Atlas 618 Measurement Needed Please

Robert: I've heard there's a zamak version but, yuk. Surprisingly though, some of the Emco-Maier machines have alloy heads and perform well. I wouldn't mind a Compact 8 or FB-2 mill at all. :tranquility:
Randall: Remember you at least have to drill two more holes in the bed. I'm still not sure if I want to do the conversion anyhow, the prices on used headstocks keep climbing up and up- I just missed one on Ebay for 150.00 and someone bought it before it even went to auction. And I like the idea of getting a mill instead considering the little I use the lathe these days. And I mostly make small light duty parts anyway. The Mk2 is fine for that.
Mark S.
 
The problem with the Zamak headstocks is probably that they tried to save too much money by switching to them and made all of the sections too thin. In other words, the bean counters sharpened their pencils 'way too much. The only excuse for doing it had to have been financial as they made no other changes to the lathe except for making the headstock and legs out of Zamak.

If you really don't use the lathe that much and think that you would use a mill, then that would probably be a better place to spend your money.
 
They changed the molds slightly for the zamak I think, but didn't seriously consider the forces involved and didn't add enough webbing to at least give it a fighting chance. Has it ever been really determined if zamak was in fact the alloy they used or was it another aluminum alloy; The application would be a bit different than that for gears.
Mark S.
 
First, I assume that the cast iron parts were all sand cast. So the molds for the Zamak headstock had to be made new. But in any case, there were significant differences between section thickness of the cast iron headstocks versus the die cast ones. Wall thickness's reduced probably by 2/3 at least.
 
Randall Marx said:
Mark:
Yes, I've been wishing my Mark2 was a 618 since I got it. I also have an early Craftsman 12-inch and like how the headstock is built much better than the MK2 along with speed selection. I may or may not actually do the conversion, but that will partially depend upon success and difficulty of the head transplant. I currently have the cast iron headstock with Timkin Roller bearings on my Mk2. It's really in excellent condition right now.
Robert:
Thank you for the information so far. I like the idea of asking Clausing for copies of the bed drawings. Sounds like there will be more parts swapping than I had imagined, but if parts swapping is all that is needed...should be manageable.
Click to expand...
Randall,
I've been looking for a cast iron head for my mk2, so when you no longer need it I would be interested in buying it. My headstock is the Zamak one.
 
Looks like I was incorrect about the Compact 8 lathe, it seems it has (had) an iron head. Not positive about the FB-2 mill however. Maybe an owner of one will chime in.
Mark S.
 
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