideas?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Probably better to upload to YouTube then link here.

 

[Seadog]

It looks like the MP4 format is not allowed. Try and create it as an MP3.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Probably better to upload to YouTube then link here.

Well, I started to u/load and it was going to take about 2.5 hours!! I've cancelled it meantime as I can't believe everyone spends their entire life waiting for that to happen.
I'll see if I can convert/reduce the file size somehow before trying again. You can probably tell I'm useless at video/MP3/MP4 etc........