The starting point was to dismantle the lathe to see what was what. A gallery of pictures below shows the process better than any words...... although the text is added below.








MYFORD ML7 Refurbishment

I had to opportunity to purchase a 'scruffy' ML7 so I thought I would take a chance and buy it with the opportunity to tidy it up then see whether I 
keep it and sell my ML10 or vice versa. Time will tell.

Myford Refurbishment

23rd February 2008 Session 1

After spending some time previously making the new bench , I started by stripping the lathe to see what was what. Then I tackled wiring the motor up 
to the switch (received with the lathe, in a bit of a bodged box). When received, the wires had been cut between the motor and the switch, so I had 
to work out what was what. The moment came to switch the motor on and it was with a bit of trepidation that I plugged it into the mains. It was even 
more ‘interesting’ to turn the Myford switch on….but was pleased when the motor ran both forwards and in reverse. I now need to buy a couple a 
couple of belts in anticipation of bolting it all together.

I then spent the rest of my time in the workshop sanding and cleaning the electric motors case, and then spraying it in primer. That was it for today. 
Short and sweet in description but an hour or so of work.

Time spent today 2 hours. Total to date 2 hours.

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24th February 2008 session 2

Today the undercoat sprayed yesterday, was sanded down and the after cleaning, painted with the green Myford paint. I will repaint all of the lathe 
as whilst the rest of the lathe is a Myford green its certainly not the same as my paint! Yesterday evening I took the opportunity to paint the motors 
base plate. Allowing me to paint the motor whilst standing on its own base bracket. Short and sweet...

Time spent today 30 minutes. Total to date 2hr 30 minutes.

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25th February 2008 session 3

Had a brief 'preparatory' session today whereby I sealed the edges of the tray on the new bench, ready for a protective coating of Hammerite 
(black hammered finish). I needed to do this now if I wanted to put a coat of paint on tomorrow, prior to a wash down and clean of the lathe base 
prior to painting

Time spent today 30 minutes. Total to date 3hrs 

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26th February 2008 session 3

Today I managed to paint over half the top tray now the sealant has hardened. Next time I will be able to locate and drill the correct location before 
completing the painting. I also took the opportunity to paint some of the framework. I then continued with the stripping down and inspecting parts 
prior to their repainting and I will need to buy a couple of bits but in the main I should say this lathe has sat a long time rather than being worked 
hard. There doesn't seem to be very much wear considering its age.

Time spent today 1 hour. Total to date 4hours.

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5th March 2008 session 4

With the lathe came the basis of the Dewhurst switch, housed in a rather makeshift housing of wood and aluminium. I decided to make a new housing, 
based on the switch housing supplied with my Myford ML10, from which I took the approximate dimensions. My switch case will be made from sheet 
steel and the rough sizes [photo 1 to the left] were cut by an air driven nibbler. 

The design requires 4 pieces of sheet steel. The top and bottom pieces [photo 2 on the left],the back, and the main body. The tops were cut using my 
Proxxon band saw and this tool will be used to make all the other cuts. Once the top tabs have been cut out the main body will be rolled into shape, 
then the two tabs at each end will be bent to 90deg, as will the top and bottom tags. 

Onto this rolled main body, the top and bottom cover will be welded or riveted. To ensure they were a matching pair, I used a file by drawing it over 
the two, when clamped together in the vice. The back will be screwed or bolted to the main body and a bracket will hold the new casing onto the 
lathe bench. The switch itself will be attached to the top plate and a new handle produced. 

I am at the cutting out stage at the moment, and will treat this as a bit of an infill to the Mills diesel engine construction.

Time spent today 1 hour. Total to date 5hours.

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19th January 2009 session 5

Since selling my much loved ML10 and seeing it depart on Sunday, I have been spending the proceeds! When stripping the ML7 lathe down I found a 
few issues and made a list as I went. This stopped when I concentrated on various other projects last year, including building the Mills 1.3cc diesel 
engine.

When my brother very kindly moved the ML7 into the main workshop last week, it started a train of events leading directly to Sundays sale and funds 
for the ML7 rebuild. When I bought her on a whim last year. All right, I made a silly low bid on eBay, and never expected an email saying I had won 
it, and when was I going to pick it up from Scotland!

Here is a picture of what she looked like in the beginning………..(surprised to see it was February last year!)

When stripping the lathe down I was surprised that some parts were very worn whilst others were in good condition. Which leaves me to believe that 
the lathe has had some sort of refurbishment in the past.

With a list of the parts needing replacement I phoned Myford and spoke to Malcolm in their parts section, giving him my order. Whilst on the phone I 
asked if Malcolm could date my particular lathe, which he kindly did. saying it left the Myford factory in 1953!

Following the Myford call, I then phoned a company that supplies inverters/converters and electric motors. My ambition is to have an accurate lathe 
with variable speed motor control and digital readouts. So there’s a bit to go.

There are a couple of shafts that I will have to have a closer look at. They are the lead screw end. Initially I thought that they were very worn 
indeed, but after cleaning it seems that they have been turned down to different sizes for certain lengths and the wear may not be too great. Time 
will tell.

So the current situation is a lathe completely stripped down and major items are hand painted Myford green. A list of new parts have been ordered 
from the makers and a new variable speed motor system also ordered. Assembly will take place as far as possible from now on, only to be held up by 
delivery times.

The digital readouts will have to be in phase two (need ot raise the remainder of the money - more expensive due to the £’s slump).

Hopefully tomorrow there will be a few photo’s showing the reassembly process. 

20th January 2009 session 6

Today it was back to the paint brush and a bit of a surprise. The high quality paint brush I had been using did ok, but I thought the paint lay on a 
little thick at times. Today, because of the smaller mature of the items to paint, I got out a smaller artist type brush from a cheap set bought on the 
internet. The surprise was in the quality of finish. The cheap artist brush was gave a far better finish!

Yesterday I ordered the new electric motor, inverter and remote control and today it arrived! Good service so far. The package also included three 
electric cables and some end fittings so a little study will be needed before it all goes together. I will let you know how it goes. 

The latest edition of Model Engineering Workshop arrived yesterday and included an article of a rev counter that seems a possibility for the ML7. 
Again if I go ahead with making one I will let you know how I get on.

After the excitement of unpacking the new motor I then hunted around for the pulley that fitted the old motor. Needless to say the bore of the 
pulley didn't match the new motor but fortunately the shaft is larger than the bore so its just a case of boring out the pulley and cut a keyway. 
Something I have yet to do.

With so many parts laid out around the workshop drying and the new motor unpacked, I thought it was time for a cup of tea, and a new list of action 
points. So the following list is the next phase of the refurbishment. I will let you know how I get on.

I am now waiting for some handles from RDG Tools online and various items for Myford themselves.

I must be honest I am really enjoying this refurbishment project, surprisingly so. I am treating the ML7 as a big set of castings and it's a good way 
to look ait I think. More to follow…..

List of actions for Myford ML7 refurbishment 20th January 2009
1. Machine up an new counter shaft
2. Machine up a new leadscrew front shaft
3. Machine new phosphor bushes for leadscrew 
4. Make new drawers for lathe bench
5. Make a sheet steel back and side plate for lathe bench
6. Make two raised blocks for lathe to stand on
7. Paint remaining front part of lathe bench with black hammerite
8. Make and fit front door to bench (either wood or sheet metal)
9. Make and fit shelves for lathe bench
10. Bore out and cut a keyway for new lathe motor
11. Make the rollers for the bench drawers to fit on
12. Fly cut top slide tool post area
13. Clean up and paint the leadscrew right hand side handle
14. Wire up and fit new electric motor
15. Wire up and fit new inverter
16. Wire up and fit remote (after giving some thought to position)
17. Check eBay for the following (new or good secondhand):-
a. Rear tailstock handle
b. Long cross slide

So look back and in and see how I get on with reduce, then adding to the list! 

26th January 2009 session 7 

Well I seemed to have missed writing up a few sessions, either that or progress has been slow. Perhaps it's a bit of both. Using the list above, the 
sheet metal (item 5), raised blocks (item 6) has been completed. So a start was made on reassembling the lathe by attaching the bracket that holds the 
counter shaft (takes the drive from the motor) and electric motor mounting pad, to the lathe body. 

The countershaft then became the focus of my attention. The first task was to remove the old iolite bushes, so a brass drift was turned to allow the 
bushes to be tapped out. It was then that I found that instead of one bush each side, there were two! So I needed to order two more from Myford 
and since I needed to make an order I added a set of 10 new 2BA oilers to it. Whilst it will take a few days to arrive, there is plenty of work still 
left to do! 

Putting the countershaft to one side I decided to fit the new electric motor and do the wiring needed. A new pin for the motor bracket had to be 
turned to replace one that was missing when the lathe was received. Also there was a grub screw that held against the pin that was damaged, so it 
was drilled through and a stud extractor tool used to remove the outer side of the grub screw.

New grub screws were then cut to size and fitted to the aluminum casting(s). Having attached the motor bracket the new electric motor was placed 
upon it and one problem then clearly became visible. The input holes for the electric cable to the 3 phase motor were in the wrong place. Removing the 
top screws to the wiring box mounted on the motor, you see that this problem was easily resolved by removing the box outer shell, and turn it around 
to suit the side you wanted, so this was quickly resolved.