wrote:

Hi

I recently got a Myford ML7 lathe, it's in good nick except that the
shaft for the cross slide feed screw is bent at the end (probably
someone hit the handle by accident) so the micrometer dial is rubbing
on the end bracket.

I will have to order a new feed screw and maybe a dial too, but I
wonder if it is possible to convert the the micrometer dial. I want it
to be adjustable, independent of the feed screw (like most modern
lathes. I have seen that the Super 7 has this feature, is it possible
to use feed screw parts for a Super 7 on a ML7? If yes, I surely have
to exchange the handle, micrometer dial, bracket and some other small
parts as well.

An alternative is to convert to a 3rd party feed screw set up, I'm sure
I have seen it somewhere on the web, but can't remember where.

Myford (www.myford.com) supplies a resettable dial according to one of
the other posters. There are also several designs out there for self
made conversions, the best of which (in my opinion) was drawn up by G H
Thomas and published in Model Engineer magazine.

http://www.hemingwaykits.com sells two books of his collected works and
I am reasonably sure the adjustable dial is in the Workshop Manual,
though I am not certain. They may sell a kit as well but I hhave not dug
deeply into their site. Worth a look though.

The leadscrew can likely be straightened to "good enough" with a bit of
careful pressure once it is removed from the slide. Simply grasping the
good portion in the chuck and allowing it to rotate under power will
show where the bend is. You may be able to tweak it back in line while
still in the chuck or you may wish to mark the shaft and bend it on the
bench or with a press.

Cheers
Trevor Jones