# Newly acquired Atlas lathe.



## Stephen Tegner (Jun 18, 2013)

Hi all, I only just joined the site and am from South Africa. I recently bought this Atlas 10 f series (I think!) for the equivalent of 850 USD which might seem high but in this country you have to grab a lathe like this when you can especially when it comes with a fair amount of accessories, these images are all I have just now which were sent to me by the seller and from the looks of it it's mostly there. I don't know what the gears look like or the finer details but will post pics as soon as I get it home. The chuck doesn't look standard to me and looks rather on the large side, hopefully it won't affect the bearings too much. Regards Steve


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## schor (Jun 18, 2013)

It's a fair deal for $850. Now you need to clean and grease and oil it. The book you got will have an oiling chart. Make sure to get everything. I don't think the chuck is a problem but check out the bearings anyways. Yours has the babbitt bearings.


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## Uncle Buck (Jun 18, 2013)

Looks like a great deal, but I would disagree on that chuck size, especially on a babbit bearing machine. There is a good reason those machines came out with a 3 jaw chuck of much more modest dimensions. The additional mass spinning on the end of that spindle would accelerate the wear on at least the bearing nearest the chuck if not both bearings. That is just my opinion for what its worth.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jun 18, 2013)

Uncle Buck said:


> Looks like a great deal, but I would disagree on that chuck size, especially on a babbit bearing machine. There is a good reason those machines came out with a 3 jaw chuck of much more modest dimensions. The additional mass spinning on the end of that spindle would accelerate the wear on at least the bearing nearest the chuck if not both bearings. That is just my opinion for what its worth.


Thanks guys, nice to know it was a fair deal. Maybe the original 3 jaw chuck is also lurking around the sellers workshop, I'll ask just to make sure.


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## righto88 (Jun 18, 2013)

I think you got a very good deal. I wished I could find a deal like that here in Tennessee.


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## robert1352 (Jun 18, 2013)

I see you also got the milling attachment. Awesome find!!!


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## ARM (Jun 18, 2013)

Stephen Tegner said:


> Hi all, I only just joined the site and am from South Africa. I recently bought this Atlas 10 f series (I think!) for the equivalent of 850 USD which might seem high but in this country you have to grab a lathe like this when you can especially when it comes with a fair amount of accessories, these images are all I have just now which were sent to me by the seller and from the looks of it it's mostly there. I don't know what the gears look like or the finer details but will post pics as soon as I get it home. The chuck doesn't look standard to me and looks rather on the large side, hopefully it won't affect the bearings too much. Regards Steve



Hello  STEVE
Firstly  welcome. U  could  not have  joined  a  better  group.
All  the  best  on Your  recent  purchase.
Had  also seen  an  ad  or  two  on  these  Atlas  Lathes  on  our local Gumtree.  Really  admired the one  Rudy Kouhoupt  uses  for  his  Video  Lessons,  which  we  have.  His  machine of  well  over  40 plus Years,  is  not  only  immaculate  but  works  perfectly and  precisely.   Must  say  that  we  reckon  U  have  been  luckier,  if  not  much  pluckier  to  make  this  deal  !!! 
 We  are also  in  the  market  for a  second  smaller  faster  Lathe.
Had  been  offered  an  EMCO  MAXIMAT V10P  at  30 Grand.  Just  could  not  decide on  it.  
You  have  stacks  of  work  ahead  with  this  little  joy.
Post  pics  so's  we  can  also  admire  Your  efforts.
kindest  regards
aRM


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## Stephen Tegner (Jun 18, 2013)

ARM said:


> Hello  STEVE
> Firstly  welcome. U  could  not have  joined  a  better  group.
> All  the  best  on Your  recent  purchase.
> Had  also seen  an  ad  or  two  on  these  Atlas  Lathes  on  our local Gumtree.  Really  admired the one  Rudy Kouhoupt  uses  for  his  Video  Lessons,  which  we  have.  His  machine of  well  over  40 plus Years,  is  not  only  immaculate  but  works  perfectly and  precisely.   Must  say  that  we  reckon  U  have  been  luckier,  if  not  much  pluckier  to  make  this  deal  !!!
> ...



Hi thank you for the welcome, nice to see I'm not the only South African here. Well like you I went through the various sales rags like Gumtree, OLX and Junk mail but every time I found some lathe I really liked it was snapped up before I could get anywhere near it. An engineering friend put me onto this club that facilitates deals by fellow enthusiasts and he put me onto the gent who owned this lathe and a deal was struck, still paying it off. The chap I am getting it from says he knows nothing about lathes and has boxes and boxes of other parts not appearing in the pictures so I am really looking forward to seeing just what else he can have. I had two smaller lathes that I had to sell to make up the cash for this one. Just for everyone's interest I am the senior restorer at the South African museum of Military History so restoring things is my profession and I am looking forward to this lathes restoration and will definitely keep you all informed about the progress. http://ab40restoration.blogspot.com/ http://charb1bis.blogspot.com/ Here are two of my blogs that I have on the go. Regards.


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## wa5cab (Jun 19, 2013)

Stephen,

The reason that Uncle Buck made his comment about the chuck and babbitt bearings is I think because of the weight.  The Atlas 6" is the same diameter but much lighter.  Which goes to less wear on the bottom of the front spindle bearing.  One thing that you will probably want to check once you get the lathe and see what else you got, etc., is for differential wear (more on the front than on the rear) on the spindle bearings.  If there is some, after carefully adjusting the bearing running clearance and re-checking, the usual fix is to shim the front of the headstock up a few thou so as to get the spindle back to level.

Robert D.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jun 26, 2013)

Hi all, I went out today to actually have a look at the 10f lathe I am buying. The good news is that none of the gears under the headstock cover are broken off and everything is covered in grease which I suppose is better than being rusty! The owner let me take home the accessories to play with in the meantime, there are two sets of gears that I found the one set is the original die-cast ones plus another set which appears to be cast iron and not standard, has anyone seen these types of gears before? The milling attachment has a rather heavy duty vise attached which from what I have seen online also doesn’t look like an original part, well-made none the less. The lead screw clutch mechanism seems to be working fine but the cross slide split nut engagement seems loose and takes a few seconds before it starts moving, I won’t really know what’s the condition of the parts until I get it home. The owner doesn’t know if the original chuck is lurking somewhere so if anyone has a spare that they would like to sell or trade I would be grateful to hear from them. I have attached some pictures of what I have so far.


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## wa5cab (Jun 27, 2013)

The vise on the 500A milling attachment is either home-made of after-market.   However, as nearly as I can tell from the photos, it was made to fit the existing pintle on the 10-501 main upright casting.  So no harm done.  If you were to locate the original 10-502 part, it should still fit.  However, the home-made part appears to be a functional equivalent and aside from weighing more, should work about the same.  I have the instruction sheets on the 500A if you don't.  Can't recall whether they are in Downloads or not.  If not, I can certainly upload them.

On the gear question, I don't know the answer.  But it is possible that the cast iron (your description) ones may be the original design and the die case ones the second design.  The 9" originally came out with Change Gears with part numbers of the form "9-101-(tooth count)".  Early in 10" and 12" production these all became suffix "A".  So it is possible that the cast iron ones are the original design and the Zamack ones the first revision.

Robert D.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, in the middle of your photo that includes the Steady Rest are some gears that look like they are part of the power cross-feed.  Perhaps they are new parts that never got installed?

Robert D.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 4, 2013)

Hi all.
I got my lathe at home now, actually picked it up a few weekends back and was too excited to start stripping it down than to take any pictures but will do so shortly. When I tested it at the previous owners place the half nut engagement was very loose and non-responsive so I was kind of worried that this was broken, well fortunately that was not the case it turned out that the two screws that hold it in place were loose and also that the lead screw was solidly packed with grease and metal filings that it was pushing the half nut open.  I can see now why NEVER EVER use grease on anything concerning a lathe, I had to pick out the old hardened grease with a screwdriver. Unfortunately I suppose my luck couldn’t hold out as the one leg of the carriage hand wheel bracket was broken in the usual place so I’ll have to repair this somehow or make a new replacement. The forward /reverse clutch system was all complete and not broken either which I am grateful for as these would be difficult to rectify. As a matter of interest I can buy most of what I need on EBay but many, many dealers don’t ship to South Africa and the cost of shipping is most of the time triple the cost of the actual part so that’s not really a viable option either.  I got a few more accessories that the owner found like another milling attachment which doesn’t seem to belong to the lathe but nice to have anyway, an extra four jaw chuck and some more faceplates, a few more gear wheels and some other items. Last night I hooked up the motor just to see if it runs ok and it hadn’t been greased in decades as it was squeaking something chronic, I took out the two lubrication screws and forced grease into the bearings using a syringe which seemed to cure the problem for now. I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be worthwhile to buy two new bearings anyway.  Initially I wasn’t going to do a major rebuild but on second thoughts seeing as I have it stripped I won’t get a better opportunity to do this so I have started to sandblast and prime some of the covers at work and do each part bit by bit. The owner couldn’t find the original chuck which is a pity so I’ll have to buy a nonstandard one for my lathe.

Till later.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 5, 2013)

*Re: Atlas lathe in South Africa, the painting begins.*

Yesterday and today I managed to get a chance to sandblast, prime and start painting the main colour. We had a bit of industrial automotive paint going to waste at work so I mixed up a batch to a fairly attractive shade of grey/green, the paint is quick drying and hopefully will cure to become a nice hardwearing shell.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 10, 2013)

Hi all, here is the restoration so far. I have been grit blasting with a very fine grit which works well and doesn't damage the surfaces.


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## schor (Jul 10, 2013)

Great job! 

Makes me want to re-paint my th54 but I'm too busy using it to be able to pull it all apart.


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## tripletap3 (Jul 10, 2013)

Nice work. That lathe is lucky it was adopted by you.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 10, 2013)

Thanks guys, actually these Atlas lathes are not that common over here in South Africa. Myfords seem to be the more common older lathe that filtered down to this part of the world. I am looking forward to actually using it as well but still some fun ahead with the restoration.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 16, 2013)

*Update on lathe restoration.*

Hi guys, here are the latest pictures of my lathe restoration so far. The various components are being loosely assembled and once it is all finished I'll strip it down and take it home. I haven't bothered to show the actual restoration process but it was grit blasted with a very fine grit, undercoated and painted. I am still waiting for my guy to source me a three jaw  chuck and have settled on a 125mm diameter one, I am told that I should put a 160mm one on but I think this is too big for my needs besides the vast extra cost involved. The motor isn't bolted to the bracket yet I have just put the pulley on to determine if it is a good fit because I don't want the motor/pulley assembly bracket to be situated too far back from the lathe. I will still make a dedicated stand for it but that is down the line still. You will see I have mounted the milling attachment with it's non standard vice just for the photo opp. 

Thanks for looking.

Steve


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## wa5cab (Jul 17, 2013)

Looks very nice.  Good job!  I think a 5" 3-jaw should be OK.  Even on my 12" (with 6" Pratt-Bernerd) I almost never have to turn the jaws around.  Of course it depends upon what you are doing with it.

Robert D.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 17, 2013)

Hi Robert thanks, well I'm going to use it mainly for hobby work and do have two four jaws chucks if I need to do heavy duty work.


Steve


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 21, 2013)

Hello guys, I have brought my machine home after the restoration I did at work I managed so find an original Atlas logo from an old milling machine which looks really nice on the lathe. You will see that I am missing the half nut lever which is a shame as I would have liked to have as much original parts as possible, the previous owner made a rather crappy one which I will replace by probably making one out of aluminium to as close to the original design as I can get it. I have also installed the American made quick change tool post just for effect as there is still a way to go before I can get her running. I still have to buy two pulley's and some heavy duty angle iron to make up a decent stand, the bench you see is the one that the lathe came with which is not adequate by any means. I also bought a chuck which I think is an upper end Chinese made one from one of my contacts, I think it's Chinese as there is no identification on the package but doing a Google search using the name on the pamphlet seems to indicate that it is Chinese. The original adapter plate can be used for this chuck but I still have to machine it down and get it mounted properly a task I am a bit nervous about getting right. So enough talking here are the pictures.


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## george wilson (Jul 21, 2013)

You can find Atlas QC gear boxes on Ebay. Get one and modify the lead screw to take it. It makes the lathe so much better to use.


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## Stephen Tegner (Jul 21, 2013)

george wilson said:


> You can find Atlas QC gear boxes on Ebay. Get one and modify the lead screw to take it. It makes the lathe so much better to use.



Thanks for the advice but in most cases the shipping is triple the cost of the component. Not a viable option for me.


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