Apprentice Steam Engine - Part 2 using a Myford Super 7

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello, Very nice work... I hope you don't mind me asking a question but I am keen to learn. I was wondering why you did not use the rear toolpost you recently made to part off? was it just the size of the material and being able to use a larger parting tool. Take care. Paul,,

[@opticalmechanic]

Hi Paul, It was what I would regard a heavy duty parting op so I went for the front tool post, plus the reach of the rear blade wasn’t quite long enough. When I use the rear post for parting, I only intend to use it for light duty work e.g. smaller diameters, softer materials etc. also, when parting from the front, the post is in compression, when parting from the rear it is in tension. The weakest link is the stiffness of the two M6 screws (which are high tensile) but still not as rigid as the front post under compression (hope that makes sense). Cheers, Colin.

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

@@opticalmechanic thank you

[@georgeclements2742]

Good to see you back. A bit disconcerting to lapse into silence and high speed motion, but still enjoyable. You have achieved a superb finish on the parts: I am just starting to experiment with ceramic tips on my elderly Super 7 and your observations are of great interest. At present I can only accommodate 8mm tool shanks in my quick change tool post and will have to find out whether there are suitable Sandvik tips available. 10mm shank tools are just slightly too large to achieve centre height. I confess that I find the complexity of the tip categories quite mystifying.

[@opticalmechanic]

They are a bit mysterious but the information is available online. Jon’s Workshop is worth a look as he goes through the various tip shapes and the coding system in one of his videos. I did machine a couple of my insert holders before I went to my solid tool post mount in order to reduce the height. The other thing you could do is remove a few millimetres from the top of the compound slide. Are you looking to set a full set of insert tools or just specific ones?

[@georgeclements2742]

@@opticalmechanic I have bought a small set of the more commonly used profiles and will buy others if they prove successful. I have also bought a couple of holders that allow the use of larger holders but preclude swivelling of the topslide. I'm just trying different permutations. So far, I only have the inserts supplied with the Chinese holders and a box of Blue Nano ones that Steve Jordan recommends. Your experience of the cheap inserts is not encouraging, but I'll see how things go.

[@Steviegtr52]

Just watched part 2. I must say your drawings are excellent. Mine are usually done on the back of a fag packet. Keep up the good work. Will wait till the end to see it running. Regards. Steve.

[@opticalmechanic]

Thanks Steve. Those drawings are quite old now. I don’t take the same amount of time these days. Thanks for watching.

[@philiprogers5772]

I have the same gearbox on my ML7. How do you achieve such low feed rates? The lowest I can get produces a very fine thread like finish.

[@opticalmechanic]

I think you may need to check what change gears you have installed as they can be changed depending on whether you are threading or machining normally. I have some videos that may help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4Gro6hveZiUjdU kzbin.info/www/bejne/manRdmWqe9eJsM0 Thanks for watching.

[@philiprogers5772]

@@opticalmechanic Thanks for the reply. i didn't realise I could use change wheels other than the recommend for the gearbox. I have just watched your video on converting it to a metric gearbox. Very enlightening. I will definitely be doing that conversion.