Myford Lathe

Holleyman

Holleyman

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I was sitting down eating dinner tonight and got a knock on the door. A co-worker of mine that I know but all that well says he was cleaning out his garage and was sick of moving this lathe he has. I left dinner to go check out this lathe in his truck. It is a Myford ML7 with boxes and boxes of measuring tools and machine tools, has to have been 500 pounds of "stuff". He said I'm the only one he knew that might be interested in it and if I didn't want it the dump was his next stop.
So I am a proud new owner of a ML7 lathe.
Seems well built. It is covered in packing grease right now. I'll clean it off a bit and show what I got later.
I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm going to do with it but I couldn't let it go to the dump.
Anyone have experience using this model lathe?
 
Awesome! :cool: Here is a good starting point: http://www.lathes.co.uk/myford-ml7/
I also stumbled across a similar jackpot and got an Austrian made Maximat lathe and a bunch of other tools. What have I made with it?? Mostly used for repairing other machines and making small parts for various projects. It doesn't get used often, but is a lifesaver when I need it. Lots of videos of lathe basics on Youtube. Have fun!
 
I have a myford lathe and i love it they can be worth a lot of money if there in good condition
There's a new one on ebay right now for $5400.00
i got mine at a auction about 10 years ago for around $500.00 but have spent way more than that on tooling because nothing came with it.
southbend has a lot of good books on running a lathe available for free downloads here
http://wewilliams.net/SBLibrary.htm
 
Yes, I had one for a few years until I tripped over a deal on the Asian 12x36 I got to replace it.

It's a great small job machine but has trouble with larger hunks of steel. The issue is that the main shaft is too small so it's also too flexible. As a result the Myford tends to be a "Chattermatic" when trying to do even moderate cuts on steel and certainly when performing parting operations.

But hey, for the price you paid I'd be all smiles! You'll learn a huge amount from it. And if you stick to smaller jobs on it you may never find that you need anything else.
 
Yeah, had an ML7 and still have a Super 7. Had both at the same time for several years, too. Pretty good machines, not the be-all, by any means, but pretty good machines.

Post some pictures.

Geez. The dump? Really? Bloody shame that would have been.

If it gets too much for you to cart around, drop an ad on the EE or post in on Kijiji. Figure around $1500 for an older basic equipped model, and up rapidly from there if it is newer, and well equipped.

Pretty easy to put together a whackload of tools and tooling together that is still worth less than the gas it would take to haul it home. Again, need to see it to assess whether the 500 pounds of stuff is gold, gravel, or somewhere in between.

Good machines. Make sure to keep the spindle oilers filled, any oil is better than none. A drop or two on each other rotating part in the gear train etc. is a good plan too.

If you need any help, either PM or post it here and I'll likely be able to point you in a general direction that might get you what you need.

Cheers
Trev
 
I bought my Myford Super 7 for $2000 second hand, about 30 years ago and have never regretted it for a moment. My principle interest is in antiques so I use it for making screws in oddball thread pitches as well as reloading dies and have rebarreled and chambered a number of guns over the years. I also make my own spade bit (D bit) chambering reamers with it and also threading taps for freshening out worn or rusted out nipple threads on percussion guns (and obviously oversize nipples to match).
Use the tail stock and center to support the end of the work and a steady rest for long piece, both of which reduce chatter and runout while cutting

cheers mooncoon
 
Nuto 32 hydraulic oil, or any other 32 weight hydraulic oil for the headstock oilers. I'd also take the carriage apart and see is there isn't a bunch of congealed crap in there.
 
Not very big at all
img5.jpg
 
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wood800 said:
Can't be very big if it was in the back of a truck
Click to expand...

No it's not. But then this is why you don't and didn't see them in big commercial shops.

It was introduced after the war as a home hobby lathe and possibly used as a lathe for some high schools. If bigger commercial shops used any it was as a small tool room machine to avoid tying up the main machine.

Despite a lot of limitations due to the design and lighter weight the Myford has built up a huge reputation. In it's day it as a far better machine than the Atlas that was of comparable size. But neither the Myford nor the Atlas could hold a candle to the slightly larger Logan or similar size small South Bend.

Like most smaller lathes it won't be any good for barrel work. Or at least it'll be VERY limited due to bed length. But it will work out fine for smaller parts.
 
They are a tool room lathe, intended for making small precision parts. They are a fine machine for their intended purpose. They were not built as a gunsmith's lathe or for general machining of larger parts.
 
It looks pretty much mint :S I don't have anywhere to put it, but i'd have gladly taken it even having to listen to the ol lady ##### about a lathe set up in the living room :)
 
Holleyman said:
Not very big at all
img5.jpg
Click to expand...

Now post a picture of YOUR lathe, eh? :)

Did you get the quick change gearbox, or change gears, or both? I have a metric conversion set with the special quadrant for my S7, to go with the quick change box, plus a few spare gears to do some really funky feed rates.

They are a good little lathe, and for a basement machine, they don't take up a lot of space and work well within their size class. If you do not trap yourself by thinking that there is only one way to do the job, you can make it work for just about anything you need to do, just slower than having the correct machine.

You got any books or other info on hand? The Amateur's Lathe, by Sparey, Workholding in the Lathe, and Milling Operations in the Lathe (two separate titles) by Tubal Cain, all available through Busy Bee by mail order. If you are a book learner at all, those books should have ideas going off in your head like fireworks!

The two books by George H. Thomas, are worth a splurge too. The titles are The Model Engineer's Workshop Manual, and Workshop Techniques, but a quick look at Amazon, shows some rather...optimistic pricing. WoW!
(going to have to move my copy out of the bathroom I guess!) :)
http://www.hemingwaykits.com/acatalog/projects.html is a good read, and they sell the above G.Thomas books for somewhat<cough> less than the sellers on Amazon.
http://www.myford-lathes.com/accesories.htm worth a read too.

Cheers
Trev
 
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I've got a new (to me) 1911 that arrived having never been throated at the Norc factory. It hated round nose ammo, and jammed once a mag. Into a friends Super 7 for 5 minutes, a new throat, and it works great.
 
Guys, usually guys that don't even have any lathe, get all wrapped around the axle over the need for the 'perfect' lathe. It doesn't exist.

Guys ought concentrate on the options that open up for a fella that has any lathe at all, because with only a few exceptions, the lathe on the workbench, is a whole lot more useful than the lathe in the catalog/brochure/website, that you don't actually have.

When you need a bigger lathe, get one, the skills transfer over really well! :)

Cheers
Trev
 
Oh yeah.

Pictures man! Greasy is OK. Curiosity is getting to me! :) Open a couple of them boxes and take a few pictures there too. I wanna see just HOW jealous I outta be! :D

Cheers
Trev
 
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