Thread: New Lathe - need advice

[ame=http://www.amazon.ca/Amateurs-Lathe-Lawrence-H-Sparey/dp/0852422881]The Amateur's Lathe: Amazon.ca: Lawrence H. Sparey: Books[/ame]
This is a very good book. Most of the work done in the book is done on a myfod, there are also myford specific tooling projects.
Darrell

Basically if you are familar with maching with cnc/nc you shouldnt have a problem.are you a tradesman or an opperater.

I have a ML7 as well and here is the adaptor I made for a bigger chuck I bought.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

Basically if you are familar with maching with cnc/nc you shouldnt have a problem.are you a tradesman or an opperater.

I guess I was just an operator, but that was a long time ago, some propeller head would come down and load up the program, I'd just hit the go button. High school was different, but that was a very long time ago.

Thinking about doing a short TAFE course, but book recommendations sound like a good starting point. I don't want to do it professionally, just want to learn how to get the most out of my lathe.

G'day Paul,
Lucky bugger being given a Myford, well done.
I've got an ML7 and its a great little machine. I found the Myford Series 7 Manual by Ian Bradley, to be a good book it covers the ML7 and the Super7, a bit of basic machine practice and a few projects. I know you can get it on ebay out of the UK, just do a search for Myford and it usually comes up, I think I paid about $20.00 delivered.
There is also a group on Yahoo called "myfordlathes" which might also be worth a look.
Good luck mate.
Cheers,
Greg.

Originally Posted by kwijibo99

There is also a group on Yahoo called "myfordlathes" which might also be worth a look.

Nice find. I have a 7 and a Super 7.
The yahoo group has some useful info if you can put up with people who have no idea of snipping useless info. Wading through screens of regurgitated info is no fun to find a one line answer. I gave up. YMMV.
Cheers

Thanks fellas,

I'll be sure to check out all your links. I guess I need to re-learn turning from the ground up. I don't want to just learn for a specific job, I want to learn the lot. Anyone know any other good books?

This book might be handy....This is it's second listing CARE & OPERATION OF A SCREW-CUTTING LATHE MANUAL - eBay Wood, Leatherwork, Crafts, Nonfiction Books, Books. (end time 06-Feb-10 11:00:11 AEDST)

One of the things I have always stated as an instructor in machining is, "If you have only worked a cnc lathe you will never be able to work a manual lathe without training in turning". These two forms of machining are worlds apart and dont mix. To be any good with a manual lathe you need to start at the very beginning even as an apprentice and or, go to a good school where you can learn the basics. If you can physicly fit the part/job in the (manual) lathe, then you will be able to machine it. The biggest problem is working out how to hold the part in the lathe and align it to the centerline. The second biggest problem is understanding how the tools cut and then shaping a tool to do the job. Almost anyone can grind and shape a "standard" turning tool. The tools I am talking about are the specialized tools, eg, an internal boring bar for screwcutting an Acme thread 1/4-20 tpi, a boring bar to bore out a 4mm dia hole 15mm deep. What about a ball turning tool to shape a ball by plunge forming? These are just some of the many tools I have made.
The very best manual machinists are those who can use and apply their imagination to their work and unless you have a special gift for it, then it will take years to aquire it. Some of the hardest things I have machined are the ends of double barrel shotguns. The end must be machined square to the centerline of each barrel and the centerlines are not parallel. These were all machined in my ML Super 7. How would you hold the barrels to machine them? Who can give me an answer for machining the barrels? Marking the barrels even in the slightest is strictly forbidden. These shotguns were valued at $18,000 each.
Kody

G'day Kody,
Sounds like an interesting task, Never done such a thing but I'll have a crack
I'm going to assume you have a milling slide and collets for your S7 here.
Make up one fixture to support said barrel in the milling attachment and use leather to pad the jaws so as to protect the barrel.
Make a second fixture to allow mounting a dead center to support the barrel at the end of the bed kind of like an outrigger tail stock (assuming barrel is longer than the bed).
Mount the barrel and center the first bore using a finger indicator mounted in a collet (this may need another fixture if you didn't have one already)
For the tool I am thinking something like a fly cutter or single flute counter bore, could even use a boring bar. Mount tool in a suitable collet and set up a carrage stop to set depth of cut.
Advance barrel towards cutter, feeding rear center support simultaniously, kind of like using a tap in the tail stock, until contacting carriage stop.
Remove and repeat for the second barrel.
More time spent making fixtures and mounting workpiece but if I have found anything, that is the way it goes with machining. Oh and do a few practice runs on pipe, dont want to attack the 18 grand barrel without a dry run.
This is probably not the best way but I'll put it out there to be pecked to pieces.
Cheers,
Greg.

Not knowing anything thing about Shotguns,I would have to ask a few questions to try and work out a method.
1, How long are the Barrels.
2.Are the Barrels seperate or joined.
3. Are the barrels round at each end or is there some kind of block at the Trigger end.
4. Are you Facing the Barrels or Boring or Turning.
5. If Turning or Boring what length of cut.

Hi Greg
What a great effort! You have put a lot of thought into this problem. Well done.
Unfortunately I do not have a milling attachment or collets. All I have is a 4 jaw and a 3 jaw chuck. I do have a three point steady but I had to make a slightly bigger one for this job.
At the time, I was self employed as a gunsmith/gundealer/armourer (with the appropriate license) and worked from home.
This job was performed without a trial run on a piece of pipe. It was a case of put the barrels in the lathe and machine the ends of each barrel separately.
The face of each muzzle must be perfectly square to the respective center line of the barrel.
The end of each barrel had to have the bluing touched up slightly because of the heat. -- Now there is a great clue but I'm afraid it may not realy help you.

Hi Pipeclay
To answer your questions

1, How long are the Barrels.
The barrels are 30 inches long.
2.Are the Barrels seperate or joined.
They are fully joined and cannot be separated
3. Are the barrels round at each end or is there some kind of block at the Trigger end.
At the breech end, the barrels are fitted into a block. Some barrells are fitted into a separate block and then joined together
At the muzzle end, the barrels are joined and look like a figure eight. There is a web between them and they cannot be separated.
4. Are you Facing the Barrels or Boring or Turning.
The end of each barrel is faced off in the normal manner.
5. If Turning or Boring what length of cut.
Only facing the end was done.

The barrels are 30 inches long. The ML-S7 will fit only 30" between centers. Ooops! a small problem I had to fix.
The ends of the barrels were machined because they were not perfectly square. Just the slightest error, a few "thou" out will throw the shot pattern off target. These shotguns were used for National Clay Target competitions and so they had to be perfect. It was a load of fun to do the job.

Have a bit more of a think about this problem if you all will. This is a wonderfull example of when you need to use your imagination more than anything else.
In the next post, I will reveal all and explain how it was done. For you own help files on lathe work, I recomend that you keep a copy of this technique. Unfortunately, digital cameras didn't exist in those days so there are no photos to show you. Can someone else also have a go at this problem?

Kody

Her is my go at it, four jaw chuck breech end, barrels fitted inside a tube of suitable size, tube in steady rest other end, obviously barrels protected at every clamping point, all set up with dial indicator, to align everything, you know, one barrel at the time, how did I do?

Qickie, any choke in the barrels?