Just joined, also recently got an Atlas TH 42 lathe

[IHinIN]

Welcome, Dave. Nice lathe and nice work on the stand.

 

[Dave G in upstate New York]

So an update is due. I got a replacement banjo, which also had some gears and the bushings and fasteners. Now I have a few spare parts which as everyone will agree, is a good thing. And I have completed going through the boxes of parts for the lathe, and found more of the bushings and fasteners, spacers, and stuff... but no compound gear. And now I'm getting dangerous for my credit card, going on the internet and buying parts. It only took a few minutes to look around and find a replacement compound gear. It is due Monday. Then it'll be up and running.

In the meantime, I started to clean up the garage and rearrange to get the lathe a home. I have to make a few storage things, as yet undefined, to store the bits and bobs for the lathe. Here's a couple of pictures of it as it's currently standing.


Still haven't gotten to the painting of the metal parts of the stand. Here's a look into the garage showing how snug it is in there with the Whatever project and all.



Progress! But I'm not done with the clean up yet. I've got to get over into that back corner and dig out the old Sunnen honing machine. But that's another story for another time...

 

[55fairlane]

I see a quick change....is that like Franklin that takes drum brakes.....tell me more, I can't ID that rear-end.....

 

[Dave G in upstate New York]

I see a quick change....is that like Franklin that takes drum brakes.....tell me more, I can't ID that rear-end.....

It's a Halibrand 301 champ car rear, open tube axle. It's set up for a sprint car. It's waiting in the wings to be rebuilt for Sonny, son of the Whatever project. It normally runs disc brakes. I do have a Winters quick change rear axle in the Whatever project. It came out of a NASCAR North car, probably late 80s. I rebuilt it, not really knowing what I was going to do with it. That was about 2007...

And I had already made the front axle just to see if I still knew how to. 2 inch dom x 0.250 wall, plenty rugged AND heavy for a sub 2000 pound roadster.

Of course the real question is, will I ever finish the Whatever project. To which I'd reply, no, it'll never be finished. I'll keep changing things even after it's running...

Yeah, it's a sickness, I tell you! A sickness!

 

[Dave G in upstate New York]

Lax in getting an update for anyone who cares... hopefully no one gets sick of reading about the little details. I received the replacement compound gear, and it was in very good condition. It bolted right up. I found the parts list for the lathe here on the site also. It has a print of the gear arrangements for turning and trhreading, like the one inside of the gear cover. Only difference is I can enlarge it on my tablet and actually read the order of the gears.

I assembled a set of gears for turning, I think that I chose 0.0035 inch/revolution, the 2nd finest rate. Kind of fiddly getting the wrenches on the stud that positions the banjo. I'm going to make a few updates on the nuts to ease getting a wrench on them. And waiting for a milling attachment. Not the best solution, but I'm not a machinist, just a hacker who needs to make the occasional slot or flat surface.

And the garage is currently a mess still, with stuff slowly but surely getting into place. I put new wheels and tires on the rolling workbench I made 20 odd years ago, but they are slightly larger diameter than the original ones. So now I have to make clearance. Or grind the diameter down a little bit! Just like grinding race tires...

 

[Dave G in upstate New York]

Finally got the 2nd bag of concrete in the weight pan on the stand for the lathe. Then used 12 pounds of self leveling stuff (which didn't, had to trowel it...) to fill any voids. So the stand is done except for paint. Been using the lathe a little bit. It's nice having the proper tools for a given project. The camera battery was low, so I'll get a picture of the stand and post it over the weekend.