CONVERTING A MYFORD SUPER SEVEN LATHE TO CNC Glenn Bunt upgrades a Myford Super Seven whilst maintaining its original manual functions

摘要

I'd like to tell you about a project I've been working on for the last three months. Shall we call it a Myford Super Super Seven? The photo (right) shows the result of my labours but it was not plain sailing from the start. There I was, at the beginning of the year, cursing a cheap lathe that I had bought. I was struggling with accuracy, struggling to profile tool steel and generally getting nowhere. So I raised the subject of another lathe with my wife. "Well, I don't mind but don't buy cheap this time. Get yourself a decent lathe." So I took this as the green light to go for the best that I could afford. I enjoy restoring clocks and clock mechanisms and after doing some research I thought the best lathe for me was a Myford Super Seven. There was even an article on how to convert the lathe to CNC in a recent issue of Model Engineer's Workshop. That sold it to both of us as I intended to add CNC functionality to help turn complex geometries, e.g. clock pillars etc. So, a month later, the delivery firm wheeled a Myford Super Seven up my driveway.