myford super 7 Archives - Woody's Workshop

October 28, 2021

Adding thrust bearings to the Myford Super 7 with Clough42 ELS fitted

Some time ago I documented my implementation of the Clough42 Electronic Leadscrew on my Myford Super 7 Big Bore lathe. I also wrote up adding thrust bearings to the top slide and cross slide adjusters. What remained outstanding was adding thrust bearings to the leadscrew. While there is a commercial kit from Hemmingway Kits to install these, my implementation of the ELS involved a direct drive to the leadscrew at the tailstock end of the bed and made things difficult – I ran out of length on the leadscrew.

After considering the situation I opted to retain my ELS drive concept and gain space for the bearings by shaving metal from the Myford leadscrew bracket. It is not an ideal modification as I am always very reticent about physically changing the structure of my machines. Despite this I have to say it seems to have paid off and I now have a very stable and repeatable leadscrew feed from the ELS. Here is a photo of the result.

modification to the leadscrew mounting for adding thrust bearings — The final assembly using the ELS drive concept to the end of the leadscrew and how space was made for thrust bearings to be fitted

I have added details of the modification to the original thrust bearing write up and this can be downloaded as a PDF from the link below.

Myford Super 7 Thrust Bearing Mods including leadscrew

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August 3, 2021

Rear Parting Tool Post on Myford Super 7

I’ve been meaning for some time to make a rear tool post for my Myford Super 7 when parting off material. There are various comments on the web about how a rear mounted blade is the best way to succeed for this activity.

Hemmingway Kits here in the UK offer a kit of materials and instructions based on the Geo. H Thomas design as detailed in his ‘Red Book’ (ISBN 1-85761-000-8). This seemed like a good route to take.

The kit arrived with all the materials and documentation needed including a casting for the body of the post. You do have to make a couple of cutting tools as part of the activity but again the material is supplied for this. I found that having access to the Red Book in conjunction with the Hemmingway kit notes helped me better understand what was involved.

Having the Tormach CNC mill allowed me to depart slightly from the intended construction but it all came together very well. I had some Myford Aqua blue paint to hand from my Clough42 Electronic Leadscrew control panel enclosure and this finished off the project nicely as shown below. However I do need to crop back the excess on the rear of the blades before blood is spilt.

Hemmingway rear tool post parting tool holder — The finished rear parting tool holder made from the Hemmingway Kit

Trial cuts have so far been excellent. I can now use the power cross feed when parting brass which is a major departure. Overall a good addition to my workshop assets and a relaxing pleasure to make.

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July 5, 2021July 5, 2021

Myford Super 7 backlash solution with thrust bearings

One Job Leads to Another

I had a job for a customer that needed two M18 screws cut on the ends of a shaft. I have never cut anything that size before but fortunately I have installed the Clough42 Automatic Leadscrew system fitted to my Myford Super 7 Big Bore lathe.

I tried some trial cuts using the Geo Thomas ‘Red Book’ top slide method but I found there was so much backlash on both the top slide and cross slide that I was struggling for consistency. In the end I did a hybrid cut ‘nearly there’ using the ALS using plunge cuts and then I finished with a nut die that was happy to start on the part cut thread . This gave me a clean finish to the thread and I was relieved to get the job done. Note that my S7 is a ‘metric’ version but the leadscrew is Imperial so screw cutting using the ALS entails keeping the half nut engaged and reversing the drive.

With the job completed my thoughts came round to giving the Super 7 some TLC to try to improve the backlash issues. I found various discussion threads about fitting thrust bearings to the cross slide and top slide but all referred to EBay thrust bearings that were no longer listed. After some investigation I found Simply Bearings had two suitable items in stock. The NTA916-TRA916 is a 9/16″ core diameter bearing and washers suitable for the cross slide and the NTA815-TRA815 is a 1/2″ set for the top slide. I ordered two of each set.

The attached PDF link below gives details of how I implemented this modification.

Myford Super 7 Thrust Bearing Mods

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