ML4 setup

[JCSteam]

I didn't have the room to fit the tool between the end and a dead centre, I now understand what a half dead Center is used for

 

[JCSteam]

Well until I get a grinder sorted in busy doing nothing today, since i got sent home, (another story, annoyed) i decided to give a few parts a new coat of paint. Degreased, and polished, then figured out how I was going to paint them. All done with a small tipped brush to allow me more control over where the paint was going.

On the gears especially this helped a lot, a little tricky to hold some of the parts though whilst painting as for example the clamp is painted nearly all around, used the bolt for adjustment screwed the other way in to allow it to be held whilst I got all around it. On all the parts I made sure not to touch the mating surfaces with the brush, where I did slip, the paint was removed immediately so as not to interfere with the fit of the components. Just a bit more running and polishing to do on other parts now and reassemble.*

At least if it looks pretty I might get around to sorting some of the other issues too, whilst these parts are disassembled I'll be making drawings of parts such as the bearings, and gear holders for the change gears. You never know when you might need them. And once back together will be a pain to strip out again to measure so might as well do it now.*

 

[bazmak]

Looking great.Doing it this way gives immense satisfaction BUT MORE IMPORTANT it gets you familiar with all the working parts and the confidence
to strip down and reassemble. Like the colour

 

[JCSteam]

Thank Baz, it was a toss up between blue or red as I have surplus of these colours. Red means danger so I decided to go blue as I like blue a lot more.

A little disappointed with the result, the paint was mixed well but after a night in the shed is still tacky, (it was cold last night though, and the shed isn't insulated).

Question:- I've baked paint on in the oven before, gets rid of the solvents that stop it curing. (The missus is at work so I can get away with it) Can I bake cast iron in the oven on a low heat say 50°c or do I risk cracking a casting? The gears aren't a problem but the tailstock has two steel bolts still in it, and the expansion of the indifferent metals has me worried.

Am I better to just leave the parts in the house for a day and wait for them to cure at ambient temperature? Save risking my tailstock from possibly cracking?

 

[ShopShoe]

I don't know exactly how your paint will react if you try to dry it in the oven, but in situations like this I usually have enough other things to clean up that there is time for the paint to air-dry while I attack those other things. If you just can get away with having the parts inside in the warm house that may help you enough.

Good Luck,

--ShopShoe

 

[bazmak]

If the wife is out then use her hair dryer.Once the castings are warmed
they stay warm for quite a while.No chance of cracking at low temps
I had the same problem a few days ago.Still tacky after 24 hrs but i
was patient and found something else to do.The 2nd 24 hrs fixed the
problem.Nice and dry but not fully cured for another 24 hrs

 

[JCSteam]

Well I can be an impatient fellow, and I've only got a small amount for space to work in, so at the moment the parts for the change gears and the tailstock are filling the space I'd need to strip down something else and paint that.

The parts were put in the oven on the lowest setting for an hour, I haven't opened the oven up yet to see the results, one because I've got mucky hands and two because I didn't want to induce a cold shock yo the parts, I know I'm probably been over cautious but rather that than bugger up the tailstock. Or crack a gear.

As for finish in the oven well see in around another hour when I'm back from the shops. A lot of the time when paint is tacky it's the solvents that haven't evaporated that cause them to be tacky, so a warm 50° should have evaporated the solvents. Just got to remember to take them out before the missus finds them making tea lol

 

[JCSteam]

Only problem is now I can see me wanting to strip the whole thing down to repaint, but I'll settle for now just repainting and refurbishing the accessories like the traveling and fixed steady. Need to make a bolt too for the traveling steady think it's 1/4" BSW but will have to go back over my postings as I've forgotten now.

 

[Cogsy]

and two because I didn't want to induce a cold shock yo the parts, I know I'm probably been over cautious but rather that than bugger up the tailstock. Or crack a gear.

Definitely being a bit overcautious here. To set your mind at ease, my shed gets well over 50 degrees C in summer and parts are regularly 'cold shocked' with water dripping off me (to stay in the shed at these temps for any worthwhile length of time you need to saturate your shirt and stand in front of a fan). At these low temperature variations there is no risk at all of cracking.

 

[goldstar31]

Probably JC is being a 'windy' and coming from a so called temperate climate we see very few dogs frozen to lampposts or road tar melting on the streets of Darlington.

What is important, said me postulating as usual, is machining old castings that distort as if by magic. I recall somewhat bitterly of carefully boring an original Westbury mill drill headstock and being 'ever so clever' in boring the brute to 'plus and minus nowt' and then cutting it so that it would clamp on the pillar. The bugger warped and I had to scrape it by hand to fit again. Dear old Ned never squeaked about that in his 'words and music' on its construction.

And would be Quorn builders, if you get down to the plus 3 thous or less, cutting can release all sorts of stresses. Incidentally, do people actually make Quorns any more?

Clears throat:hDe:

N

 

[JCSteam]

All I sometimes wish we had a little more of that sort of wether over here. But knowing us British we'd only moan about the weather lol.

However I'm pleased to report that no damage was sustained in the drying of the paint.

 

[JCSteam]

After some messing around today I have got the lathe to turn a steel bar with 1 thou taper over 3" I'd like to get this down further, but will have to wait on the arrival of some measuring tools, a micrometer, and dial indicator. To name but a few.

I realised today that my tailstock is well out, when I brought it in line to the end of the work and located it in the Centre hole it visable moved the bar, when turned it gave me a 40 thou taper. There was an article about setting up the tailstock, can anyone help please? Or bullet point the steps to set up the tailstock, I got it close before the repaint, but I'd like to do it right and do it once than having to repeat myself again and again in the hope that it may be correct.

 

[Blogwitch]

You will find that almost every time you slacken off the tailstock, it will move to a different position. This is a common fault with flat bed lathes, there is nothing to hold then in sync with the bed..

I find that the use of one of these really speeds things up and makes the job a lot easier.

http://www.amadeal.co.uk/acatalog/Centering-Indicator-Set---Metric-AMA_MT_607_4905TD.html#SID=85


John

 

[goldstar31]

My 'flat bed' Myford ML10 and Super7B both have brass setting plates at the rear of their tailstocks.

Could you have accidentally painted over them on yours?

Not 'accurate' but nigh enough for pit work'

N

 

[JCSteam]

My 'flat bed' Myford ML10 and Super7B both have brass setting plates at the rear of their tailstocks.

Could you have accidentally painted over them on yours?

Not 'accurate' but nigh enough for pit work'

N

I don't think I painted over any brass at the rear of the tailstock, however, I've just remembered the last owner did a modification to the tailstock and set a bolt with a sliding plate to the bottom of it, this can be used to set a reasonable centre, the rest I'll have to do with a dial....

John that looks a real handy piece of kit, and I'll keep that in mind, though I can't spend that much on a single tool at the moment, I'm on a very tight budget, till I get a more permanent job sorted. Definitely a future buy though!

 

[JCSteam]

Call me daft, but is it possible to mill up a fixing plate for the rear of the tailstock, instead of the cast iron bracket, with the two prongs, an "L" shaped bracket, that has the lower part milled with a dovetail (60° ???), and the two holes drilled one for adjustment, the other for the clamping handle. It would give more of a bite on the ways plus give a straight edge for lining up the tailstock, the gib strip could then be used to just take the play out of it, what steel would be best so as to avoid a harder metal onto the cast iron deforming it, or would it be better to mill it from cast iron??

 

[goldstar31]

Jon

It's more than 50 years since I played with a 'pre7' Myford and of course, it normally had the poppet removed so that Northumbrian small pipe chanters could be drilled dead parallel over 13". Later, I messed on with a Zyto which was near enough a early ML.

You can or should I say I could align with cutting and comparing the diameters of two disks at the end of a crude test bar but prior to getting a clock gauge you could have a bit of a lark with a child's laser much in the same way as 'Geometer's Microscope on the Lathe series of articles.

Incidentally, what's an NVQ? My late wife got one for playing jazz bari sax -in a former mortuary!

I suppose that it takes all sorts

N

 

[JCSteam]

Norm I quite like that idea, I have a laser level that has a magnetic base, it could be set a top of the spindle of the tailstock and trued up showing vertical and horizontal planes at 90° to each other. Position on the spindle would be the key, but would get close enough to start testing with, that along with the ruler between two points I could save myself £60 for now in any case.......

Definition of NVQ:- The NVQ is a work based qualification which recognises the skills and knowledge a person needs to do a job. The candidate needs to demonstrate and prove their competency in their chosen role or career path

Sound like your late wife could play, if she received an NVQ in saxaphone

 

[goldstar31]

Of course, like Confucius, you could try it the other way and point the laser through the headstock spindle onto the point of a centre in the tailstock.

It would not solve the inherent fragile tailstock but it is worth a go. With a set of clear plastic graticules and prisms, you could check your alignment of your car as an encore.

N

 

[JCSteam]

Of course, like Confucius, you could try it the other way and point the laser through the headstock spindle onto the point of a centre in the tailstock.

It would not solve the inherent fragile tailstock but it is worth a go. With a set of clear plastic graticules and prisms, you could check your alignment of your car as an encore.

N

True, though the car can be left as it just went through the MOT with just two bulbs. Cheapest MOT I've ever had on a car

I couldn't mount the laser level the other way around, would need a small (ie 3/8") pencil laser, mount it in the end of the spindle and it would have a straight line all the way through the middle of the axle.