# Atlas 10" Looking For Chip Tray Ideas



## Strtspdlx (Sep 22, 2015)

I've been wanting to break a chip tray for my atlas 10" pretty much since I got it. Now I'm tired of cleaning the oil off the wood block its mounted to and would like a better way to "contain" most of the chips. I had thought of building a full length tray that goes under the bed feet but I'm not sure if it's exactly necessary. I know I'll definitely be going under the headstock foot as the bearings leak oil as fast as I can put it in. So I. That right it's either shim the tailstock side or make the chip tray go all the way. I'm just looking for ideas on dimensions. On the backside I wanted to extend it 6" past the feet as I try to get my tooling to throw the chips away from me if possible. I also though about going 4-5" past the feet on the operator side so I'd have a place to lay some tooling as I don't have shelving around the lathe at the moment. More or less if you could post pictures that would help. I'm unsure what gauge metal to use or how high I should make the lips. I thought about 3/4-1" as I'd like to set this up for flood coolant at some point. As cutting oil does get expensive and I sure do use it!  
Also it is a 54" bed model and I believe I can get sheet metal in sheets of 4'x8' if I remember correctly. 

Regards-Carlo


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## VSAncona (Sep 22, 2015)

I used an old cookie sheet with mine. It fit just perfectly on the top board of the cast iron leg set and it was easy to dump when it got too full.


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## wa5cab (Sep 22, 2015)

The factory tray on my 3996 is 1-3/16" deep.  The walls are at about 45 deg. all around, and it runs from left of the left end of the headstock to right of the right leg.  Material appears to be 16 gauge steel.  The top edge of the lip is turned down 1/2" by 135 deg. all around.  On a 10" with horizontal countershaft you will have to extend the back edge at the left to mount the countersheft bracket and to extend out under the motor.

Also, you should add the felt plugs to the spindle oil cups.  Doesn't keep the oil from dripping through onto the pan but keeps the bearings properly oiled for a day or two.


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## Dranreb (Sep 22, 2015)

Hi Carlos,   I made a tray for my Atlas a few years ago, not sure if you've seen it but my build thread may give you some ideas:      http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/lathe-support-frame-and-tray-project.9441/

In retrospect the tray could have been a tad wider at the rear as some chips escape, and maybe I should have just bent a higher lip at the rear maybe 6" at 54 deg. would have been better, I keep meaning to make a simple clip on extension.

I never use coolant and the tray catches all the oil from the gearbox and change gears, and I just wipe it out now and then.

You can see I made a wooden tool tray to fit on the tail stock end which is very handy you have the bed length , if you like I can take a detail pic of it.

Looking forward to see what you do with yours...

Bernard


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## kd4gij (Sep 22, 2015)

I use a large cookie sheet like a restaurant would use. But AutoZone or any parts house have a pan to lay under a car to catch drips that would be great under a lathe and they are cheap.


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## wa5cab (Sep 23, 2015)

I wouldn't recommend a lip over about 1-1/2".  Regardless of how high it is, some chips will always get outside it.  And anything higher will just be that much more difficult to clean out.  If you plan to use coolant (either spray or flood), include a threaded drain hole at one of the back corners.  I forgot to mention earlier that the factory trays had a 3/8" NPT tapped hole (with plug, originally) for this.


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## Strtspdlx (Sep 23, 2015)

wa5cab said:


> I wouldn't recommend a lip over about 1-1/2".  Regardless of how high it is, some chips will always get outside it.  And anything higher will just be that much more difficult to clean out.  If you plan to use coolant (either spray or flood), include a threaded drain hole at one of the back corners.  I forgot to mention earlier that the factory trays had a 3/8" NPT tapped hole (with plug, originally) for this.


If you have the time to snap a picture and put it up is like to see it. I'm trying to imagine how it would go but that part of my brain hasn't started working yet today. I already have a pump and hard lines for the flood coolant setup I just have to make a mount and buy flex hose for the upper portion of it. I was thinking about the motor bracket and I think I may just make a deflector so any residue from the belts slides down into the chip tray verse trying to make the tray cover that entire area. I have an incorrectly fitting motor on my lathe so I don't have anymore clearance for anything under the motor mount. Unless I misunderstood your previous post In which case disregard that statement. 
If anyone has any pictures at all don't be shy post them up. I'd like to brainstorm on how I'm going to do this. 


Regards-Carlo


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## Strtspdlx (Sep 23, 2015)

Dranreb said:


> Hi Carlos,   I made a tray for my Atlas a few years ago, not sure if you've seen it but my build thread may give you some ideas:      http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/lathe-support-frame-and-tray-project.9441/
> 
> In retrospect the tray could have been a tad wider at the rear as some chips escape, and maybe I should have just bent a higher lip at the rear maybe 6" at 54 deg. would have been better, I keep meaning to make a simple clip on extension.
> 
> ...


I checked out your thread. Very nice build!! The chip tray I'd like to build would probably be wider. Just because I'm putting the machine in a shed when I buy a house. And I'd prefer not to oil soak the floor as best as I can. But I think I'll steal your ideas for the edges. That's exactly what I had pictures when I came up with my initial "blueprint". 


Regards-Carlo


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## Kernbigo (Sep 23, 2015)

i used a cover off a tote


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## wa5cab (Sep 23, 2015)

Carlo.

Actually I incorrectly remembered how the factory trays were made.  They are cut back under the motor mount or to clear the countershaft bracket (probably the latter).  In Downloads under Atlas Lathe Manuals (I think), you will find the sheet showing where to drill the holes for the countershaft bracket.  Below should be a scan of Page 22 from the Atlas 1945 catalog showing the factory pans.


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## Strtspdlx (Sep 28, 2015)

I wonder how much the complete kit cost at that time. That's pretty neat to see that type of stuff. Ideally I'd like to do something nearly exactly like that. However much wider to try and contain chips. Mainly is love to try to go back to the motor or 1-2" past and completely square with it down the backside. And then tuck the coolant reservoir and pump up under the wooden top that the lathe sits on. Not the shelflike my tooling stays there when I'm using the lathe consistently. I still need to figure out a lot. 


Regards-Carlo


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## wa5cab (Sep 28, 2015)

Carlo,

In October, 1944, the 10-775C pan for the 10x36 cost $14.50.

Don't get carried away with the size of the pan.  Generally, if it sticks out in the front past the front of the legs the thing sits on, it is going to be uncomfortable to use.  Regardless of how large you make it, it will never catch all of the chips, anyway.  If you can do relatively large sheet metal work, I would suggest using the dimensions shown on the catalog page above and make a separate back-splash to go with it.  I have some photos that I can't find right now that happen to show the one I added to my 3996.  The top of it is bent over to form a narrow shelf.


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## Strtspdlx (Sep 29, 2015)

Going towards the operator I just want to make the pan extend to the edge of the wooden top. Maybe 1/2"-3/4" past that as you said I don't need it to be in my way. I always try to direct the chips out the back of the lathe so if the chip tray could extend that way a bit more it would be ideal. My buddy works in a fab shop that can order sheets and break them to nearly any shape. However I may do it by hand as they can't produce radiused corners. And I'm not a fan of square corners. I have a lot to consider before I begin the build I just want to make sure I have all aspects covered before I begin. 


Regards-Carlo


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## aicomp (Sep 29, 2015)

Strtspdlx said:


> I've been wanting to break a chip tray for my atlas 10" pretty much since I got it. Now I'm tired of cleaning the oil off the wood block its mounted to and would like a better way to "contain" most of the chips. I had thought of building a full length tray that goes under the bed feet but I'm not sure if it's exactly necessary. I know I'll definitely be going under the headstock foot as the bearings leak oil as fast as I can put it in. So I. That right it's either shim the tailstock side or make the chip tray go all the way. I'm just looking for ideas on dimensions. On the backside I wanted to extend it 6" past the feet as I try to get my tooling to throw the chips away from me if possible. I also though about going 4-5" past the feet on the operator side so I'd have a place to lay some tooling as I don't have shelving around the lathe at the moment. More or less if you could post pictures that would help. I'm unsure what gauge metal to use or how high I should make the lips. I thought about 3/4-1" as I'd like to set this up for flood coolant at some point. As cutting oil does get expensive and I sure do use it!
> Also it is a 54" bed model and I believe I can get sheet metal in sheets of 4'x8' if I remember correctly.
> 
> Regards-Carlo


I have one off of a 10" Atlas lathe with a 54" bed. I am in Susanville, California.
Mike


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## mike1 (Sep 29, 2015)

I made a chip pan for my SB junior . I used 16 -GA sheet metal and braked the sides at  a 45 degree angle . I also fabricated a coolant sump
along the rear of the tray. The dimensions of my tray are 72" x 30" x 1.5" .


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## Anthony G (Sep 30, 2015)

I was going to make one for mine, too. Mine is mounted on a well constructed, sturdy steel table with a wooden top. I think I'm just going to bend up some sheet metal I have. I don't have a brake so I'll have to use old style methods of clamping 2X4s or something and bending that way. It should be fine I think. I'll just lay it out and bend over the edge first to get rid of the sharp edge and then bend up the sides and pop rivet the corners together. Easy and cheap. 

On a related but different note, when I worked at Champion Spark Plug in the prototype lab, we would line the trays of the lathes with craft paper. Since we mostly worked on small parts, we didn't make a lot of mess. There were some large lathes in the lab, too, but we used those for making our tooling and fixtures, since we made all of the prototype spark plugs by hand, one at a time, and we had to develop tooling in a lot of cases to make the new designs. Anyways, we had small lathes, too, and to make clean-up easier we lined the trays with craft paper. Then we could just pull the paper out of the tray and empty it and then return it to the tray. Eventually, it would get bad enough from oil and such and we would just replace it. It kept the trays looking almost like new.


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## Strtspdlx (Sep 30, 2015)

Anthony g
That sounds like a fun job. Being 28 I haven't found any job worth bragging about. I'd love to go back to school to get a degree in engineering and be able to go from my head to the real thing all by myself. And have something everyday society could benefit from. It's cool to hear stories of hand made prototypes although that seems to be becoming a thing of the past. How I wish I was 20 in 1950-1960


Regards-Carlo


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## Anthony G (Sep 30, 2015)

Strtspdlx said:


> Anthony g
> That sounds like a fun job. Being 28 I haven't found any job worth bragging about. I'd love to go back to school to get a degree in engineering and be able to go from my head to the real thing all by myself. And have something everyday society could benefit from. It's cool to hear stories of hand made prototypes although that seems to be becoming a thing of the past. How I wish I was 20 in 1950-1960
> 
> 
> Regards-Carlo



Hey Carlo. It was about the most interesting job I ever had. It had to be done that way and still is. They closed up in my area and moved the engineering/prototype services up into Michigan. The other spark plug manufacturers do it the same way, I suspect. It's expensive to commit to tooling up production machines before designs are verified. We would build and test, the engineers might make some changes depending on test results, and then we would build again with the design changes and test again, as many times as it would take. Eventually, we would build a "relatively" larger quantity for fleet testing and then the plug would go to production. There's more to a spark plug than meets the eye. Today, there are a lot of exotic precious (platinum alloys, silver, gold alloys, etc) metals in plugs and they have to be securely attached to electrode components because the inside of a combustion chamber is so volatile with high pressures, chemical reactions, heat, etc. We had to develop the weld schedules for all of the different alloys that were tried on new plug designs. It is expensive making plugs one at a time, but it is even more expensive to tool up high-scale production equipment only to find out that changes are needed and then to have to make new tooling over and over again. Some of the plugs we made were worth $100s of dollars a piece because of the labor involved, but some plugs (industrial) cost that much anyway. Some plug designs even needed new processes in order to make them and we did that, too. It was like making models, which is something I enjoy very much. And then there was the pride from building something yourself. It was a great job.


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## Round in circles (Sep 30, 2015)

Strtspdlx said:


> Going towards the operator I just want to make the pan extend to the edge of the wooden top. Maybe 1/2"-3/4" past that as you said I don't need it to be in my way. I always try to direct the chips out the back of the lathe so if the chip tray could extend that way a bit more it would be ideal. My buddy works in a fab shop that can order sheets and break them to nearly any shape. However I may do it by hand as they can't produce radiused corners. And I'm not a fan of square corners. I have a lot to consider before I begin the build I just want to make sure I have all aspects covered before I begin.
> 
> 
> Regards-Carlo


  Carlo , could you make it with square corners and then turn up a square steel block that has a cone shaped hole inside it . now  cut it in four segments and you instantly have four corners with an internal radius . 
Weld , braze or sweat solder them in the corners , then use a grinder to remove the waste or maybe even leave them square ( ish )  on the outside and radius-ed  on the inside .. at least the corners will be strong .


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## Strtspdlx (Sep 30, 2015)

I wasn't mainly concerned with strength. More or less I didn't want to have a place to snag clothing or my skin or anything else for that matter. And I'd like it to look very professional. To me square corners in certain areas where they can be rounded don't look very professional. But that's just my opinion. 


Regards-Carlo


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## Holescreek (Sep 30, 2015)

The tray itself  can be about anything. My Grandfather used half of an old reel to reel movie canister most of his life.  The important part is the back splash unless you like washing walls!




When I refurbed my grandfather's Atlas I bent up a piece of 20 gauge sheet metal I had laying around, it's too short (height wise) to catch many flyers but it would work for small stuff.


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## Mondo (Sep 30, 2015)

I am cheap.  I used a standard home kitchen baking sheet.  Not a perfect fit, a little short but at 14 inches wide it just fits the 14" wide maple bench top on the standard Atlas cast iron legs.  Being that it fits under the lathe ways and the lathe is not mounted on it its an easy matter to clean by simply sliding it out and dumping the chips in the trash can.  I can then wipe it down with a rag and slide it back under the ways, all in less than a minute.    I'd like to have a fancier tray, but then I'd like to have fancier lots-o-other-things. ;-)   The problem is I have so many lots-o-other-things I haven't time to dandy 'em all up.

Spiral_Chips


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## Strtspdlx (Sep 30, 2015)

I had thought about a backsplash. And I believe I will be making one. Mainly for the reason you'll see in the photo. But also to catch chips. 
	

		
			
		

		
	





Regards-Carlo


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## MADJACK (Oct 2, 2015)

Spiral chips, I noticed in your pic that you have a quick change setup for your reversing tumbler, did you do that? I plan on doing that to mine along with a chip tray


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## MADJACK (Oct 2, 2015)

*Strtspdlx I meant, sorry*


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## Strtspdlx (Oct 2, 2015)

I did convert it to a qcgb but I bought that assembly off eBay. So what you see is what came in the kit. 


Regards-Carlo


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## wa5cab (Oct 2, 2015)

From the Tumbler assembly, the QCGB appears to be a 1500.


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## Strtspdlx (Oct 2, 2015)

wa5cab said:


> From the Tumbler assembly, the QCGB appears to be a 1500.


I do believe that's what we had figured it was when I had purchased it. 


Regards-Carlo


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## schor (Oct 2, 2015)

I have a larger chip pan under the main board the lathe is mounted on. Then I place a cookie sheet ontop of that under the bed to catch most of the chips.

This pic shows the basic setup.



The lower pan bends up and catches anything flying off to the back.



Not pretty but it works ok.

Here's the cookie sheet.


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## Strtspdlx (Oct 10, 2015)

Well unfortunately I sold my lathe. Being responsible is no fun. Have to buy a house and then I can buy back all
My toys. 


Regards-Carlo


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