Atlas-Craftsman 10" (? 12" ?) with Babbit, (not cast iron) spindle bearings

[Dutch]

I owned this lathe in the 1980s into 2004. It was very tired by that time but it ran and I needed a smaller lathe than my Von Wyck 15x60. It came only with a 3 jaw chuck that ran true enough. I sought out and found the spindle nose adapter for 3C collets and snagged a full set of South Bend 3C collets. With collets this old lathe made some accurate parts. I did not have the gears for threading but the previous owner had a new half-nut mfg out of beryllium copper (he worked in aerospace).

At some point the tiny spur gear that moved the carriage broke a tooth. So I made a lever feed for the carriage with 3 different holes for "feed speed:". It worked so well I never bothered to hunt up a new gear. I couldn't thread with it anyway.

The spindle bearing wasn't bronze or ball bearing. It was babbit (not cast iron). There were brass shims under the bearing caps. If you adjusted the bearing too tight it would seize up the spindle if you ran it too fast and forgot to oil the dang spindle. I put back that one shim so it didn't seize up again. This lathe had the Craftsman tag on the back of the bed. I don't know how old the lathe was. The patent date is 1933.

After using this lathe for many years and I've run other lathes my opinion of Atlas lathes is positive. They're a darn good lathe though I define darn good meaning "light duty" though that also can mean many things to many people. I would've never shied away from an Atlas in better condition and would prefer the one with Timkin bearing headstock. This lathe is still in use making parts in Ohio.

1970 & 1979 took tool machine engineering at Los Angeles Pierce College. Had a couple/few jobs making chips but mostly just a home machinist.

Fabricated a 3C drawbar out of 1/2" pipe. The collet thread was done separately and silver soldered to the draw bar. Piece of delrin as a thrust bearing and a 2" diameter aluminum handwheel. Just like downtown!

While I had a vertical mill at home I couldn't pass up this Atlas milling attachment at $25 at a use machinery store in Los Angeles.

 

[jwmay]

Ive got a positive opinion of Atlas/Craftsman lathes too . Excellent machines for their weight! Thanks for sharing your story.

I might have a small sort of correction/suggestion that your lathe was fitted with Babbitt bearings, instead of cast iron. But I’m not certain enough to say I’m right. According to most reading I’ve done, Atlas made their lathes with either Babbitt bearings or Timken rollers.

I only mention it to let you know this (as far as I know) were the only options offered. If it truly had cast iron bearings, it would have been a one of a kind. Which it may well be I guess.

Again, thanks for sharing!

 

[wa5cab]

Yes on the babbit bearings. AFAIK, Atlas never built a lathe with cast iron bearings under any badge. The first lathe that Atlas built around 1933 was a 9" with babbit bearings. About a year or two later they they began selling a 10" under the Atlas badge and a 12" under the Sears Craftsman badge. At about the same time they started offering the same basic lathes with Timkin tapered roller bearings. Shortly after that they discontinued the 9". But continued the 10" and 12" with both bearing types. Near the end of WW-II (about 1944 or early 1945) they discontinued the babbit bearings and some other options but continued to produce the 10" Atlas and the 12" Craftsman lathes with Timken bearings.

Probably the least expensive way to switch from Babbit to Timken bearings would be to buy a complete Timken headstock assembly. Some of the parts are the same so don't throw the whole thing away but besides being less labor involved I think it would be cheaper.

Parts manuals and most parts drawings are in downloads. Note that for full access to Downloads one must be a Doner (any level). Cheapest level is $10.00 per year.