# Atlas 954 Lathe



## Reuben Bailey (Apr 19, 2016)

This lathe was given to me by some friends whose neighbor gave it to them many moons ago. It has sat in a barn since then.

All the shafts turned freely from the start. The motor runs (I rewired it before I even tried it). The saddle was clamped in place and slightly stuck, but freed up pretty easily.

Along with what is pictured here ( http://fairwindsfarm.org/Pictures/ ) came the lantern style tool post, a 4 jaw independent chuck, many tool bits, a few wrenches, a steady rest, and a full set of change gears.

The jaws of the 3 jaw have freed up pretty well. I have yet to tackle the four jaw.

Any thoughts on how to hold the spindle still as I take the chuck off? I don't see any obvious "locking" mechanism...

More posts and pictures to come as I poke and prod and see how things shape up.


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## Reuben Bailey (Apr 19, 2016)

Faceplate and centers that came with it


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## Bob Korves (Apr 19, 2016)

Welcome to the forum!  

Don't use the back gears to hold the spindle from turning while you try to remove the stuck chuck!  That usually just removes gear teeth, and they are a lot more effort to put back on.  Sadly, I am not familiar enough with those lathes to suggest an alternative, other than to keep shooting penetrating oil on and in it and giving it plenty of time (days, weeks) to work.  Somebody on the forum will know how to stop the spindle from turning so you can try to get the chuck loose.  Does it have plain or roller bearings for the spindle?


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## Reuben Bailey (Apr 19, 2016)

Hi Bob. There are no back gears. Instead, it has the compound pulley system.

Like everything else on this lathe, the chuck actually wound up loosening pretty easily. I put a pipe wrench on the spindle like so: 
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 and put the chuck scroll wrench in it's socket. Took very little force to loosen the chuck, and it spun off with no  real resistance. 
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 No cleanup of those threads at all other than to wipe them off with a rag.


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## LucknowKen (Apr 19, 2016)

Hard to say but the picture in the link seems to show a milling attachment.
That would be sweet.  Given is such a happy word.
btw Welcome. More pictures is always more views.


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## Reuben Bailey (Apr 19, 2016)

A milling attachment would have been sweet, but I was not quite that lucky. I think you are referring to a picture of the cross and compound slides taken from the "back" of the machine, so the chip guard is facing the camera.


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## wa5cab (Apr 19, 2016)

Here is an original catalog photo from about 1933.  I would, from the feet and the serial number, guess at a date of 1934 (for yours).  The 1935 catalog shows the same machine but with the later rectangular legs.


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## wa5cab (Apr 20, 2016)

In Downloads, you will find a Metalcraft (Sears) owner's and parts manual for the Sears version.  Other than the legs, they are the same.


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## David VanNorman (Apr 20, 2016)

Nice good luck it will serve you well.


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## atlas ten (Apr 20, 2016)

Welcome to the forum.  I like the lathe. It is a bit older than my 10D. The belt setup is interesting to see.
Jack

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## Reuben Bailey (Apr 25, 2016)

Well, I have decided it is time to go into this reworking a bit more deeply. I have to replace the carriage (apron?) hand wheel shaft and gear, which means the carriage has to come off. I also figured I would pull the bearing caps off at the same time and have a look at them, and the belts need replacing.

So I now have a bench full of sub assemblies.









My father has a business of restoring old horse drawn mowers and has volunteered to do some of the major paint work.

The bearings have been adjusted 9 times so far, with only one shim remaining in each bearing setup. A chuck on the spindle can be moved around .002" when lifting hard on it with the caps tight and the shim in. If I take the shim out and tighten the caps down, the spindle won't budge.

The babbitts look to be in pretty good shape, and the shaft as well:
Rear babbitt cap:



Front babbitt cap:



rear on headstock:



Front on headstock - the one score is clearly visible about 1/3 of the way in from the left:



shaft:






So a couple of questions come to mind. Do I keep the shim in and let it wear more before I take it out? Do I take it out and see if I can "break it in" anew?

And longer term: What to do when it has worn to the point of being problematic after the shim is out? is it feasible to figure out a way to put roller bearings in instead? Have new Babbitts cast and bored?

Thoughts? Feedback?

The bed is somewhat worn for the first 16" or so. Not enough to be a problem, I don't think. I'll get other things sorted out and then see where to go with that.


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## Reuben Bailey (Apr 25, 2016)

picture of the wear:





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## wa5cab (Apr 26, 2016)

If your only reason for removing the carriage is to replace something in the carriage traverse mechanism, there is no reason to disassemble the carriage.  Remove the cross slide (to lighten the load).  Remove the rear gib and screws.  Remove the tailstock.  Pull the lead screw.  Slide the entire carriage assembly off the right end of the bed.

On the shim question, I forget what the factory shim thickness is but it must be at least 0.002".  Replace it with one made from 0.001" or 0.0015" stock.


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## Reuben Bailey (Apr 26, 2016)

Thanks for all of the info you have provided, Robert. 

I'll see what shim stock I can come up with for that.

Carriage came off just like that, although I left the cross slide in place - It doesn't like to move past the end of where the lead screw ends without loosening the gib, and I have not done that yet. I will soon enough. 




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## Mondo (Apr 27, 2016)

Measure those shims with a micrometer!!!  Tell me what you find.

Spiral_Chips


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## Reuben Bailey (Apr 30, 2016)

Turns out the shims were only taken out of one side - the remaining ones are full thickness. I peeled one off and will try running it and see. A few parts to clean up and put back on it first. I did get some new belts so that I will have the compound drive functional when it goes back together.

The three jaw chuck only came with one set of jaws -0 longest "step" is toward the center. Is it possible to get a set that are stepped the other way, or am I better off getting a new chuck that includes both directions?


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## wa5cab (May 1, 2016)

Reuben,

According to the babbit bearing maintenance section in the early MOLO, there should never be a difference of more than one shim between the two packs under each of the two bearing caps.  The first thing that I would do would be to determine how many shims are still left on the thick side and move half of them to the thin side.  And then go from there.  Once you get it right, pull the caps one at a time and use a felt tip marker to write how many shims are in each stack.

You can probably eventually locate a set of outside jaws that will fit the chuck.  But before they will be usable, you will most likely have to re-grind them to your chuck.  And to do that, besides a tool post grinder or substitute, you will have to make a rings to load the jaws against.  Fortunately, unlike for the inside set, for the outside set a simple ring will work for loading them toward the spindle axis.


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## Reuben Bailey (May 1, 2016)

Hi Robert. Thanks for the info from the MOLO. I am hesitant to put shims back in where they have already been removed and the bearings seated/worn in with them offset. I suspect that removing all of them from one side first causes the wear to be different on the bearing itself, and changing it back to the "proper" configuration may cause more problems than it solves. If I find issues with it as it is, I will then look at equalizing the sides and take it from there.


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## Reuben Bailey (May 9, 2016)

A few pics of the parts after cleaning the grime off. Gray paint is in pretty decent shape on them. They will at least get a coat of linseed oil for protection. We'll see about paint.


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## Reuben Bailey (May 14, 2016)

First paint. Now I just need the rest of the lathe to go to the right of this...


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## Reuben Bailey (May 14, 2016)

Evaporust rules!




That faceplate had a light coat of rust. A few hours of soaking and a bit of rubbing with a rag after it came out and that is what you have!







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## Reuben Bailey (May 14, 2016)

Same with the mounting plate for the four jaw...
	

		
			
		

		
	





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## Reuben Bailey (May 28, 2016)

Getting further along with cleanup and paint. When I turned my attention to the traverse gears in the saddle, I found that the "transmission case" (casting 9-11) had broken. The gears and their shaft are fine. I want to make a new case out of aluminum - to do that I need to get one gear off of the shaft. The ends of the shaft are upset to keep the gears in place. Somewhere I saw a suggestion as to how to remove them, but I can't seem to find the thread. *scratching head* I seem to recall it was pressing the shaft out with good support for the gear. Thoughts?


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## Reuben Bailey (May 31, 2016)

Further progress...





Definitely a "rough finish" rather than a "museum quality" paint job, but it will keep it from rusting, and does look decent, to my eyes anyways.

Using Rustoleum Painter's Touch Winter Gray Gloss spray paint.


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## wa5cab (Jun 1, 2016)

Looks like you are making good progress.  Except for the baby blue paint.


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## Reuben Bailey (Jun 1, 2016)

*chuckle* It actually has less blue in it in person. I would have preferred it to have more blue than it actually does, such as a steel or slate grey. I'll see if I can get pics in better light so the color is more accurate. *chuckle* 


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## Mondo (Jun 2, 2016)

Reuben Bailey said:


> Getting further along with cleanup and paint. When I turned my attention to the traverse gears in the saddle, I found that the "transmission case" (casting 9-11) had broken. The gears and their shaft are fine. I want to make a new case out of aluminum - to do that I need to get one gear off of the shaft. The ends of the shaft are upset to keep the gears in place. Somewhere I saw a suggestion as to how to remove them, but I can't seem to find the thread. *scratching head* I seem to recall it was pressing the shaft out with good support for the gear. Thoughts?



When I serviced this sub-assembly I supported the gear on the slightly open jaws of a vise and used a pin punch and ball peen hammer to knock the shaft out.  
Putting the assembly back together I filed the square ends of the shaft slightly just to remove any remaining burrs, installed the gear, stood the assembly on end on a steel plate as an anvil, set a center punch on the shaft close to the interface with the square hole in the gear and rapped it several times with the hammer, repeating this in several places to "stake" the shaft to the gear.

Spiral_Chips


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## Reuben Bailey (Jun 2, 2016)

Those show the color a bit better.

Thanks for the info, Spiral. I will see what I can do with it.


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Edit: can others see the pictures in this post? They show up for me through TapaTalk, and in the edit pane, but not in the main thread view... *headscratcher*


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## Reuben Bailey (Jun 3, 2016)

Shaft came out of the gear with no problems. Thanks again for that. 

Found out that 28 and 29 inch belts are not long enough for the countershaft to spindle drives. Seems like I need 2 30" and one 31", or perhaps 31" and 32".

Tooling for my Taig and raw materials for making a new traverse "transmission" are on the way.


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## wa5cab (Jun 4, 2016)

When you do settle on the proper belts, please publish the list using the industry standard par numbers.  The 918 and 936...954's we don't have that information on.


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## macernst (Jun 6, 2016)

thats what i put on my atlas 936
from left to right
motor belt A 39 - 4L 410
speed pulley belt 4L 310
compound belt 1  4L 300
compound belt 2  4L 300
hope this helps.
ernst


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## Reuben Bailey (Jun 10, 2016)

Those look like they will be what I use for the direct and compound belts. I'll start there for the motor to countershaft as well. The one that came on it is a 490 or so and ridiculously oversized. Not sure what the story is with it.


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## Steve Shannon (Jun 18, 2016)

Reuben Bailey said:


> Those show the color a bit better.
> 
> Thanks for the info, Spiral. I will see what I can do with it.
> 
> ...


I see your pictures, using Tapatalk.  I would suggest that when you post them you use the medium resolution. It looks like you used small.


 Steve Shannon


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## Reuben Bailey (Jun 21, 2016)

The "transmission casting" replacement in the making - working the Taig to it's physical limits in terms of size and clamping ability. The original block of aluminum was 1 1/2 X 2 1/2 X 3 3/4 inches. Fly cutting the big faces was just barely possible with the cutter set at about 3" or just over. setting up to bore the shaft hole will be interesting - thinking I will be making a custom t-nut to mount the tool post from this on the Atlas for the boring so I can use the larger faceplate - the one I have for this is not big enough, and I don't have the right tool holder at the moment for the Atlas. A spindle adapter is also in the works for mounting the Taig chucks and milling tools on the Atlas until I can get more appropriately sized tooling for the Atlas.


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## Reuben Bailey (Jun 21, 2016)

The Atlas is pretty much back together - I have the carriage off for checking clearances on the transmission fitting. The piece in the chuck is turned to within .001" after a light finishing cut. 

I have yet to bolt and level it. Lead screw works nicely. Having the hand wheel for rapid traverse will be good.


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## Reuben Bailey (Aug 20, 2016)

The beginnings of the spindle adapter - I have made a tee nut tapped to accept either the Taig tool post or the Taig milling slide, so tooling choices are increased nicely.




The shop space that this is in is being expanded - that is the reason for the open wall behind both the Atlas and it's little brother, which has now joined it here. They will both be moving to Alberta with me at the end of next month.


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