Craftsman/Atlas 6", what have I gotten my self into?

Could you lay some brass shim stock over the bushing to reduce the amount of travel to tighten the casting? Once you split the bushing that is.

David
 
OK...I have a plan.

The old busing isn't going to be usable. It's pretty darn worn out (not a big surprise there). I would rather not split my new, OE part as I might need it if I find a new spindle and it wasn't the cheapest thing in the world.

So I'm going to get a new, 1" ID, 1 1/4" OD x 1 1/4" long (I need to double check the OD) sintered bronze bushing, split it and see how it goes. I think the OE bushing is sized slightly different in the ID then a run of the mill bushing but since we're modifying it I don't think it's going to matter.

The split can be lined up with the split in the casting, that will keep the load on the solid face.

I don't see that I have a whole lot to lose. The spindle clearly has issues so I don't think I can make it worse. The only think I'm a little worried about is the split busing rotating in the housing.

K
 
Keep on trying to learn about your lathe and get it repaired, but try not to force or break anything or damage anything beyond use. If it gets to looking like it will cost a lot of money and too much effort to fix it, then part it out or sell it as a basket case and move on to a lathe you can cut decent chips with. There is little worse to a newcomer than to be fighting a machine when he really wants to be playing and learning and making nice things. You could probably sell the parts of the machine on eBay for more than you paid for it. But don't give up too early, working on machines is how we learn the nuts and bolts of how they operate. Just remember to stand back at intervals and ask yourself honestly if you are following the best course for what you want to accomplish. Only you can decide...
 
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Bob Korves said:
Keep on trying to learn about your lathe and get it repaired, but try not to force or break anything or damage anything beyond use. If it gets to looking like it will cost a lot of money and too much effort to fix it, then part it out or sell it as a basket case and move on to a lathe you can cut decent chips with. There is little worse to a newcomer than to be fighting a machine when he really wants to be playing and learning and making nice things. You could probably sell the parts of the machine on eBay for more than you paid for it. But don't give up too early, working on machines is how we learn the nuts and bolts of how they operate. Just remember to stand back at intervals and ask yourself honestly if you are following the best course for what you want to accomplish. Only you can decide...
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Yeah, I'm not going to force anything but I think this is a worth while experiment. A new bushing is $5.00 and my time.

It has crossed my mind that I could part it out if push came to shove. I'm sure I could get pretty close to breaking even, then just chalk it up to a learning experience. My bed isn't great and the lead screw is toast but it's carriage and compound are in great shape and I have all the gears and those seem to be popular.

I bought this lathe as a tool to learn on, if I can get it to the point where I can cut well enough to do that I'll be happy.

K
 
Have you given thought to repairing your spindle, build it up and turn it back to spec?
 
My mistake
 
Z2V said:
My mistake
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Don't take my word on it. :)

To be honest I don't have a clue where I could even take it to see if it was possible. The local shop wouldn't be able to do it and the only other machine shop around only does work for industry.

K
 
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