Building/modifying An Atlas Th42

[great white]

Well, I didn't get as much done on the lathe as I wanted to this weekend, but I did get a fair bit done.

Not done: Cut down the inside cabinet supports from when one side was taller , re-mount the medical grade power bar, make the drip/chip tray, make the tool pedestal/holder.

Things I did get done: Make the splash shield, mount the goose neck light, clean lots of bits, eliminate several sources of slop and lash.

Pics:



Lots of reach on that looong goose neck light





Lots of light right where I need it. Probably change the bulb in the future. That's just a regular house light for now.



I added a small (removable) chip deflector to steer chips and oil into the (soon to be built) chip tray instead of it all piling up in between the legs/supports. Can't stop all the chips/oil, but this shop cut down on the ones that don't make it to the tray. It's removable without tools, but it's slotted and press fit/slides under the headstock so it's in there solid.



Coming together and looking good says I!



Once fabrication is all done I'll blow it all apart and paint.

 

[caveBob]

Just won an auction for a Baldor CDP 3440 motor.

85 bucks. No too bad!

Specs:

90 V
.75 HP
Base Speed 1,750 rpm
Enclosure TEFC
Frame 56C
...snip

Congrats! I'm running the same motor on the same lathe, think you're really gonna like it... Where I first saw mention of it:

9x20 Lathe Variable Speed DC Spindle Motor
http://www.micro-machine-shop.com/Variable_Speed_DC_Spindle_Motor.htm

...might glean a little more info on it there...

 

[wa5cab]

The problem with 56C frame motors is that they are front or flange mounted. All of the original Atlas motors are side mounted, and mostly 56 frame.

 

[great white]

The problem with 56C frame motors is that they are front or flange mounted. All of the original Atlas motors are side mounted, and mostly 56 frame.

Somehow, I don't think that's going to be a big problem.....



(You can build a bracket or buy a foot kit, if it doesn't already have a foot installed)

 

[great white]

Started banging out the lower drip tray:



That piece you see under the change gearbox is a deflector to guide the oil drips down into the main tray instead of it dripping all over the bed foot.

As luck would have it, the tray is just a few inches longer than my metal brake so I had to do it all by hand on the bench with hammers and dollies.

Still lots of shaping and welding to do, but that's a good start.

 

[wa5cab]

As you had to do it by hand anyway, why didn't you just run it full length from left of gear guard to right of right end of right leg? That's the way the factory ones were made. Except that they also had an extension on the rear of the left end that ran out under the motor. The drip deflector is going to make it quite difficult to level the bed as it blocks access to the front mounting bolt and the shim space under the leg at that point. If the pan runs under the headstock and gear guard, it will also catch oil dripping from the spindle and change gears.

 

[great white]

The pan is removable, doesn't get in the way of anything. It just pulls right out. I made it to slide in and out for ease of cleaning. Mostly to catch the chips/swarf.

The headstock already has a "deflector" under it that terminates in the drip tray. If I find it's dripping oil in other places, it's a simple task to bang up a couple small drip trays for those areas and those will also be easy to pull out and clean.

The area under the RH leadscrew block was left open for a possible future project in that area.

I was purposely avoiding building a tray that the lathe bolts through.

As mentioned, I wanted the tray easily removed for cleaning purposes.

 

[great white]

The "new" Baldor 3440 motor (3/4 HP, DC) showed up today.

Bit of a "beast" compared to the 1/8 hp AC motor that's on it right now.

It's in better shape than I had expected, but still needs a good cleaning and inspecting.

 

[great white]

The plastic fan was scrapping something so I pulled the sheet metal cover off. It had a slight bend in it which was quickly fixed with a hammer and dolly. Looked like it had been busy!led at some point of it being handled.

I'm not sure where it was used before, but the fan and body under the cover was caked with a paper mache like material. Like paper pulp that had gone on wet and dried in the airflow.

I have a little rusting to clean up on the fan side shaft and a little on the drive side. Nothing a couple passes with a wire brush can't clean up.

And, I also managed to crack one of the brush holder covers while inspecting the brushes and commutators.

D'oh!

Oh well, it was probably already cracked and at least its not an expensive part. Its screwed in and holding fine for now. I'll drop into a motor shop next time I'm in town and grab a replacement.

 

[great white]

Was out and about today.

Picked up a 5/8 bore pulley and a reversible 30amp DC switch at princess auto.

Then popped across to the street to busy bee tools to inquire about the wixey 32" capacitive scale. I figured no way would I be able to get it, but there were 7 kits in the warehouse in TO. 32 bucks later and it should show up next week. That was the last piece of the puzzle I needed to do yuriy's arduino/android DRO....