Finally, a kit to build Radford's Improved Topslide. Disclosed over 30 years ago, a full material kit had never been made available for this design, despite Radford's assertion that:
"...of all of the fixtures I have made for the Myford lathe, none has given me more satisfaction than this new topslide. The improvement in finish, accuracy and weight of cut that is possible has to be seen to be believed."
Radford's critisism of the Myford item included its poor level of support for the tool, the lack of rigidity of its round base, together with the square headed tightening bolts that distort the gib strip setting and the difficulties of getting the topslide to clear the tailstock when turning between centres. Radford's design is set permanently with its feedscrew parallel to the lathe's axis - the norm for over 90% of jobs. The micrometer dial can now be used to set shoulder lengths with great accuracy.
Our kit includes the 2 main castings and all other material, drawings and instructions to complete. The Improved Topslide makes use of the existing Myford feedscrew, micrometer dial, handle, nut and bracket so progress in building the kit will be faster than one might imagine. The Improved Topslide will accept all of your existing toolpost fixtures including Dickson QC systems and indexing 4 tool turrets.
For set-over screw cutting and taper work it is a simple matter to replace this item with the standard Myford offering.
