# Atlas/Craftsman 6" Metal Lathe restoration 101.07300 1937



## Awround (Jan 22, 2021)

I have started a restoration on a 1937 Craftsman 101-07300 6" metal lathe.  The lathe is being restored for a friend whose Grandfather purchased the lathe new in 1937.  The lathe was then passed on to my friend's father.  At some point, the lathe fell into disuse and has been rusting away in a damp basement since her father passed away. 

The lathe as found:







There was also a box full of rusty accessories including faceplates, four-jaw chucks, a selection of MT#1 tooling.




The initial stripdown highlighted the need for new spindle bearings, new countershaft bearings, new shafting, new top and cross slide nuts and new spindle belt.  The spindle belt has been replaced with an oversized belt which appears to have caused the outer flange of the countershaft pully to break. 

Cheers,

Adrian


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## Awround (Jan 23, 2021)

The lathe was stripped down to all of its individual components and all of the casting were stripped, derusted and cleaned.  It was clear from all of the sawdust present in the headstock and bed castings that the lathe has been used extensively for woodworking.  At some point a set of riser blocks had been added to the headstock and tailstock to allow a larger bowl turning faceplate to be used:











Cheers,

Adrian


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## Awround (Jan 23, 2021)

Clean castings with the new spindle and countershaft bearing and new countershaft shafting.  I was able to get the new bearings, shafting and belt from McMaster-Carr.  The original spindle bearings (assuming that they had not been replaced earlier) were split so I followed suit with the new bearings and drilled the required oil holes.  I have been using electrolysis to remove the rust from the tooling and steel components.  I have been very happy with the results:





















Next step is to prime and paint all of the castings,  machine replacement nuts for the cross slide and topslide, repair the countershaft pulley and source replacements for damaged hardware.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## bill70j (Jan 23, 2021)

Adrian:

Very nice job.  You have clearly done a lot of work, and it shows.  Excellent!  Looking forward to following your progress.

Bill


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## jcp (Jan 23, 2021)

+1 on the electrolysis.......looking good!


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## markba633csi (Jan 23, 2021)

Nice job!  I see you elected to remove the previously installed risers from head and tailstock
-Mark


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## Awround (Jan 23, 2021)

markba633csi said:


> Nice job!  I see you elected to remove the previously installed risers from head and tailstock
> -Mark


Mark,

Yes.  The risers meant that the original lantern tool posts and a small turret style boring bar holder were no longer on centre height.  I decided to restore the lather for metalwork rather than metal and wood.  The oil and sawdust build up in the headstock and a lot of clogged oiling points have highlighted what I was always taught that machining wood in a metal lathe should only be done "in extremis".

I will clean up the risers and pass them on to the new owner.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## Awround (Jan 24, 2021)

Some work today on fixing the worn, broken or missing pieces on the lathe:

a.   A new square drive chuck key for the three jaw chuck as it was missing;
b.   Two new collars for the countershaft. One was missing and one was damaged;  and
c.   A new bronze top slide nut.  The original was badly worn.  The replacement is nice and smooth with no visible backlash.




I also need to replace the cross slide nut and found that it is a 3/8 x 20 LH 60 degree V thread. The cross side screw is double start thread which would give 0.100 per rev. This agrees with the markings on the cross slide collar. Now pondering whether to try my hand at making the tap or buying one from Little Machine Shops (shipping to Canada is the same as the cost of the tap!).

Cheers,

Adrian


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## wa5cab (Jan 24, 2021)

Looks good.


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## Awround (Jan 25, 2021)

Castings stripped, cleaned and primed.  Ready for paint.




Cheers,

Adrian


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## Nogoingback (Jan 25, 2021)

Great job on the lathe.  I like the bench vise as well.  It that a Woden?


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## wa5cab (Jan 26, 2021)

The top and bottom of the tailstock base, top of the bed (top, front and rear of the ways), bottom of the tailstock, headstock, compound upper  swivel, and the two parts of the dove tail should be masked.  Those are all critical dimension surfaces.  My guess is that all of the castings were painted and then the top and/or bottoms and the dove tails were then machined.  Are all of those surfaces masked? The top of the compound slide where the tool post attaches does appear to be masked.  Maybe the rest is as well.


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## Awround (Jan 26, 2021)

All of the critical machined surfaces you listed were masked.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## wa5cab (Jan 26, 2021)

Great.  Then everything so far looks FB.


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## Awround (Jan 27, 2021)

Nogoingback said:


> Great job on the lathe.  I like the bench vise as well.  It that a Woden?


The bench vice is an English Record vise.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## Awround (Jan 27, 2021)

Today's task was to repair the damaged countershaft pulley.  The outer flange of the pulley had been damaged.  There was a 1/2" belt to the spindle instead of the specified 3/8" belt which probably caused the damage.

Damage as received:




I elected to replace the damaged flange. I cut off the remaining flange with a dremel tool and then used the lathe to clean up the break and create a register for the new flange.







A piece of 1/4" aluminum plate was cut to size, bored for a mandrel and then roughed slightly larger than the finished size.  A matching register was cut to create a light press fit into the pulley.




The replacement flange was then pressed into the pulley with Loctite 680 and pinned with two 1/16" pins.




The flange was then machined to the final diameter, the back faced and the internal flange angle cut.  The finished product.







Cheers,

Adrian


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## mattthemuppet2 (Jan 27, 2021)

that's very impressive, nice work!


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## Awround (Jan 28, 2021)

A bench full of blue Craftsman castings.




Cheers,

Adrian


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## Kevin J (Jan 28, 2021)

Nice job on the pulley!


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## Nogoingback (Jan 28, 2021)

Castings are looking good.  Are you keeping track of the altitude of the lathe?


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## Awround (Jan 28, 2021)

Nogoingback said:


> Castings are looking good.  Are you keeping track of the altitude of the lathe?


Altimeter = rugged shop barometer!

Cheers,

Adrian


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## mattthemuppet2 (Jan 28, 2021)

that looks like a slightly lighter shade of blue than the one I just finished painting mine. Unfortunately in the 4-5 years between painting the first lot of parts (carriage, tail stock etc) and the second lot the colour changed a bit  Nice to have a lathe all one colour though!


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## Awround (Jan 28, 2021)

Today's task was to resolve an issue with the tumbler arm.  The arm bearing surface was badly worn and very loose on the mounting stud.

The mounting stud bearing surface for the arm was skimmed to create a new bearing surface.




The tumbler arm was then bored to 3/4" and a steel plug fixed in the resulting hole.  The plug was then bored to match the new bearing surface on the mounting stud.  Slop resolved.







Cheers,

Adrian


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## Awround (Jan 28, 2021)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> that looks like a slightly lighter shade of blue than the one I just finished painting mine. Unfortunately in the 4-5 years between painting the first lot of parts (carriage, tail stock etc) and the second lot the colour changed a bit  Nice to have a lathe all one colour though!


Evidently Rustoleum Royal Blue is the best match to the old Craftsman blue colour.  I could not find the color locally and in the end went with the blue Rustoleum Engine enamel which is supposed to be more oil resistant.  

Cheers,

Adrian


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## mattthemuppet2 (Jan 29, 2021)

I used satin Ink Blue, which also came out nice, bit darker than yours.


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## Awround (Jan 31, 2021)

Started the re-assembly today.  Replacing damaged fasteners as I find them and finishing the cleaning of all of the "little bits" as they go back on the lathe.

Two parts still need remediation:

a. the current banjo on the lathe is "homemade" and is missing the second angled arm.  I guess that the original was damaged at some point (maybe with the change gear cover).  I will need to make a new one; and

b. a new cross slide nut.  Finding a double start left hand 3/8 x 20 tap has proven to be difficult.   I will try making one but may be forced to remake both the cross slide nut and cross slide screw in the later 10 tpi Acme form.

Latter on I will make the missing change gears and threading indicator.

I have been looking at the sewing machine drives that John used on his mill:

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/servo-running-rough.90139/

With 500 rpm at the low end and a timing belt with suitable pulleys, I should be able to get the minimum spindle speed down to the same ballpark as the 101-07301 with backgear.  Sewing machines need low speed torque so this might be a workable solution.  The range of power options is also appealing.  I will post the results if I end up going down this route.








Cheers,

Adrian


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## wa5cab (Feb 1, 2021)

In your photo just above of the complete lathe, what does the knob to the right of the tumbler lever knob do?


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## Awround (Feb 1, 2021)

This is the belt tensioning system.   There is a tensioning shaft between the countershaft assembly and the headstock.  There is a keyhole shaped slot that engages with a collar on the tensioning shaft.  The knob is lifted and the collar is passed through the keyhole and moved to the front of the headstock casting to loosen the belt.  The collar is returned through the keyhole to tighten the belt.  When tight, the collar presses against the inside of the headstock casting.  The belt tension is adjusted using a screw adjustment on the tensioning rod.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 1, 2021)

no back gear? Never seen a 6" Atlas/ Craftsman lathe quite like yours


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## Awround (Feb 1, 2021)

The 101-07300 had no back gear.  The minimum speed of 380 rpm made it fairly useless as a screw cutting lathe.  This model only lasted for the 1937-38 sales year before being replaced by the 101-07301.

Other differences:

a. cross slide screw is a LH 3/8 x 20 double start V thread;
b. Belt tensioning is through a rod in the headstock; and
c. motor mounts directly on the countershaft bracket.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## Awround (Feb 1, 2021)

As I was re-assembling the carriage I noticed that the Carriage Traverse Gear Bearing was completely worn.  There was almost 1/8" total play at the rack pinion end.   The location of the oil hole under the carriage (and not exactly accessible) likely contributed to the wear.

As with the tumbler arm, I bored out the worn bearing and inserted a steel plug.  This was then bored to match the dimensions of the Carriage Traverse Pinion shaft and the oil hole redrilled.   No more slop and good for another 80 years.  




Finished assembly.




Cheers,

Adrian


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## wa5cab (Feb 2, 2021)

Sounds somewhat complicated.  May have been another reason for the very short production life.  Good job on the carriage traverse gear box, et al.

Adrian, this is a 101.07300.  Another difference is that it has 3/4"-16 spindle nose threads.  Only made or at least only listed in the catalog for one year, before it was replaced by the 101.07301, which except for the bronze busihings on the spindle instead of Timken tapered roller bearings and 1"-8 spindle nose threads instead of 1"-10 was mostly like the 1939 Atlas 618.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 2, 2021)

that's so curious, learn something every day! Sounds like a good candidate for a small 3ph motor or a treadmill motor if you can gear it down enough. I remade my spindle and countershaft sheaves for a poly-v belt and the lowest ratio and motor speed (treadmill motor) gets me down to ~100rpm in direct drive, though not a huge amount of torque at that speed so I still need to use the back gears occasionally.

Great repair on the carriage traverse, those things are a pain to get oil to. I had a little wear in my carriage handle shaft, but a couple of very thin shims under the gear and handwheel fixed that.


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## Awround (Feb 5, 2021)

Finished the tailstock and replaced missing handles on the top slide.  The lathe is now pretty much complete.   I will be ordering the motor and the necessary pulleys so that I can confirm that the set-up is correct and everything is operating.




Clausing provided me with the drawing for the missing Change Gear Bracket.  I have built the CAD model and the toolpaths are all generated to machine it on the CNC mill.  The mill is currently down for maintenance on the x-axis so it will be a few days before the part is finished.  I ordered a set of PA14.5 DP24 gear cutters for making the change gears.  I think that aluminum gears will be fine for the amount of use that they are likely to see.  The fourth axis on my CNC mill makes gear cutting relatively straight forward.




Cheers,

Adrian


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## phubbman (Feb 8, 2021)

Nice work on the lathe.  I think you said you were rebuilding this for a friend.  Lucky friend.


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## wa5cab (Feb 9, 2021)

Looking good!  How about sending the factory drawing  file or files to WA5CAB@cs.com, and I'll clean it up and put it in Downloads.


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## 56type (Feb 9, 2021)

Outstanding job on the restoration. Especially the broken pulley repair !!


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## cross thread (Jul 6, 2021)

Hi , I hope it's not to late . Clausing sent you the wrong CAD model . No worry , it would be easy to modify . The very early 6 inch machines did not have the leaf spring clip that would detent on the gear change bracket (banjo) to keep the gear cover closed  . On the aft portion of the first banjos it did not protrude much further than the clamp nut . I found this out on my machine , trying to figure out how to get a leaf spring to work . Not possible unless you have the long tail banjo .  As stated by the OP the non back gear 6 inch machines have a LH 3/8-20 double lead cross feed threaded shaft . This stuff found it's way onto some of the early 6 inch back gear machines . If anyone has a short tail banjo machine with a gear cover detent lock , I would really like to see it .
Thanks , Mark .


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## matzo (Oct 31, 2021)

Awround said:


> Castings stripped, cleaned and primed.  Ready for paint.
> 
> View attachment 352507
> 
> ...


Was the original color blue or gray?


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## Awround (Oct 31, 2021)

matzo said:


> Was the original color blue or gray?


The original colour was blue.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## LX Kid (Nov 4, 2021)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> that's so curious, learn something every day! Sounds like a good candidate for a small 3ph motor or a treadmill motor if you can gear it down enough. I remade my spindle and countershaft sheaves for a poly-v belt and the lowest ratio and motor speed (treadmill motor) gets me down to ~100rpm in direct drive, though not a huge amount of torque at that speed so I still need to use the back gears occasionally.
> 
> Great repair on the carriage traverse, those things are a pain to get oil to. I had a little wear in my carriage handle shaft, but a couple of very thin shims under the gear and handwheel fixed that.


(Sorry don't mean to hijack the posting.)  I was thinking of doing the treadmill motor mod but thought I'd get mine restoration finished before diving into that.  I bought an adjustable power supply and it really works well.


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## Awround (Feb 10, 2022)

After a long hiatus I finally got around to machining the replacement change gear banjo.  After looking a Mark’s photo of his lathe I modified the end of the banjo to match.




I also 3D printed a full set of change gears and a holder.







I have the 3/4 HP AC Servo motor ordered so hopefully I will be able the finish the lathe shortly.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## cross thread (Feb 10, 2022)

Nice work Adrian ! Your machine is truly one of the first , You are keeping it original as can be . I really like that , waiting for the finished product .
Mark .


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## wa5cab (Feb 11, 2022)

That is all nicely done.  And your earlier photos settled the question more firmly that unlike the 10" and 12" without the back gears, they aren't just not included.

But that being the case, what is the purpose of the knob sticking out of the front of the headstock?


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## Awround (Feb 11, 2022)

It is the headstock belt tensioning system.  See post #28


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## wa5cab (Feb 12, 2022)

Duh!  Sorry for asking a dumb question.


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## Charles scozzari (Feb 12, 2022)

Hi, time consuming, but well worth the effort. Beautiful job.


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## Scary Applesauce (Feb 12, 2022)

Adrian:

Beautiful work!  I recently was given a badly damaged, partially-disassembled 101.07301, and am trying to clean it up and make it useable. My restoration, for now, will not be as thorough and professional as yours-- I'm cautious about taking the time to properly re-paint everything because I don't yet know if I will be able to get it in good working order. If I get it running properly I'll probably disassemble it and do a proper restoration as you've shown here. Nice photos.
My question:  am looking for a parts diagram of the main spindle assembly. I've found multiple manuals for the 7301 online, but the spindle assembly diagrams are all for the 101.2400 (a different configuration using dust caps, multiple bearings, etc.) Would you be able to steer me towards such a diagram for the .07301?
Looks like the spindle on mine has all of the same parts as I see on yours in photo #13, above, but I'm not sure. Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Yours,
Matt


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## Awround (Feb 12, 2022)

Matt,

Your 7301 should have a back gear assembly in the headstock which was not part of the 7300 (and likely why the 7300 was discontinued after only a year).  

I have only seen the 7301 manuals with the 101.2400 parts diagrams. My understanding is that the 101.2400 drawings should represent your 7301 with the exception that the main spindle roller bearings and associated dust covers will be replaced by oilite bushings.  There may be a thrust ball bearing on the left side of the spindle (there is on the 7300 and maybe a 7301 owner can confirm).

Good luck on the restoration.

Cheers,

Adrian


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## cross thread (Feb 12, 2022)

Scary Applesauce said:


> Adrian:
> 
> Beautiful work!  I recently was given a badly damaged, partially-disassembled 101.07301, and am trying to clean it up and make it useable. My restoration, for now, will not be as thorough and professional as yours-- I'm cautious about taking the time to properly re-paint everything because I don't yet know if I will be able to get it in good working order. If I get it running properly I'll probably disassemble it and do a proper restoration as you've shown here. Nice photos.
> My question:  am looking for a parts diagram of the main spindle assembly. I've found multiple manuals for the 7301 online, but the spindle assembly diagrams are all for the 101.2400 (a different configuration using dust caps, multiple bearings, etc.) Would you be able to steer me towards such a diagram for the .07301?
> ...


Hi Matt , how bad is badly damaged ? Do you need parts ? Pictures ? When I disassemble my headstock (.07301) bushing model 6" , I keep this handy . http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/atlas/spindle/spindle.html


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## wa5cab (Feb 14, 2022)

Besides the  lack of back gears, the spindle on the 101.07300  is smaller than the one  on the 101.07301.  The spindle nose threads are reputed to be 3/4"-16 instead of 1"-8.

Atlas never did an exploded view or illustrated parts list on either the 101.07300 or the 101.07301.  The first one on any Craftsman machine was around 1951 when they finally came out with the two models with QCGB's.  I've been meaning to do one on the 101.07301 but haven't gotten a round tuit yet.


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## Scary Applesauce (Feb 14, 2022)

Dear Sirs:

Looking at this document practically brought a grown man to tears. I don't know if you are the one who created it, but it is invaluable. Who can calculate how many hours of learning, skill, work, patience, and sweat have been distilled down into these pages. Whoever made it has done a service for mankind. 100 years from now someone will undoubtedly be staring at a battered and blackened Craftsman lathe sitting on their workbench. They will carefully remove the sludge of oil, metal filings, and (probably) sawdust from the model number plate on the back and begin their quest to resurrect a Craftsman 101.07301. When they come across the document you sent, they too, may cry tears of joy.

Reading replies like yours--and that of Site Moderator wa5cab, and so many others on this site--gives me hope for the human race. The people who contribute their hard-earned knowledge to this site will probably never get fame, glory, or money for it. They are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Not because they are swell guys, but because they know that wisdom like this is all too easily lost. And when it has gone, the chances of bringing that machine back to life begin to dwindle. And a piece of our history--produced through the accumulated knowledge and effort of untold numbers, and used by who knows how many others in the years that followed, to create or repair parts that would give life to other machines--is lost.

I have to go to work now, but wanted to thank you both. I will follow up later this evening with photos and information on the thing sitting on my workbench. Please advise as to how to best do this. I am not sure if the members of this forum want to read lengthy accounts in a post, or if there is some other method or format I should use.

Thank you very much.

Matt


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## Awround (Feb 27, 2022)

The motor arrived so I set to work on the final part of the restoration.  

Since this particular lathe model has no backgear, I wanted a motor solution that would give me the ability to slow the spindle down to 30-40 RPM with good low speed torque.  The solution was 3/4 HP Brushless industrial sewing machine motor.  Out of the box it has a speed range of 400-4500 RPM and excellent low speed torque.  The motor speed is normally controlled by a pedal.

I though that I would be able to substitute a simple 10k potentiometer for the pedal but it it proved a bit more complex.  The motor controller looks for certain voltages to confirm the pedal is connected and in the right position before enabling the motor.  As I also wanted a tachometer for the spindle speed, I used a small Arduino controller to act as both the “interface glue” between the 10k pot and the motor controller and a host for an LCD screen and Hall effect RPM sensor.

I used a second lay shaft to reduce the 400 RPM to a suitable input to the lathes original counter shaft.  The end result gives an RPM range of 30-1500 at the spindle.  The basic layout:








I used my 3D printer to print a support for the Hall Effect Sensor, the electronics enclosure and the potentiometer knob. A Delrin collar with four small magnets is used to measure the spindle RPM.


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## Awround (Feb 27, 2022)

A short video of the lathe running.  Now I need to find a Threading Indicator and the lathe is complete!

View attachment IMG_0373.MOV


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## Charles scozzari (Feb 27, 2022)

Great mod. and restoration on that Atlas. My first lathe was a 618 Atlas that did have a back gear set up. Your set up eliminates the need for the back gear. Nice work, enjoy your new lathe.


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## cross thread (Feb 28, 2022)

Nice work , I would like to see a gear cover on it only because I think they look good . Any way you could 3D print one that would fit around the sensor on the end of the spindle ?
Mark .


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## aoresteen (May 30, 2022)

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well done!


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