# Atlas Jewelers lathe



## jwmay (May 28, 2021)

I just wanted to share something I found on the Internet today. It goes here for sure, but we won't be getting the model number. Ha!

It's on the FB marketplace for 500 dollars in Springfield IL. The seller has some nice stuff for sale.  And while I don't know if he's the one that did this, it looks like whoever it was did a good job.  I sure wish he'd have been retiring 6 years ago. I'd have skipped work to drive up there and see if I could make a deal.


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## markba633csi (May 29, 2021)

Interesting, he cut the bed off a (I think) 12" Atlas and replaced the carriage with some x/y table stuff from some other machine
Bed wear wouldn't matter then.  Kind of a large swing and tall tool position though, for making tiny parts. Better to use a 6" as a donor
-M


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## benmychree (May 29, 2021)

The compound slide looks like it is a Delta wood lathe metal turning attachment.


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## wrat (May 29, 2021)

What exactly defines a "jeweler's" lathe?
Is it more precise?  It oughta be, i would think.
Except just cutting off an Atlas doesn't make it more precise, does it?
Is it kinda like a "gunsmith's" lathe?  That is, if you do gunsmithing on it, it's a gunsmith's lathe?
(Okay, yes, i guess a larger through-hole is a huge benefit, true.)
So is there a corresponding feature on a Jeweler's Lathe that allows it to be considered as such?


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## wa5cab (May 30, 2021)

I think that you are probably right about it originally having been an Atlas built lathe with tapered roller bearing spindle.  But the counter shaft bracket is from a 10" horizontal countershaft equipped machine.  The 12" bracket doesn't look anything like that.  Probably an early 10F.  However, I would contend that is has been converted into a poor capability horizontal mill.  It appears that the entire carriage assembly has been replaced by an X-Y table.  If it has any vertical movement capability, it must be quite limited.  And if it has only  the capability that I can see, I wouldn't call it a lathe of any type, jewelers or otherwise.


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## benmychree (May 30, 2021)

It is obvious that it has been used as a lathe, note the indexable square turret tool holder with cutting tools still in it.  I'd guess it was found with parts removed, perhaps even the bed broken off, and the owner hacked together what we see.  The XY table is obviously a Delta wood lathe item, look at an old catalog or images; I lusted after one of those as a kid, never got one, now don't care, having gone onward to the real McCoy machines.


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## jwmay (May 31, 2021)

wrat said:


> So is there a corresponding feature on a Jeweler's Lathe that allows it to be considered as such?


I think, because it only has one point of attachment to the bench, with a floating tailstock end. That's my guess for why he'd call it that.


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## wa5cab (May 31, 2021)

Well, regardless of what you want to call it, most people would classify it as a parts source.  If for example, someone had a babbit bearing 10F with badly worn spindle bearings, it has what appears to be a complete 10F Timken headstock with back gears.  And a horizontal countershaft assembly.  And the X-Y table might be usable on a drill press.


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## wrat (Jun 1, 2021)

Probably true, but for the sake of argument - and giving the benefit of the doubt - the head MIGHT be very highly accurized.   Maybe it's been bored and/or honed with super-duper bearings and shaft.  (a guy might mention that in the ad, I guess)
The carriage, such as it is, is bolted down and the ZX table seems to be ZXZ-compound.  I wonder how much slop is in that crank-rig?  Did he go through and put in new screws and nuts?  Maybe regrind some surfaces?  That would really be sweet.
I didn't realize the single point bench attach was a thing, but makes some sense.
Anyway, if everything was good and tight I could see a guy doing "jeweler" work on it.
Or, because the world we live in is what it is, it's a chop job with a new name.
Oh, well, worth a dream....


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## chips&more (Jun 1, 2021)

Whatever it was before someone hacked on it. Now, it looks like a 2nd operation lathe.


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## jwmay (Aug 5, 2021)

Well I couldn't get anybody interested in this rare item when the presumptive original owner wanted to sell it for $500.  But a new owner would like to sell it now for $700. Any takers? Lol


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## jwmay (Sep 24, 2021)

To finish off this tale: I finally saw this, in a third ad, advertising it as an Atlas lathe for $300 IIRC. It had a full collet set, and a chuck. And it was sale pending. So I think the market prevailed. The end.


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## benmychree (Sep 24, 2021)

I think that an Atlas "jeweler's lathe" is about the biggest joke that I have heard in many a year!


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## wrat (Sep 25, 2021)

benmychree said:


> I think that an Atlas "jeweler's lathe" is about the biggest joke that I have heard in many a year!


Suppose so.
But this thread had me curious and I started looking at Jeweler's Lathes.  What's up?  What's going on?  How to use one?
After seeing gravers and various processes, I kept scratching my head.  If THAT'S all you do with it, why are these things so much money?
Like many (if not most) machines, the investment is as much in the tooling.
So, just being fair, I can see where a guy might do this.  I really can.  
I won't be doing it to mine, I don't think.  But I can see how this may have come to be.
Many of these Atlas lathes find themselves changing hands for free, or nearly so.  (Not MINE, of course, but other lucky guys.)
If a fellow was preoccupied with watchmaking or clockmaking, why plop down 4 digits of greenbacks on a tiny little lathe when a trip to the bandsaw gives you this?
He could even put new bearings in it, nice and tight, and it will never see much of a load under watchmaking processes.  The bed doesn't have to be all THAT square - you're just buying a spindle with a tool rest, which is often done manually like a wood lathe (!)
Anyway, I can see it and can now see why it was done.
$300 would certainly be top dollar for it.


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## Ulma Doctor (Sep 25, 2021)

I would pass this abomination up and look for better equipment


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