# Checking the Ways on Sears 101.28940



## Kroll (Mar 2, 2013)

Guys been reading Chuck B's post on the problems w/worn Ways.I just purchase a Sears 101.28940 from an estate sale and had to take it completely apart to transport.Now I'm alittle nervous after reading the problems created w/wore Ways and guessing that the fix is do all the adjusting a person can,keep sharp tooling,and deal with it.
Lathe: Purchase it from an estate sale,the owner was alittle more than a hobbist judging by his garage shop,had acouple mills one was a drill press type and the other was a Milwaukee(big boy).I really don't know if this was his only lathe but the Sears was only one there at the time.His shop was at his house in his back yard in a subdivision.Only power he had was single phase,so it was not one of those shops that was full blowen.And I don't know if he was the original owner or not.Was it use to make a living,or just some extra money or just a hobby,I really don't know.
In all the lathe itself looks to be in pretty good shape and not to dirty just oil to these untrained eyes which is where I need help.Since the lathe is strip down to the bed,how can a novice w/no experience and very few tools(that a machinist would have) do a ruff check to see if the Ways are alittle bad or a whole lot bad to the point of beyond usable?I know this is a open ended question but I have to and want to know how bad the beds Ways are.Starting with some simple method and see how much then work to the next level.Please keep in mind that I'm a beginner---kroll


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## Richard King (Mar 2, 2013)

Hello,  From the one picture, it looks like it sat for a longtime and had little use.   A few quick method to see if the machine has much wear is to use your finger nil and pull it on the ways near the chuck and feel for scratches.  Turn the cross slide and compound feed screws and see if their is a lot of back lash, or movement of screw before it moves the unit.  Look at the quick change and look at where the pin engages into the cast iron hole and see if it's long-gated, look at the pulleys and see if they are worn.   

A good cleaning will help before you turn it on.  

Good luck and have fun


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## Kroll (Mar 2, 2013)

Thanks for the reply and keeping it simple.I was reading your threads on Machining/Scraping Ways and Restoring,but I did not understand most.I'm a beginner and never turned apiece of metal other than using a file.Anyway I will get it cleaned up and do the finger nil test to see how it goes.Thanks----kroll


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## Richard King (Mar 2, 2013)

This is a fun and satisfying hobby and profession.  One of the readers told me on the phone he was a Doctor and when he made his first bushing on his Rung Fo lathe / Mill combo he really had fun and bought some more machinery.   Just have to be careful and safe with the moving parts and electricity.  Common sense as in driving a car, walk across the street, saying something to the wife ...you know..be safe and careful..LOL   Have a great day !  Rich


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## AR1911 (Mar 2, 2013)

Atlas lathes are super-easy to check. 
Once you get it torn down - Headstock, saddle and tailstock off, clean the ways real well, including some 0000 steel wool and light oil for the ugly parts.
The put a 0-1" micrometer on the edges every few inches, and write the measurement on the surface with a sharpie.
Do this front and back.
Older lathes were .375, newer ones (may include yours) were .500. When you finish you have a map of the sirface irregularities. I would not worry about anything less than .003 variance.
If you have something with the range, also  measure front to back on the vertical edges. Those wear too as the cutting force is transferred to the back edge.


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## barrydc1 (Mar 3, 2013)

AR1911 said:


> The put a 0-1" micrometer on the edges every few inches, and write the measurement on the surface with a sharpie.
> Do this front and back.



Kroll may not know what you are talking about here due to his inexperience, because I am also not sure what you mean. Where are you putting the Micrometer exactly?  What surfaces are you measuring?  Sorry if I missed something, but I didn't get this.  Thanks for the additional info.

Kroll, I hope you have a micrometer set.  You will soon find that you have a never-ending lack of the right tools.  Like Richard says, you could be in a ton of trouble by getting started with this. It can get expensive quickly!  It is, however, the least expensive mental therapy that I can imagine!  Have fun, it's a great adventure.  Consider the preparation or renovation of this lathe as you most important project and you won't get frustrated and important, you will just learn!

Barry


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## AR1911 (Mar 3, 2013)

Atlas ways are flat rather than Vee-shaped. 
Early (round-head) Atlas are 3/8" thick, later (square-head) are 1/2". 
This makes them very simple to check for wear - how thick are they, and how thick are they now. 
You just go along the front and back edge with a 0-1" micrometer.

I have had a set of micrometers for over 10 years. So far I have not used any except the 0-1". 
Of those I have at least 3, and about 5 digital calipers. I suggest to someone starting out to buy a quality brand o-1" micrometer, and then buy a set when a good deal comes along. .


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## barrydc1 (Mar 4, 2013)

AR1911 said:


> Atlas ways are flat rather than Vee-shaped.
> Early (round-head) Atlas are 3/8" thick, later (square-head) are 1/2".
> This makes them very simple to check for wear - how thick are they, and how thick are they now.
> You just go along the front and back edge with a 0-1" micrometer.
> ...



Thanks for the clarification.  Now that you explain it, he was probably able to see it quite easily because he has the lathe there.  On mine I have no way of getting under the ways with anything less than 10" and this not all the way along the bed anyway.  I was hoping I could use this info for my lathe, but not so easily!

The thoughts on the micrometer are spot on.  I agree that I use my 0-1" most of the time, but I just used the 1-2" to do the 2 collar test on my lathe headstock alignment project, so as I noted it seems you always need something.


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## Kroll (Mar 4, 2013)

Right now I really don't have no mics but this is what I pickup in a package deal from someone that's retired.A ton of taps,drill bits,files,parallels,thread gage,etcI don't know what I have but it is a start---kroll


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## wa5cab (Mar 5, 2013)

Carroll,

To check the bed on an Atlas, you need ideally a 0-1" and a 5-6" micrometer.  But you can get a good idea with a 1-2" in place of the 5-6".  And if you don't have anything, I would buy the two smallest first as it might be a long time before you would have any other use for a 5-6".

There are actually ten surfaces on the Atlas ways that are precision ground.  But only three tend to have significant wear.  The weight of the carriage wears the top front surface of the front way and the top rear surface of the rear way.  Plus the carriage gib wears the rear surface of the rear way.  The tailstock (and steady rest and the rare carriage turret) wear the rear of the front way and the front of the rear way but much less because they move much less.  So if you assume no wear between the ways (probably a good assumption), you can use the 1-2" mic to measure the width of the rear way instead of the total width and get a good indicatin of wear front to back.

Robert D.


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