Atlas Craftsman Lathe Questions

So the pipe cleaner oiler on the apron should just be filled with a little bit of oil every time the lathe is used and it just siphons all the oil onto the lead screw? The manual shows like the pipe cleaner might go under the lead screw, but that doesn't sound correct, should it be positioned to have the end drip oil right onto the lead screw right next to the auto feed gear box?

I assume so, can you post a few pictures of the set up, I'm not familiar with the Atlas lathes I have never seen one they may not have ever been sold here in down under land. If you can post a pic of the page in the manual, and also a pic of the oil feeder set up on the apron or saddle.

It is my understanding of the wick feeders. I have worked on many machines that used them, that they should not have the wick hang down too far as this will cause them to siphon all the oil out too quickly and not only waste oil, but also make a mess. Plain bearings in good condition do not need a lot of oil.

Does your lead screw operate with the half nuts only or does it also have a key-way cut in it to drive a gear for your long and cross feed, or do you have a separate feed shaft? if you only have the half nut system then it should drip onto the lead screw just in front of the half nut. there may even be a hole drilled into the half nut for the oil to drip into. If you also have a drive for long and cross feed then you really should have a separate oil feed to that system.
 
I'll take a picture tomorrow when I go over and work on the lathe, I've uploaded the section of the manual page.

The lead screw has both half nuts and the key way, it appears this lathe has 1 oiler for the apron, but the part that accepts the pipe cleaner might have 2 holes. I'll verify tomorrow.

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Sorry I didn't get these pictures up sooner, life got in the way. Here are some pictures of the apron pipe cleaner oiler.

These pictures show a lot of very old grease/oil in the gears, that was before I took the whole apron apart and cleaned it.

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Sorry I didn't get these pictures up sooner, life got in the way. Here are some pictures of the apron pipe cleaner oiler.

These pictures show a lot of very old grease/oil in the gears, that was before I took the whole apron apart and cleaned it.

That all looks to be in pretty good nick, I'd say it's hardly been used..if at all. should clean up nicely. not sure where some of those pipe cleaners are supposed to go. I can make out the little brass oil pot, but where the pipe cleaner wicks are supposed to go is a mystery, they should not go too close to moving parts like gears, but could be arranged to drip onto the gears, generally they fit into a hole drilled into a bearing cap. while it's all in pieces you could fit up some copper tubes to carry oil to all moving parts.
 
I've found some information and deduced other information from the pictures I took. 1 pipe cleaner is looks to go to the brass housing to allow oil to go into the hole to lube that bearing surface. From m y reading I've found that on these late model Atlas lathes, they had one of the pipe cleaners wrapped under the lead screw to help remove gunk from the screw while oiling, not sure if that even works or is more in danger of getting wrapped around the lead screw. The third pipe cleaner, maybe it's supposed to drip onto the beveled gears.
 
I've found some information and deduced other information from the pictures I took. 1 pipe cleaner is looks to go to the brass housing to allow oil to go into the hole to lube that bearing surface. From m y reading I've found that on these late model Atlas lathes, they had one of the pipe cleaners wrapped under the lead screw to help remove gunk from the screw while oiling, not sure if that even works or is more in danger of getting wrapped around the lead screw. The third pipe cleaner, maybe it's supposed to drip onto the beveled gears.

I don't like the idea of a pipe cleaner wrapped around the lead screw or any thing else that rotates , a recipe for trouble, while it's in bits I'd be tempted to make a plastic scraper that fits the lead screw covering 3 or 4 threads and hanging down vertically so when the screw rotates it will scrape of any junk without harming the screw, the junk will simply fall to the chip pan, I'm going to make one up for my own lathe. You just need it to be suspended by small springs so that it can skip over the screw when traversing the saddle.
 
I don't like the idea of a pipe cleaner wrapped around the lead screw or any thing else that rotates , a recipe for trouble, while it's in bits I'd be tempted to make a plastic scraper that fits the lead screw covering 3 or 4 threads and hanging down vertically so when the screw rotates it will scrape of any junk without harming the screw, the junk will simply fall to the chip pan, I'm going to make one up for my own lathe. You just need it to be suspended by small springs so that it can skip over the screw when traversing the saddle.

Interesting idea, I'll have to think about how to implement that one. I feel that would get chewed up in short order when traversing even with the springs, I may just be picturing it differently than you. I'll definately keep that idea rattling around in my head.
 
Interesting idea, I'll have to think about how to implement that one. I feel that would get chewed up in short order when traversing even with the springs, I may just be picturing it differently than you. I'll definately keep that idea rattling around in my head.


Thinking a little more about this problem I'd be inclined to forget the plastic scraper and possibly replace it with a small brush fitted to run against the underside of the screw at the left hand end of the saddle, thus wiping all or most of any junk that gets on the screw. The brush will allow the saddle to be run back and forth, at the same time as when the screw is turning it will remove most of any junk that has settled on the screw without harming the screw. I will investigate this further.
 
Thinking a little more about this problem I'd be inclined to forget the plastic scraper and possibly replace it with a small brush fitted to run against the underside of the screw at the left hand end of the saddle, thus wiping all or most of any junk that gets on the screw. The brush will allow the saddle to be run back and forth, at the same time as when the screw is turning it will remove most of any junk that has settled on the screw without harming the screw. I will investigate this further.

I notice that the flag on my ID has just changed to UK . Don't be fooled I'm still in Adelaide South Australia.
 
I've been slowly working on restoring this lathe. I've found the guards and the countershaft assembly that I purchased. I need to find a motor I want to use.

For the rust on the bed, I used Evaporust which worked very well. I built a frame out of wood, lined it with plastic sheeting, put the bed in with the rails down, and lifted it off the bottom with some spacers so the rails were not touching anything. I poured enough Evaporust into the makeshift basin so it submerged the rails and left it for a day. Came out well, could probably use a little light polishing with some light gray Scotch Brite pads but I'm not sure if it needs it. After rinsing and drying the bed I put a coating of oil on it and ran the carriage the length of the bed using the apron's hand wheel; very smooth operation.

I'm also going to have to build a table to mount the lathe to, but that won't be difficult. Still working on the broken chuck screw for the jaw. Don't think I'll be making chips on it for a while because I've got some renovations to do before it has a place to sit, but it's all cleaned up and lubricated. Would up taking the quick change box completely apart to clean and lube it as well.
 
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