# Molo Selection



## Strtspdlx (Feb 22, 2015)

I've found a seventh edition MOLO for a decent price in fair shape last reprint date in the bAck is 1987 is this what I should be looking for?  I have a th54 lathe and I find I'm definitely in need of one of these manuals. 
Thanks carlo


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## wa5cab (Feb 23, 2015)

I don't know.  According to the 33rd Edition, printed in 1988, the next previous printing was the 32nd edition printed in 1981 (no 1987 shown).  And judging by the 25+ copies I own/owned plus over a hundred looked at on eBay, the only printed (as opposed to handwritten) date in any of them is on the copyright page on the back of the title page, which is right at the front of the book.  And again AFAIK, the first edition to have the edition number printed in it was the 16th in 1955.

Did you by any chance mean 1937 instead of 1987?  None of the previous printings all the way back to 1937 that I have seen only have "Copyright 1937" printed on the copyright page. 

In any case, what you want for a TH54 is one of the five slightly different versions (which I've named Version 4) with Copyright 1937 on the copyright page.  Specifically, the one that, on the front of the first printed page in Part 7 says "Atlas F-Series 10 Inch".  Or one of the ones with nothing bound into Part 7 PLUS the 10F Threading Supplement.  The 1955 16th edition will also do although it also covers the QCGB which you don't have.


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## Strtspdlx (Feb 23, 2015)

I'm sorry I misread the bAckpage. It does say seventh edition but the last reprint date is 1957. I may go with your second suggested version. In the future id like to convert to a QCGB if funds allow. 
Thanks Carlo


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## wa5cab (Feb 23, 2015)

Look at it one more time.  It says Seventeenth Edition.    That is the first edition that covered the later Atlas and Craftsman 12" machines, AKA Commercial.  It's usable so long as you remember things like "Compound Tumbler Gear" means "Spindle Stud Gear" (the change gear 10: has no tumbler gears).  The contents (tooth count) of the threading tables are the same but the drawings and some of the column headers are different.

However, you'd be better off with the 1937 dated (could have been printed up to 1954) version that says on Page 1 of Part 7 that it is for the "Atlas F-SERIES TEN-INCH LATHES".  Most of the photos from 1957 on are of the Commercial.


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## Strtspdlx (Feb 23, 2015)

Oh jeeze. I need to be more thorough with things. I will try to locate and manual like you've described. Thanks again 

Carlo


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## Strtspdlx (Mar 25, 2015)

On eBay item number 231502215592 is a manual sellers says no pages missing but section 7 does not reference any particular machine. I'd like to know if this would be what I'm looking for. 


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## Mondo (Mar 25, 2015)

Strtspdlx said:


> I've found a seventh edition MOLO for a decent price in fair shape last reprint date in the bAck is 1987 is this what I should be looking for?  I have a th54 lathe and I find I'm definitely in need of one of these manuals.
> Thanks carlo



That will serve you well.

Spiral_Chips

PS: Robert D. is correct, there are some differences in nomenclature and photos,  but I don't consider them to be show stoppers. Unless I am badly mistaken the gear charts will cover your lathe, and all the tooling and methodology is exactly the same.

SC


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## wa5cab (Mar 25, 2015)

Carlo,

That version, with the loose Craftsman threading supplement, is what I called Version 3.  It will work OK (almost all of the bound-in pages will be the same as in the ideal version 4).  I would look for the proper threading supplement to go with it, though.  In the meantime, you will have to slightly interpret the threading charts and drawings.  The Craftsman 12" has a three-gear tumbler assembly (FWD-OFF-REV) between the 32T spindle gear and the first Change Gear, and is shown that way on the charts and drawings.  The 10F has only the stud gear in that position.  And the banjo or change gear brackets are similar but not quite the same (mainly differing in where the lock is located).  The 32T/16T compound stud gear (10") and compound tumbler gear (12") are either the same or functional equivalents.  Otherwise, the charts drawings and most of the photographs are the same in both supplements.


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## Strtspdlx (Mar 26, 2015)

Okay how about this. Item number 181697378260. I've already bid on it. And believe it's exactly what I'm
Looking for. An has additional stuff. 


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## wa5cab (Mar 26, 2015)

Heh heh.  I'm the other bidder on that one.  It is apparently an early Version 4 that I wanted for my collection to cross-check my timing statements in the MOLO history I wrote.  How about we do this?  I was going to outbid you, but you go ahead and buy it (assuming that someone else doesn't outbid you).  When eventually another late Version 4 turns up I'll buy it and swap with you.


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## Strtspdlx (Mar 27, 2015)

Trust me I'll outbid them. I have a pretty high ceiling on this book because of its condition. 


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## wa5cab (Mar 31, 2015)

OK.  You got it.  And I just acquired the earlier version with full-height wire binding.  If the original box is important to you, perhaps I had better just keep looking.  I have a couple of later versions in the original box but that isn't important to me.  And it might be quite a while before a plastic finger version in the original box turned up.


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