MLA Boring & Facing Head

[Ecosta777]

I recently just finished making the MLA boring and facing head kit. I know some people on here have made MLA kits before, but if you have not heard of them you should check out their website. They have casted kits mostly for small lathes like the South Bend 9", but also have some other kits like a die filing machine.

http://mlatoolbox.com/index.html

As usual this kit from Andy was awesome, with fully detailed instructions and a letter with some comments on the instructions/some things to do differently.


I made a video of the assembly, so you can see how everything goes together. I also uploaded a few still shots. You will notice in one of the photos, a plate bolted to the top of the main body. I accidentally misread the blueprint and machined too much off the top of the body. I bolted the plate on top and machined everything to the correct dimensions so I did not have to scrap the body.

This was a very fun kit, and I highly recommend it. It's a cheap and fun way to get a facing head, which can usually be a very expensive tool. The hardest part was probably making the gear. Without a dividing head, I think it would be a little difficult to make, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Everything else was pretty straightforward.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[buffdan]

wow, great job. The dial numbering is very crisp.

 

[woodchucker]

nice job. boy is that a big head.

 

[ttabbal]

Nice job! I have one almost done. I have been waiting as I want to sandblast it before finishing, and my blast cabinet has been backordered for a while now.

I agree, fun build and worth the work. The gear I did on a dividing head as well. The instructions called for an offset fixture on the lathe, which I got sort of working. I just found it difficult to control where I was cutting with that setup.

 

[jwmay]

Pretty cool! I wish I had the gumption to carry out work like that.

 

[woodchucker]

Nice job! I have one almost done. I have been waiting as I want to sandblast it before finishing, and my blast cabinet has been backordered for a while now.

I agree, fun build and worth the work. The gear I did on a dividing head as well. The instructions called for an offset fixture on the lathe, which I got sort of working. I just found it difficult to control where I was cutting with that setup.

what's the offset fixture?

 

[ttabbal]

what's the offset fixture?

Just a block of metal you bolt to a faceplate off center. There are some measurements in the instructions, but nothing too crazy. You then bolt the part to it and use the compound to cut the teeth. It does work, but I didn't like the way it worked and found it difficult to control where the tooth ended up.

The instructions are designed assuming that the builder won't have a mill. Probably a reasonable assumption given the time they were written (mid-80s).

 

[f350ca]

Very nice work and great video. I've been thinking about ordering the castings, nice to see a finished product. Built his filing machine a few years ago, the castings were top notch
Thanks for posting

Greg

 

[projectnut]

Years ago, MLA was owned and run by a gentleman named Andrew Lofquist out of State College Pennsylvania. Back in 2012 I ordered the MLA-21 collet chuck.

http://mlatoolbox.com/MLA21.html.

It was a fun build and worked out well. I made it so I could use 5C collets on my Seneca Falls lathe. The original collet setup was a drawbar with 2S collets. They only go up to 9/16" and are about as rare as hens' teeth. During the ordering and building process I spoke with Andrew several times. He was very knowledgeable of his products and very easy to talk to.

Since his name is no longer associated with the site and the address has changed, I'm guessing he has sold the business and retired.

 

[Firebrick43]

Years ago, MLA was owned and run by a gentleman named Andrew Lofquist out of State College Pennsylvania. Back in 2012 I ordered the MLA-21 collet chuck.

http://mlatoolbox.com/MLA21.html.

It was a fun build and worked out well. I made it so I could use 5C collets on my Seneca Falls lathe. The original collet setup was a drawbar with 2S collets. They only go up to 9/16" and are about as rare as hens' teeth. During the ordering and building process I spoke with Andrew several times. He was very knowledgeable of his products and very easy to talk to.

Since his name is no longer associated with the site and the address has changed, I'm guessing he has sold the business and retired.

I ordered something last year(steady rest and ball turner/boring bar holder) He was still running it then. I probably should order the facing head to.