# Show us your Atlas lathe setup!



## HMF

Hi Folks!

Let's see those Atlas lathes from Kalamazoooo here in this thread, along with the tooling and modifications you have made!

Enjoy!


Best,


Nelson


----------



## Gravy

Thanks for including the Atlas owners! I'm looking forward to some different perspectives.

What? You thought I had wisdom to dispense? Not so much, Grasshopper!

I'm still in the steep part of the learning curve. Give me a year or so, and I might have more to contribute than questions. Until then, I will be quietly lurking in the dim shadows, stealing ideas and learning from the mistakes of those who have gone before me.

Then, I will launch my nefarious plans for world domination based on the capabilities of the Almighty Atlas Lathe. Bwahhahahah!


Well, OK, so maybe I should rethink that plan.

Where's the embarrassed shamefaced smiley?


Anyway, I expect to have fun here.


----------



## Gravy

knudsen link=topic=241.msg715#msg715 date=1289223773 said:
			
		

> Welcome aboard, Gravy! Looking forward to seeing your lathe. Hope to see some howto or hownotto pics as you proceed in rebuilding her.



Thanks for the welcome!

Hope you have lots of patience regarding the howto/hownotto. I'm way behind the curve on stuff I really need to do. The fun stuff will be in the back seat for a while.


----------



## Cobbler

Here's my 9" Atlas. From the design of the castings, this one was built in 1931 or '32. It runs on babbit bearings and the through hole has been bored out to 1.000". It works for about 85% of my projects... 12% of the time, I wish it was bigger, and 3% I wish it was smaller. The thing I really wish it had was a quick change gearbox.


----------



## ChuckB

Hi, just signed up on this fourm and did an intro. This is my first "real" post  Here are pictures of my two Atlas lathes, a 6" and a 12". I just got the 12" and will probably get rid of the 6" to make rooom in my garage.


The 6" that I restored:






The 12", Mod 3986. I am still setting it up:


----------



## ChuckB

knudsen link=topic=241.msg2251#msg2251 date=1293991076 said:
			
		

> Wow! That 6" looks like new! Exactly what I learned on... except "mine" bore a Craftsman name tag.



Well actually it is a Craftsman/Atlas.. see ? there I go polluting the forum with mis-information already 




before I painted it:


----------



## HSS

That 6 is just about the same color I... errr.....she painted my SBL. But _I_ picked out the color.

Patrick


----------



## Wheels

My 12-36


----------



## ChuckB

shovelhead link=topic=241.msg2327#msg2327 date=1294080774 said:
			
		

> Here's my 6 wearing the original paint. Still have to build a decent bench/stand to attach the drive motor, etc.



Very nice!! It looks like it had very little use.

I don't know if I would paint that or not.. 

Hey!! Isn't that my blue steady rest that you borrowed?? ;D


----------



## springer454

I agree on the new is sometimes cheaper. My little 12 inch has a worn tumbler gear and for S&Gs I'am going to call clausing and price a new 36 tooth tumbler gear as my zemak bore has worn beyond its life span. Depending I might try and make one on the Atlas mfb with a pair of 4in indexers or a 5c spin index its an easy 10 degree so just moving the plate one hole and cut the proper size tooth...


----------



## MarkBall2

My free 12x36 Craftsman. This was when I first got it home. I've since put a lot of tooling/repairs in it. Even had some help from Jack with learning how to run the thing. This one has the underneath drive.

I had to make a new gear quadrant, new tumbler gears (from aluminum), replacement compound gears, new 6" 3 jaw chuck & 8" 4 jaw chuck............ lots of other tooling too.


----------



## ChuckB

MarkBall2 link=topic=241.msg2560#msg2560 date=1294543603 said:
			
		

> My free 12x36 Craftsman. This was when I first got it home. I've since put a lot of tooling/repairs in it. Even had some help from Jack with learning how to run the thing. This one has the underneath drive.
> 
> I had to make a new gear quadrant, new tumbler gears (from aluminum), replacement compound gears, new 6" 3 jaw chuck & 8" 4 jaw chuck............ lots of other tooling too.





Funny, I was just reading your older post in the other forum and was wondering if you ever got it finished.


----------



## MarkBall2

Yes, it's finished & broken right now. Broke the gear housing in the carriage & stripped a gear that meshes with the rack. Waiting til I get back to work to repair it, so I'm out of biddness for now.


----------



## MarkBall2

knudsen link=topic=241.msg2566#msg2566 date=1294558137 said:
			
		

> Free lathe and free learnins from Jack. How lucky! ;D
> 
> Is that your Phantom?



F4-G Wild Weasel. I worked on the earlier models RF4-C, F4-D & F4-E's. Actually flew in the back seat some overseas.


----------



## ChuckB

MarkBall2 link=topic=241.msg2580#msg2580 date=1294584331 said:
			
		

> knudsen link=topic=241.msg2566#msg2566 date=1294558137 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Free lathe and free learnins from Jack. How lucky! ;D
> 
> Is that your Phantom?
> 
> 
> 
> Actually flew in the back seat some overseas.
Click to expand...


I had a chance to do the same when I was in the Corp.. never got around to doing the orientation.. I regret it to this day..

Sorry to hear about your lathe.


----------



## MarkBall2

E-bay has some gear assembly that I need, but I have to wait til next month after I get back to work.

I made a pair of new gears for my tumbler out of aluminum. They were plenty noisy initially, but as they wear a bit, they are getting quieter. I just grease them with some fibered wheel bearing grease. If you have a milling attachment, you can make your own also.


----------



## Corm

Here's a couple pics of my late model 12x36 Craftsman (Atlas under the covers) -


----------



## pdentrem

Here is a picture of my setup. More can be found at my website.


----------



## ChuckB

knudsen link=topic=241.msg3472#msg3472 date=1296344442 said:
			
		

> Nice looking machine! Looks like it's been well loved over the years :-* I wish my SB was pretty, but I'm not willing to tear it down at this time. Maybe if I get a 2nd lathe, or maybe after I retire, if it follows me to the Philippines.



Ah yes.. Olongapo city.. I remember those days


----------



## nctoxic

I just bought this Craftsman/Atlas 12"x36" lathe a couple weeks ago. It is my first lathe and my first experience at machining. It's a hobby that I'm finding to be fascinating. I'll be asking questions of all those experienced folks in the near future.


----------



## wjstape

*Atlas CNC'd*

Atlas CNC'd

[attachimg=1]


----------



## KenS

MarkBall2 said:


> I made a pair of new gears for my tumbler out of aluminum. They were plenty noisy initially, but as they wear a bit, they are getting quieter. I just grease them with some fibered wheel bearing grease. If you have a milling attachment, you can make your own also.



Mark,

What kind of cutter did you use to make your gears-- involute, hobbing, etc.? A little tutorial would be greatly appreciated for those facing the dreaded crumbling Zamak. Also, why aluminum? Was brass or steel a consideration? Or even plastic?

Ken


----------



## SamIAm

As promised. Some before and during pics. unfortunatly I did not take enough pre pics. 
as we all know just like our homes. It will never be done. 
The lathe it self started its life as a 10x42H Babbit head. during the rebuild I decided to jump ship on the babbit setup and purchased
a bearing head model and completely rebuilt it. including new bearings where needed.
I also replaced the bushings in the pulley setup so no more wobble/slop. the rest of the lathe was checked all the way down to the QC gear box.

I have yet to go thru my other parts like steady rests etc.. but will do so as well the paint is Rustoleum Hammer finish verde green.
I had painted the parts grey but hated it. so I re painted.



Before


After:



Lathe on Stand (as you can see I have not completed the stand ):
I intend on building a cabinet that consists of plenty of drawers and a small space for possibly a pump/reservoir future? 
also I need to add a back splash. I already have a nice drip pan in place. need to update my pics!



Pic of my VFD enclosure: 
The VFD is a Teco Fm50 1hp with a .75Hp motor. and the box is Hom3dep0t, And switches 3bay./ Radi0 sh4ck.
I am 1000% happy with this setup. I still need to make a nice faceplate. and also add 1 more switch in the hole on the head stock for On/Off.


----------



## rock_breaker

*Re: My Atlas setup*



bytewise said:


> I have an old Atlas that was originally manual change gears. I found a QC box by lucky accident and retrofitted it to the lathe. The picture shows the tool rack I made for the frequently used tools.
> The lathe had considerable vibration at high speeds so I took things apart and checked them one by one. I set up a couple of parallel edges to hang a shaft assembly on to find the heavy side. The countershaft large pulley needed some correction by drilling some shallow holes in the rim web. The large backgear on the headstock needed correction. The three jaw chuck needed a lot of correction. After all the work the lathe is very steady at the maximum speed.
> The carriage was loose in the middle and tight at the right end of travel. Correcting that is another story. If anyone is interested I will describe how I corrected the problem.
> Hugh



Good storage Idea Hugh Having inherited my lathe a also inherited storge ideas. Dad had limited space so he built a shallow cabinet with holes drilled in the edges of 2"X4" for tools over his lathe. He put doors over the front also, kept the tools clean and out of sight. I use a metal kitchen cabinet for my lathe tools, it is cluttered somewhat but is very convient.

Ray


----------



## ScrapMetal

Very nice job on the cabinet.

-Ron


----------



## jumps4

sam your lathe and cabinet came out great, nice work
your giving me ideas  thanks
steve


----------



## Inflight

Here is my 10" babbitt bearing lathe with a lever action tailstock being used to broach a keyway.


----------



## Inflight

TheSniper said:


> Thats an interesting looking Tail stock... its not an atlas is it?
> if so what brand.
> 
> nice setup!
> 
> Sam




That's an Atlas brand tailstock.  They are not too common but you can see them on ebay from time to time.  I got mine for about $25 locally. Unlike the big guys, you have to fully retract the lever then manually swivel the turret to the next tool to index.  It works great for short run "screw machine" type of jobs.

Check out the many accessories available for these lathes http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/page10.html.


Matt


----------



## GK1918

beautifully excellent!!!

the other Sam


----------



## Phil Morris

Here is something from the smaller end of the Atlas range. It is an Atlas 618 MKII. I powered it with a motor and controller from a treadmill. It really worked well and I used it for a few years before I found a larger lathe and passed this one on. I really liked the set up. I built the bench from some scrap extrusions I had been saving.


----------



## Uncle Buck

My 12 Craftsman/Atlas pictured below it has a BXA tool post which has really aded to the enjoyment of using this machine.


----------



## schor

This is my TH54. Not yet restored, too busy using it. What I really want is a QC gearbox for it. I have some plans on a variable speed lead screw. I got the lathe basically for nothing. Been learning as I go.


----------



## oldgoaly

my 10" I use mainly for wood, making table legs for antiques





my 12" TH w/qc, love this lathe!


----------



## cvz6977

Here is my little atlas. It has some 10D markings on the castings but it has the power cross feed which leads me to believe it may be a 10F. I think it's from around 1937 but just haven't had the time yet to check for more markings.


----------



## davidh

beautiful, looks too nice to even use.


----------



## miatakid

here is a pic of mine that i started to restore. I think it is a 1936 by the gear covers, it a 12 x 36. I thought it would be a good project after watching some you tube videos..lol


----------



## Sundossa12

Some nice set ups.


----------



## oldgoaly

Finally got the splash pan I made 19 years ago under the lathe, I only had 4' brake back then, have a 8' now but still used the old one. Plus added a motor cover to keep the swarfs from getting ever so close to the insides of the motor. adding odds and ends mounting for face plates, live centers, drill chucks, lights. need more drawers to sort the years of collecting tooling
.


----------



## Smudgemo

My 12x36 on my homemade stand.  Lots of lighting, tool storage and chip catching.




-Ryan


----------



## Dranreb

Great work Phil, that looks amazingly good!


----------



## oldgoaly

Phil,
What brand of DRO do you have? was it easy to install? any tricks or hints? Your lathe looks like a museum piece!  too nice to get dirty!


----------



## rdtbull

New member here, I just picked this up at Estate sale this past weekend. My son and I just set it in the middle till we decide on the best location. We have no experience what so ever. So its going to be interesting. Of and on I have fooled around with motorcycles and things that make noise, and always want to learn.


----------



## HangLoose

Beautifully done restoration Phil!


----------



## GK1918

Phil, I choked on my coffee and it came out my nose on that one.  Every ones lathes are beautys, but yours is me all over & color , everything.  I shall
save & print that one.  I have a dro comming for my compound that will be interesting?


----------



## wwunder

Hi all, I have been reading on here for a bit, but not actively posting. Anyway, here ate some pics of my TV-36. I haven't made any significant changes other than the qctp.

I do have the milling attachment and the 3AT collets. It didn't come with the drawbar so I threaded a piece of DOM tubing and made the hand wheel out of delrin.

I now also have a mini mill and have been debating whether to keep the milling attachment... 
	

		
			
		

		
	






Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## aforsman

I finally "finished" my restoration of my great-grandfather's TH54.  I put "finished" in parenthesis because I still have a few more details to complete (need new felts for way wipers, etc.).  Also, I have to do some repaint on the carriage - one of the first pieces I restored last year.  I installed it back on the bed after the paint was dry and wanted to lube the ways.  I used the nearest bottle of oil - Liquid Wrench.  Now I know why they call it penetrating oil.  It penetrated right up into my new paint and peeled it off for at least 1/2" up.  Lesson learned )

The lathe was passed down to me by my late grandfather.  The bearing dates are Dec. 1942.  His father was an auto mechanic by trade.  I assume he bought the lathe new for use in his repair shop.  I took apart every nut bolt and screw and cleaned 70 years worth of grease and gunk.  I even had to solder new wires to the motor windings, since the insulation was all but gone from the originals.  It was a bear, but I'm quite pleased with it now.  The paint is Sherwin Williams Polymer Blue.  Everything was taken down to the metal, spray primed and brush painted.  It runs really smooth and quiet.
	

		
			
		

		
	









In addition to a steady rest, grinding attachment and milling attachment, I also have some tooling that I'm not sure what it is.  I'm hoping someone can look at the pics and tell me what it's for.

Allen


----------



## Privateer

Here is my Atlas 10D  10" x 24". I'm slowly upgrading it to a 10F, at least that's the plan. 



The workbench is something I cobbled together from scrap wood I found on the property along with part of a sheet of cdx plywood. Its rough, ugly, but solid as hell. 



The biggest thing I need right now, is to pick up a steady rest for it. I have another saddle, and most of the parts to complete it. The parts to complete the apron are on my list. I have some drip pans which you can see in the background, that I plan to put in place under the feet of the lathe. The chips are from a small sleeve I made for a pulley. This is just after I got it back from having the bed ground. She's very tight now, and with the exception of the slop in the brass nuts, I can't feel any slop at all.

Edits: I can't speel!


----------



## aforsman

Just curious, I was thinking about having my bed ground also.  Can you tell me how much it cost?  Also, how much did they have to take off?

Thanks,
Allen


----------



## Privateer

Allen,

I used an outfit in Springfield, MO., and they only ended up charging me $200. And they were the only place in the area I could find that had a surface grinder large enough, iirc they said it could handle up to 6 feet. The machinist who did the work claimed he only took out .001", however I had to remove most of the shim material from the saddle to get it firm again. Additionally, when I dropped off the bed, I had left the feet attached, and he ground the feet parallel with the ways, before grinding the ways. Also, and in hindsight I would have done this too, they did not grind the underside of the ways.

Terry

- - - Updated - - -

[h=1]Precision Machining of Ozark[/h]1848 E Saint Louis St, Springfield, MO 65802
*(417) 869-2060*


----------



## aforsman

Terry,

Mine appears to have up to 0.005" wear near the spindle (as measured with a straight end and feeler gauges), so it would help me a lot.  I may call around and see if anyone nearby can do it.  Thanks for the info.

Allen


----------



## Privateer

Allen,

I had measured .003" near the headstock, and noticed that while attempting to part off or other heavy cutting, the saddle would rock. After I got the bed back, I spent hours making sure everything was as level and rigid as I was able. The workbench has casters, so I added short legs to support the bench as well as level it (my basement has about a 1" drop over 5'). Followed by leveling the bed with a machinist's level. Now she can take a .020" cut off crs with a carbide cutter and not break a sweat. I am very pleased with the lathe now.

Terry


----------



## mattygee

Heres my 10" setup... Can't make any claims as to getting a screaming deal on the lathe, as it was a boat anchor when I bought it.  As luck would have it after finishing this on, I was chatting about it at work when a co-worker chimed in and said he had a lathe and some other stuff his wife was pestering him to get rid of... So I wound up with a second virtually (you could see your reflection in the ways) NOS Atlas 10" lathe along with a whole load of accessories, including the tool room taper jig, the South Bend collets, cross slide table, the steady/follower pair and the backing plates.  I sold the the basic lathe for what I paid for the whole lot.  This has a 3 phase motor controlled by a VFD.  I added an extra reduction gear (20/40 I think) in the gear train to give a slow feed of .002" per rev.  Its been a  learning experience!


----------



## itsme_Bernie

miatakid said:


> here is a pic of mine that i started to restore. I think it is a 1936 by the gear covers, it a 12 x 36. I thought it would be a good project after watching some you tube videos..lol



Whoh!!  Miatakid!!!!  What the heck is THAT???  Is it cut off???  Or some short bed I never heard of??  How cool!

Bernie


----------



## itsme_Bernie

Phil Perry said:


> Here are a few photos of a Craftsman/Atlas that I restored last summer.  I scraped the bed, carrage and cross slide, turcited them, did a very careful alignment,  upgraded the handwheels, added the DRO and took it down to it's last nut and bolt!
> 
> It turned out to be a very tight, accurate lathe that's a joy to run!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Phil




Phil!

That's beautiful!  I was scrolling down, and saw this beautiful setup, and thought it looked like your work!  Wow...  

Bernie


----------



## drs23

Phil Perry said:


> Here are a few photos of a Craftsman/Atlas that I restored last summer.  I scraped the bed, carrage and cross slide, turcited them, did a very careful alignment,  upgraded the handwheels, added the DRO and took it down to it's last nut and bolt!
> 
> It turned out to be a very tight, accurate lathe that's a joy to run!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Phil



That's  gorgeous Phil, fantastic job! I'd of never thought to use an off white like that. I really like the way it turned out.

Congrats on a fine job!


----------



## itsme_Bernie

I hope former Atlas owners are invited to post here!  I miss mine!!
The choice between buying new machines, or old machines and fixing-restoring-repairing is often discussed here.

My first dedicated metal working machine (besides a drill press) was a Sherline Mill.  I am so thankful to them for making machining possible to start.

BUT I know I could have never really gotten started when I did, if I hadn't been given an old Atlas 618 it pretty ROUGH shape, and spent my time and elbow grease making it a wonderful machine.  It is really pretty shocking to me looking at the condition it was in when I carried home:





...  And let me be clear, I was thrilled!  I spent all my "me" time for at least a month or two taking it apart, taking progress pics, cleaning every bolt and nut, slide, carefully polishing ways, and working stiff handles and controls all over.   My friends also gave me the milling attachment, in similar shape.  It was only missing change gears and a few little pieces to be complete under all the gunk, rust, dust, and overspray:





After a few months, and less than $75 on Ebay for miscellaneous parts, I had a wonderful, solid, and quite accurate machine that got me past the first few years of STEEP learning curve.  That was nine years ago.  I had this machine until recently.  If I had NOT restored it, I would not have been able to get the South Bend Heavy 10 (10L for search purposes), since the time was right, I now had a worthwhile machine to SELL.  If you can believe it, I got almost half of the money I needed for the SB by selling the Atlas 618 and it's accessories!!  (I have more cool ones to sell by the way 





All the parts you can see there were the original parts!!  Just cleaned up!!  Even that leadscrew!  

I traded a different machine for this really mint Atlas 618 too, and someone BABY'd it it's whole life- EXCEPT they painted it!!  Why paint a mechanically perfect condition machine when you bought it new???  hah hah
He must have had fun painting it, because look how he labeled everything!





He even did an expert job retrofitting this handwheel at the end of the leadscrew for "micrometer carriage hand feed".  I used this accessory daily when I owned this lathe!
He also did a nice job adding a GITS oiler to the leadscrew bearing:





I have all kinds of Atlas 618 and equivalent Craftsman literature digitized if anyone ever needs it. 


Bernie


----------



## kd4gij

Here is mine


----------



## 1eyed_king

itsme_Bernie said:


> an old Atlas 618 it pretty ROUGH shape
> 
> Bernie



Bernie, you've given me hope!  My first project (and the reason I joined) is a 101.21400 that I thought was on the verge of being un-salvageable, but it looks better than that thing.  I just got it back to my shop and I'm in the planning stages now.  Any early advice to a noob whose only supplies are elbow grease and gumption?  




itsme_Bernie said:


> I have all kinds of Atlas 618 and equivalent Craftsman literature digitized if anyone ever needs it.
> 
> Bernie



I think I may be missing some parts for my rebuild.  Any chance you have a high resolution parts list/diagram I can use to cross check?

Thanks, and your machines are beautiful!!


----------



## dvcprepper

My first and only lathe which I found on CL last weekend.  It would seem to be a 1946-47 12"x24" 101.07403 Atlas  

Other than cleaning some gunk and replacing the motor with an original, I don't see anything that needs fixing in the near future.  I'm sure I will not be able to resist a frame off restore though as looking at some of the classics on this forum makes me drool. 





image by DVC Prepper, on Flickr



image by DVC Prepper, on Flickr



image by DVC Prepper, on Flickr


----------



## pipehack

These Atlas lathes are more popular than I thought. You folks have some great set ups. I'll post up my 6" Atlas when It's more cleaned up. I hate embarrassing myself.


----------



## GoMopar440

IMHO, there's nothing wrong in posting a few "before" or "as received and/or bought" pics to give the viewer something to compare the pretty pics to. Just sayin.)


----------



## toolman

Hey guys, ya'll have a newbie in your midst, but anyway, here's my "newsed" 101.27440 Crafstman/Atlas 12"x36" lathe. I think I got taken on it a little bit @ $1250, but it's mine. It came with a 3-jaw chuck, steady rest, follower rest, rocker tool post (missing the rocker!), and handfull of misc. stuff. The guy is also supposed to send me an extra 5-jaw chuck once he gets it back from his buddy who borrowed it. The machine is missing the lead screw support parts, has a broken traverse gear case, and a couple of the gears on the tumbler are worn out, so it looks like Clausing is going to be getting a little chunk of my hard-earned cash.


----------



## DamicoTileCo

Here's mine the day I bought in the guy's garage. I paid 1350.00 for it. He wanted 1450.00.
I have since bought a QCTP for it, had to shim the tail stock .008 to bring it to center and have turned some small pieces like thumb knobs, bushings for my Norton, an axle for a RC race car.
I've tried threading and although the nut did thread on it was real rough. I have since bought books on threading. Boy was I doing that wrong.
Guy


----------



## TOOLMASTER

jet 8"


----------



## Steevo

Here is my little Craftsman/Atlas 12x36.
It sits on a home-made bench under the pallet rack storage in my workshop.








It was in very good condition when I bought it a few years ago for $600.
All I have done so far is to replace the cross-feed brass nut and adjust all of the gibs to snug it up a little.

I still need to replace the carriage traverse gears, as they have a bit of slop in them.
It also came with a pile of tooling and accessories, some of which don't go with the lathe at all, but were included:





Since I have a mill, and didn't need the milling attachment, I sold it for more than half of what I paid for the whole package.

I have done a few amateur jobs on the lathe and am slowly gaining some experience on operating it.


----------



## H&NERy

Here is my TH54, I bought the lathe with a bunch of other stuff and after I liquidated the other stuff I didn't need I ended up with a free lathe and made a little extra to buy some toys to go with the lathe. I have acquired an assortment of 3 and 4 jaw chucks, a milling attachment, plus a boring table and I am always looking for more attachments and tooling. Someday down the road I want to mount it on a nice bench or tool cabinet with some storage under it.


----------



## ksierens

Here is my Craftsman 101.21200, it's little, but you can still do some good work with it. I bought it from the first owner who had most of the accessories for it.  One of the reasons I wanted a MK1 or MK2 type 6" Lathe was because the Benchmaster mill I already had has a 2MT spindle, and I could share some tooling between them.  I also already had a Unimat DB-200 with a A2Z quick change tool post that also can be used on either the Craftsman or Unimat.  I placed a wanted ad on Craigslist and got a call about 1 week later and ended up buying it.  Then I also got another reply for another MK2 lathe, and it happened to have some of the missing items I needed, so I bought that one too, and turned around and sold it for what I payed for it, minus what I needed of course


----------



## drs23

ksierens said:


> Here is my Craftsman 101.21200, it's little, but you can still do some good work with it. I bought it from the first owner who had most of the accessories for it.  One of the reasons I wanted a MK1 or MK2 type 6" Lathe was because the Benchmaster mill I already had has a 2MT spindle, and I could share some tooling between them.  I also already had a Unimat DB-200 with a A2Z quick change tool post that also can be used on either the Craftsman or Unimat.  I placed a wanted ad on Craigslist and got a call about 1 week later and ended up buying it.  Then I also got another reply for another MK2 lathe, and it happened to have some of the missing items I needed, so I bought that one too, and turned around and sold it for what I payed for it, minus what I needed of course



What a score! That's a really clean lathe. And a boat load of tooling to boot.

That's worthy of a gloat!


----------



## Holescreek

My grandfather bought this old Atlas used back in the 40's, then  uncle had it for another 30 years before I inherited it.  The ways were pretty well worn, I hand scraped approximately .025" off. Here is an early photo of the bed after I started:




The carriage had about a .012" curvature ad the cross slide was at about .012". I surface ground any parts that would fit on my 6x18" grinder.  




I had to relieve the rear saddle hold down to get the right pressure on the gibb.




I don't have any photos of it that show the splash pan in place or the collet rack setup, I've only used it once in the last 4 or 5 years and it's pretty dusty now.


----------



## schor

I've posted my altas th54 before but here it is again.





And here is the new one with cqgb that I am picking up Sat.




I'll figure out which one is best, most likely my current one, if so then I will swap out the qcgb from the new one and restore it and sell it.


----------



## schor

schor said:


> I've posted my altas th54 before but here it is again.
> 
> 
> 
> And here is the new one with cqgb that I am picking up Sat.
> 
> 
> 
> I'll figure out which one is best, most likely my current one, if so then I will swap out the qcgb from the new one and restore it and sell it.



Well I got it home and it's pretty much a parts machine. I wanted it for the QCGB which seems to be in ok shape. Here's a quick vid walkabout.

[video=youtube_share;nnJxBT6ESLM]http://youtu.be/nnJxBT6ESLM[/video]


----------



## bill speidel

I just picked up a 1938 Craftsman lathe.  Can anyone point me to any discussion or hints on the best way for me to mount the motor so it can easily be adjusted when I want to adjust the spindle pulleys to control speed?




Thanks.

Bill


----------



## mattthemuppet2

my lathe motor is attached to the table with some door hinges sliding on a piece of rod. To change pulleys I just have to pick it up and slide it along the rod. Not especially elegant, but it works well!


----------



## parrothead

Here is mine.  It is an old 10".  I took these pictures the day I brought it home, so my work area isn't entirely set up yet.  This thing came with a milling attachment and a bunch of other stuff.  Maybe someone could clue me in on what some of this stuff is.  I'm a total newbie and I have no real idea on how to operate this thing, but I'm pretty excited to learn.  It came with a lathe operating book, so I'm starting there.


----------



## schor

parrothead said:


> Here is mine.  It is an old 10".  I took these pictures the day I brought it home, so my work area isn't entirely set up yet.  This thing came with a milling attachment and a bunch of other stuff.  Maybe someone could clue me in on what some of this stuff is.  I'm a total newbie and I have no real idea on how to operate this thing, but I'm pretty excited to learn.  It came with a lathe operating book, so I'm starting there.



Well, you have quite a few things in those buckets. A 4 jaw chuck, outside jaws for your 3 jaw chuck, a steady rest, 2 sets of change gears, a second spindle, a second forward reverse gear changer, live center, some dead centers and some hss tooling, boring bars, second tool post.

There are many instructional videos out there on youtube that can get you started. mrpete222 might be a good start, as well Tom's techniques has some basics too.

And of course there is always this site for you to ask questions.


----------



## parrothead

Thanks.  I was organizing the drawers and found a smaller 3 jaw chuck buried in the back.  I felt pretty good about the whole package, and I didn't think I did bad for $300.  
I've been watching those videos that you mentioned on youtube.  They have been extremely informative.  I am anxious for warmer weather so I can make  some chips fly.  My shop isn't heated, so I'll have to wait...


----------



## Dranreb

parrothead said:


> Thanks.  I was organizing the drawers and found a smaller 3 jaw chuck buried in the back.  I felt pretty good about the whole package, and I didn't think I did bad for $300.
> I've been watching those videos that you mentioned on youtube.  They have been extremely informative.  I am anxious for warmer weather so I can make  some chips fly.  My shop isn't heated, so I'll have to wait...



Hi parrothead, looks good for that money, you've got everything to get started there and you'll have fun getting to know how to use it..

Bernard


----------



## schor

I would suggest you lube the lathe well, stone the ways, get the machine into top working order before you start making any chips. Start your own thread about this lathe. Put it in the members projects forum or in the atlas forum. Ask your questions and you'll get tons of help. The lathe does not look like a restore is needed. I ran my lathe without restore, just maintenance before I cut metal.




parrothead said:


> Thanks.  I was organizing the drawers and found a smaller 3 jaw chuck buried in the back.  I felt pretty good about the whole package, and I didn't think I did bad for $300.
> I've been watching those videos that you mentioned on youtube.  They have been extremely informative.  I am anxious for warmer weather so I can make  some chips fly.  My shop isn't heated, so I'll have to wait...


----------



## parrothead

I just bought a good used countershaft hanger on ebay last week.  My original had a brazed yoke that had failed.  I plan to repair it and put it on the shelf for a spare and install this replacement one.  A customer of mine scrapes and repairs mills and lathes for a living, so I called him up to get his opinion on my lathe.  He basically told me the same thing Steve did -- lightly stone the ways, clean, lube and make chips.  He told me to replace the felt on the wipers, so I'll have to locate or make  some of those.  I  don't plan to restore this lathe, I just want to keep it in good working order and use it.  I'll start a thread on this if it ever warms up enough for me to  get some quality shop time in.  :whistle:


----------



## wa5cab

parrothead,

You can buy the felts for the carriage way wipers from Clausing and from at least one eBay seller.  They last longer than the felts but you should this time also replace the rubber wipers, which Clausing also has.

Robert D.


----------



## orphan auto

bill speidel said:


> I just picked up a 1938 Craftsman lathe.  Can anyone point me to any discussion or hints on the best way for me to mount the motor so it can easily be adjusted when I want to adjust the spindle pulleys to control speed?
> 
> View attachment 68243
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Bill


 
Bill

That looks like a wood turning lathe


----------



## wa5cab

Bill,

It is.  I've seen it in the catalog.

Bill, 

Matt's idea is as good as any.  The motor has to slide sideways to line up with the spindle pulley grooves.  The hinges would each I think be one half of a standard hinge.  And the motor weight would tension the belt.  I would add setscrew collars outboard of each hinge half so that the motor doesn't try to walk sideways while running.

If there is a Craftsman serial number plate on the back of the bed, what is the model number?

Robert D.


----------



## teledan

New guy here, I posted in the new members thread but figured I would post a pic of my lathe here.  This is my Craftsman 101.21400 I got a couple years back.  I am a complete novice when it comes to these but I am excited to learn!


----------



## wa5cab

ccski,

Your machine is a Clausing 6329, not Atlas.  I moved your post to the Clausing-Colchester forum.  Also, you will find one manual on the Clausing 6300 Series in Downloads.  I think that it covers your serial number.  If not, you might call Clausing @ 800-323-0972.  Tell the operator that you want old Clausing lathe parts.  Tell whomever answers there that you are looking for information on a Model 6329 and give your serial number.  They may have a copy of the manual that they can send you, probably as a PDF.  They also have a tech support group available.

Robert D.


----------

