Mark VII Control Cam

[wannabewoodworker]

Well I met with my other machinist contact tonight with parts in hand. He is a super nice guy and has some pretty amazing CNC machines in his "Hobby/Retirement" shop. He is a design engineer for a defense contractor and at night "plays" in his machine shop. I showed him the plastic cam for the Mark VII speed control and he said he could make it no problem. I also showed him the follower I had made which I received tonight and although I thought it looked pretty good he pointed out 2 problems with it. The bearing shaft is cock eyed on the follower which I missed and the base of the follower has a ramp profile that I also didn't notice. This is for clearance of the cam I assume. Well the one I had made has a straight profile and no ramping and it looks like it might work fine but will not know until I install it tomorrow. So I spent some money on a part that isn't really any good. I should have waited to meet with the new guy who really impressed me. He said he would bang out a new follower for me as well. Don't know what the price is yet but I am hopeful he will be gentle as he only does this part time for fun.

He did say he could make more of the cams and I mentioned that there would probably be some high interest here and elsewhere in the Shopsmith community. So if you are in possession of a Mark VII and would like a modified upgraded speed control cam let me know. I would like to refer some more business to this guy as he really is a super person who seems very eager to do some work for folks. As soon as I get the new cam I will post pictures of it. Not sure yet whether he is going to go with aluminum or steel he said he had to play around with it a little as he was concerned that the aluminum would not allow the roll pins on the follower to ride smoothly on the cam. He is thinking the some type of steel would be a better approach but we will see when he is done.

[PG-Zac]

Man, I wish I had a machinist buddy - I'm going to need some parts made or repaired for my Goldie.

I'm jealous

[wannabewoodworker]

Zac,
I found this guy locally right near me about 5 min. from my house. He does the machine shop thing as a hobby on the side at night. He has a commercial building filled with all kinds of high tech CNC and Bridgeport machinery. He told me it is a hobby until he retires. He is a super guy and I would bet that if you sent him parts to make for you he would do it. I don't know what he is going to charge but if I had to guess it would be very reasonable.

[PG-Zac]

Trans-Atlantic shipping would probably make it a tad too expensive


I might look into it later if/when other options don't work out.

[RobertTaylor]

anything you might need for the goldie is still available. can't figure what you might want to have made. the mark vii is totally a different creature. parts are few.

[ronlyon5trr]

I have the melted control cam and could use a new one of them. Let me know if the machinist is interested in making these and how much he wants. I also need to know what, if anything, goes between the follower and the shaft because mine shows signs of wear. Any information will be helpful. I would love to get my Mark VII working again.

rflyon@yahoo.com

[robinson46176]

Not sure yet whether he is going to go with aluminum or steel he said he had to play around with it a little as he was concerned that the aluminum would not allow the roll pins on the follower to ride smoothly on the cam. He is thinking the some type of steel would be a better approach but we will see when he is done.

Brass might be a good choice...

[JPG]

Brass might be a good choice...

If that melts, the cam is the least of his problems!:D

[gpartin]

I am still interested, please let me know how it works out, I have my original Mark VII with the broken cam and recently purchased another headstock with the cam still intacted, was thinking of removing that one looking for a machinist as well........Thanks

[damagi]

I managed to get an intact control cam. I will take measurements