MYFORD ML8 Refurbishment

[Davidpryor]

Hello all,

I have searched through a few posts to find anyone who has refurbished an old Myford ML8 with no luck....

Me and a friend have came across an old cream Myford ML8 in a bit of a sorry state and are looking to refurbish it to its full glory and get her turning wood again!

Is there anyone who has done this or anyone who may have any tips? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Trevanion]

I’m working on one at the moment when I get a spare moment here or there, eventually I’ll make a thread on the forum about it but I do have some progress pictures on Instagram as I’m going along. Is there anything in particular you’d like to know?

 

[Davidpryor]

Hi Trevanion! Thats pretty cool!! Look forward to seeing the progress you make. Is there a link to the page to follow?

So far we have stripped it down to each component, we planned on cleaning it up and re painting it. The main things we have seen so far:
- The motor isn't in the greatest conditions, I've managed to get it turning with a bit of trial and error (I'm sure health and safety wouldn't approve of the setup) but there are no wiring diagrams or anything for the motor, or any info whatsoever on the motor??

- The tail stock barrel was seized so we had to drill out the barrel locating key. Also the bit that holds the thrust plate on the tailstock has snapped off too, will need to weld back into place.. We assume the head and tail stock are aluminium??

 

[Phil Pascoe]

They were fitting with multitudes of motors as the motor isn't part of the lathe, so you'll need to post details of the one that's in yours.

 

[Trevanion]

As Phil said, Myford ML8s had motors as an optional extra when you ordered a machine, a proper stand was also an optional extra so that’s why you see so many with home made stands with a plethora of different motors. The original motor they used was a Crompton Parkinson motor on a resilient mounting at both ends of the motor. It’d take someone very skilled to repair one of those as they had some sort of Babbet style poured bearing on each end of the motor from what I could tell from the one I’ve got. The one I’ve got is pretty much beyond repair due to excessive wear on the bearings so the rotor rattled a bit while it spins.

Yes, the head, tailstock and most components are a cast aluminium. Got any photos of the parts you’re describing?

You can find my posts on Instagram under “Trevanion”

 

[SammyQ]

Trev...have you any idea where your 'green' lathe came from please? If its a sh1te hammerite job on top of cream....??...I think I once owned it!!

Sam

 

[Trevanion]

Trev...have you any idea where your 'green' lathe came from please? If its a dung hammerite job on top of cream....??...I think I once owned it!!

Sam

I bought it off a fella in the local village, Sam. I think he inherited it off another fella in the village that had it for many years. I believe it’s a dung hammerite job on top of silver.

 

[SammyQ]

Thanks Trev, its a dead ringer, even to the dribbles on the rhs, to the one I had. But, mine should still be in Dundonald!

Sam

 

[graduate_owner]

I have a yellow ML8 tailstock I can sell. I think the semicircular thrust washer thingy is missing but the barrel etc is definitely not siezed.
Any interest?

K

 

[Trigs]

Im refurbing the lathe with Dave , got it all de-rusted, unseized and ready for painting, Managed to find the original colour paint from Paragon paints so I'll hopefully get it painted this weekend

 

[Trevanion]

Outboard polishing mop attachments are like gold dust so that’s a pretty good score.

 

[Trigs]

Outboard polishing mop attachments are like gold dust so that’s a pretty good score.

good thing its cleaned up well

 

[Davidpryor]

Hi all,

Been a while and I'm back at the lathe. Started priming and painting for assembly.

I'm having problems with the two screws on top of the headstock. I'm assuming they are oil drip feed ports? I cannot for the life of me get the off. Ive tried an impact driver too. Short of drilling them out are there any ideas? If I grease the bearings then do i even need the ports?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Normancb]

The bearings on the ML8 are not designed for grease - and there are no seals to keep it in place anyway. The recommended lubrication is 32 grade hydraulic oil and you give a squirt from an oil can into each of those screw-in oil caps at the start of each work session. Myford's philosophy on the ML8 (and the 7-series engineering lathes) was "total loss" lubrication with light oil - helps to flush dirt out of the bearings - but makes them messy compared to modern lathes.

The bearings are tapered ball races and they are (imperial) standard bearings which are still available (at fairly scary prices) - 1" outboard and 1 1/8" inboard. If you look inside the headstock there are three small holes on each side which are positioned behind the outer rings of the bearings and can be used to locate a "pusher" to extract the bearings.

Could you invert the headstock and get some penetrating oil into the oil-ways from behind? The combination of that and heat may work. The oil plugs are on fairly fine threads.

Be careful with the spindle - unlike the engineering lathes, Myford did not harden them so the threads and tapers at each end can be damaged relatively easily - you will be aware that the outboard thread is left-handed.

The fixings holding the tailstock and tool rest are also tricky as they are triple-start threads.

Incidentally, that three jaw chuck is an engineering chuck and not really suitable for wood turning.

Good luck with the restoration - in decent condition the ML8 is still a very good lathe - many professionals earned their living with one in its day.

 

[MusicMan]

Incidentally, that three jaw chuck is an engineering chuck and not really suitable for wood turning.

+1 for that. It's dangerous to use it for wood turning, since wood crushes easily and the work can easily fly out of the chuck.

You can keep it for occasional metal holding, or clean it up and sell it on eBay, they usually make something worthwhile especially if it is a good make.

 

[Davidpryor]

OK, so I may have been a bit timid with it. After reading about the bearings not being designed for grease etc I decided to give it some welly and both the screws are now off. (I was afraid of shattering the housing). So it can be oiled before use now.

That's a bit disappointing about the chuck, will have to maybe sell and look for a woodworking one.

So far I have applied the final coat of paint and will look to assemble tomorrow morning. I could not get a welder to weld the bit on the tail stock so have another one coming.

Hoping all is well now and will get pictures up soon!

 

[Normancb]

Sounds good. I checked the original instructions - Myford say the bearings should be lubricated weekly with light oil. They sold a 32 grade hydraulic oil for the metal lathes, which is what I use for my ML8 - though I tend to give each bearing a brief squirt at the start of a work session.