QCTP clone of a clone for the axa to myford lathe

[bazmak]

I have the axa chinese version of the qctp with lots of tool holders
While at design stage just before i go to sleep could i make a new body
to fit the Myford and at the same time use all the comm. tool holders
Dont know yet its all in my head,but here goes. When i was in the middle
of making 3 and 4 way tool posts i bought a no of of pieces of square stock
nom 70/80 sq x 40/50 lg. I had one left over in cast iron just the right size
for a new body.Made to fit the Myford but to accept my stock of tool holders
Nothing on paper but any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[goldstar31]

For those unfamiliar with Myford products, the ratchet shown on the top slide refers to the original proper Myford 4 way tool post. The body has a detent and is a part which some workers criticised as being difficult to repeat the setting accurately. George Thomas in his epic Model Engineers Workshop Manual actually measures the accuracy or lack of it and goes on to suggest what he described as a better and 'bigger' solution. I have two Myfords tool holders and a Thomas. Again, I have a number of QCTP's which 'sort of came home attached to something else.
In addition, I have a few home made things and a rather nice proper swing tool holder ex Martin Cleeve. Yer pays your money and you takes yer choice!

I also have a 'roundtuit' in the form of a Gibraltar tool post from the stable of non other than the second Tubal Cain who had done a lot of research as a tutor in full size engineering as well as model engineering.
So you know 'what I have' or a bit of it. Now to try to tie down my views- and I don't want to be banned yet again. You know who you are!

What seems to come out from MY experience follows the published views of respected Myford users. The Myford suffers from a lack of rigidity and again in my opinion, the only published account on how to address the problem is to follow the late Jack Radford's epistle on dumping the top slide and machining a solid casting such as the one shown in Hemingwaykits. Other writers have repeated the edict of dumping the top slide unless it is essential to the job in hand. Realising that Martin Cleeve cracked a standard Myford saddle, there is some merit in these comments.
He replaced it with a STEEL one.

On a similar sort of topic, I have a broken top slide which came as a gift to me to make a Radford top slide. The spigot fixing the bottom of the top slide was shattered and I have no idea what happened to the boring table.

My bitter experience was to hand scrape a Super7 boring table top which had been pulled out of shape - before me.

And there you have it

Norm

 

[bazmak]

A little more progress.Norm the lack of ridgidity on the Myford most of us have
to live with and its the same be it a 4 way tool post or qctp. As you say one answer is to remove the compound and mount to the cross slide,it works but i miss the compound slide for accurate small movement.Difficult with the saddle
unless you have and use the leadscrew handwheel and its a long reach
Basically this thread is about being able to use my axa tool holders without
chang



ing the myford and to be able swap to the 4 way toolpost simply by
undoing the clamping lever.Time will tell

 

[goldstar31]

Hmmm? This 3mm(1/8th) problem which Barry has mentioned is not only on his Sieg but on mine too. In addition, the proper Myford 4 way tool post for the Myford ML10 is also 'out' by something similar and if I'm to use it , I will be restricted to titchy little lathe tools whereas 8mm is my norm.

In a weary effort for a shortcut, I tried to mill one of my rock hard QCTPs and buggered my 40mm carbide insert milling cutter and have gone to having to buy another one.

Not the end of the World by any shade of imagination and hardly worth mentioning. It does support Barry's findings and therefore may be of value to others.

Back to ML4's and two points arise. One is that no one has mentioned grinding chip breakers and the second is just how soft( and virtually useless) these sets of cheap throwaway brazed carbide sets. Nope, I wasn't daft enough to actually pay real money for them.

Now then the grape and grain don't appear to mix. I've been doing the same sort of thing that Tubal Cain and LBSC have done when they were not model engineering:fan:

N

 

[bazmak]

All finished and works well. Made the clamp pins from HT rebar.Made the centre spacer also from HT and finished the main eccentric housing.I used the Myford clamp handle and used the existing main clamping handle from the axa
No point in making another one as i can simply unscrew from one and transfer to another.I can now use all the axa toolholders on the Myford.Will just have remember to reset centre height when i change between lathes.My current
project is to build a small shed 2m x 1m dedicated to the Myford so i can use the lathe.I just have room but wife not happy