# TH54 - First Lathe



## shaddr3 (Jun 10, 2014)

Over the past few months i've been wanting a lathe for a few projects I had in mine. A friend of mine offered me his Atlas for an okay price. I had never operated a lathe before and the only experience was from watching about 50 hours of videos and reading several books. He had it for several years and only used it maybe five times. As a noob I didn't know really what to look for. It came with a little tooling, all of the change gears, collet closer, couple other odds and ends. Spent a day building the bench it sits on. 

After taking it home I noticed the lead screw wasn't turning, found a parts manual, took the carriage apart and found the half nuts worn to bits. I replaced them with factory parts, also the lead screw mount had been modified holding on to a plate with a pipe clamp. I replaced it with a aftermarket from ebay. The cross feed threads were pretty worn as well, I could push the cross slide 3/8". I ordered a new one, disassembled it, threw it it on the press and put back together. Now there's zero play. I ordered a cheapo fake aloris tool holder which came in Saturday which I love compared to the lantern style tool post. I believe i'm missing a gear and holder for the power cross feed. Also when the gearbox is in position B it will not activate the lead screw. The motor will not turn on without a little help. Does anyone have any info on this? I have a 1HP grizzly that I could replace it with. 

What i'd really like to accomplish is gun drilling/deep hole drilling (not for guns). I've looked into Sterling's equipment. I would need to add a power lead screw to accomplish my feed rate needed, .0005. I was thinking about buying a dc stepper motor as I already have the controller, and adapting a gear at the end of the lead screw, adding a manual clutch of some sort to disable it when not needed. Possibly adding a stop switch on the bed and emergency off. 

I thought I had taken pictures last night of the extras that came with it, as far as the collet closer is concerned I might be missing parts. I have the original catalog from 1946. 

-Royce


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## VSAncona (Jun 10, 2014)

Nice looking lathe. You have the Pick-O-Matic gearbox, which was only made for a couple of years. I have one too, but mine is a TH42.

The Pick-O-Matic has a banjo that allows you to add an intermediate gear. With the proper combination of gears, you can get your feed rate slower, down to 200 tpi, if I recall.


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## pdentrem (Jun 10, 2014)

As for the motor, likely the starting capacitor is broken, or the starting coil is not powered properly. The cap will usually mounted onto the side of the casing, if it has one.
Pierre


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## shaddr3 (Jun 10, 2014)

Thanks, I had only seen it a few times in his garage. When I came to pick it up there was rust starting to form under the tailstock and carriage. If I hadn't of bought it, i'm sure the ways would have been ruined. I figured it is the start capacitor, once I have time this weekend i'll take a meter to it. Does anyone have a reference to a PDF about the gears with the pick-o-matic? All I have is this chart. Also, how do I remove the gear box to inspect Lever position B? The gear I have a picture of was not mounted on the lathe, and I can't quite make out where it goes. 


Looking at the extra's that came with it, I know what most are. What I don't know about is the lever type collet chuck attachment. Seems i'm missing some pieces, and doesn't look like the bar goes with it. My friend might have some other pieces, but looking through his garage would literally take days.. 

-Royce


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## wa5cab (Jun 12, 2014)

Royce,

The parts manual on the 10F is in Downloads.  I think I uploaded the Atlas instruction sheet for the collet closer as well.  I know that it's on Yahoo.  If not, let me know and I'll do it.  I'll check what I have on the Pic-O-Matic.

1 HP is too large for an Atlas 10" or 12".  Sooner or later, it'll break something.

Robert D.


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## VSAncona (Jun 12, 2014)

If the gear box works in positions A and C, but not B, my guess is that one of the gears has some stripped teeth. There is a sheet metal cover plate on the bottom of the gear box that can be removed. With a small mirror and flashlight, you may be able to inspect the gears and see if there is any damage. The gears in the gear box are steel, not Zamak, for what it's worth.

I have an exploded view of the Pick-O-Matic, if it helps. I'll try to attach it as a PDF.

View attachment pom3-1.pdf


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## wa5cab (Jun 12, 2014)

ozarkwoodworker on eBay sells a reprint of the Pic-O-Matic handbook shown in the upper right corner of the exploded parts view.  As a TM reprint seller myself (radios, not machinery) I consider his prices a trifle on the high side but I've bought two or three from him and the quality is good.

Robert D.


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## wa5cab (Jun 12, 2014)

Royce,

The collet closer that you have part of is a 900B.  You will find the instruction sheets in Downloads under //Atlas Lathe Accessories.  You should also download the one for the 6630 as it is the same closer except for some of the attachment parts (it's for 12") and has a much more easily understandable illustrated parts drawing.

I also have part of a 900B that I was going to convert to a 6630 for my 3996 12".  But then I acquired a later (and complete) 6692 so it wouldn't take much arm twisting to talk me out of the 900B.

Robert D.


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## shaddr3 (Jun 13, 2014)

Thanks everyone!

I'll take that plate off tonight or tomorrow. Not much space to fit a flathead in there but a socket should work. There's also a threaded hole towards the center of that selector box missing. Ah I just need to print out the exploded drawings and highlight what I see is missing. 

I actually have the original print for the 900B but was a little confusing. The 6630 PDF helped quite a bit though. I may take you up on that, although I have to acquire a few more things first. I need to find a 3 jaw chuck as the one on it isn't mine, but I can't wait to meet the owner and see his shop. I also NEED a steady rest, preferably with the roller fingers.It's a shame the spindle bore on these lathes are only 3/4", but for the price I couldn't complain. Once I get some prototypes made I might upgrade to a new PM with a larger bore. I want to spin 1.25" aluminum hex bar, and I know centering is an issue. I placed my material in a 1-1/4" 6 point socket, with 2-Thou of play. I was thinking if I machined a groove in the socket to be held by the steady rest, and adding 1-Thou shims between the hex and socket I won't have any play. 

Has anyone modified their lead screw on this lathe making it a variable power feed? I am looking to build one similar to MrPete's on youtube. I see the end of the lead screw on the threaded part has a keyway. I'm thinking about using pulley or gears set up to a dc gear motor. The reason for this is I need a feed rate of 5 ten-Thou. 

Royce


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## wa5cab (Jun 13, 2014)

Royce,

If you do use a 1-1/4" 6-point socket to give a bearing surface for a steady rest, you will need to drill and tap holes through three of the six flats to hold it onto the stock.  Else, Murphy says that sooner rather than later it will walk off the end of the workpiece.  A better choice, if you have enough pieces to do to warrant the expense, would be a 2" live chuck on a 2MT arbor and use the second set of jaws (the ones with the long jaw on the OD).

On the steady rest, fortunately 10" ones turn up fairly frequently.  But it's highly unlikely that you'll find any with roller fingers as Atlas never sold them that way.  You'll have to buy those separately. But if you do go with the live chuck, you won't have to have the steady rest, at least for this job.

Robert D.


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## shaddr3 (Jun 14, 2014)

Robert,

I'm not quite sure if I fully understand the live chuck method you mentioned, unless you are saying use the live chuck with mt2 in the tailstock. I don't need to remove any aluminum on the 6 points, instead bore a 12"+ x 7/16" blind hole through the center via through coolant gundrill utilizing the boring bar holder or make a sturdier holder mounted center of the slide. I like your idea of tapping three holes in the socket, very good idea. 

Royce


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## wa5cab (Jun 14, 2014)

Royce,

OK.  Forget the 2" chuck.  As you mentioned using a socket on the end of the billet, I assumed you were not working on the end.  Maybe you have a 3/4" drive socket?  Or plan to bore a clearance hole in it.

For feeding coolant to the gun drill, maybe you could modify a 7/16" X 2MT milling cutter holder.

Robert D.


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