Curious about Atlas lathes

I didn't realize that threading chart was in downloads. It's actually one I had purchased for use several years ago off eBay. Then after I found the error, I scanned it and uploaded to Vintage Machinery to share with all. Apparently someone grabbed it off VM and forwarded it to Hobby-Machinist. I'm the MGL guy :). Anyway, I don't have an original of the 1945 version. If I ever find one I'll scan & send it.
 
Does anyone have the "Pick-O-Matic Selector Chart" that was in the gear cover documented?

I do not have that available to me and the set-ups described on that "Selector Chart" are not in any of the literature I have been able to find. The literature says to consult the chart first, then use the Tables.

I am hoping one would show up on E-bay, but meanwhile I am at a loss.

The Standard Threading setups. Can you please help?

Steve
 
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Aaron_W said:
I have a Sherline lathe which meets has been meeting my needs so far. As my interests grow so does the size of my projects and I'm starting to bump up against the size limitations of the little lathe. I'm not in a hurry to get something larger but am starting to watch for a good deal on something in the 8-12" size, space limits me to a bed length of 30" or so. I have the long bed Sherline (17"), so not looking for something shorter than 20" which takes out the common 8x16 lathes.


There are a lot of Atlas / Craftsman lathes on the used market that fit into this size class.

I see a lot of derogatory comments about these as not being "real" lathes since they were marketed towards light commercial and hobbyist use. I don't pay these comments a lot of attention as this is common with smaller lathes. I would be curious to know how those who own them rate them against other common brands in the 8-10" class Southbend, Logan, Grizzly etc.

What is parts availability like for these? For me one of the major attractions of the Sherline was the large supply of parts and accessories. Some of the older lathes have limited availability.


If I were to find a good deal on one of these these are there any specific issues to watch for? Better or worse years / models, weak spots to watch out for, really hard to find parts that might make one want to walk away etc if broken etc?



Basically I'm looking for an honest assessment of these lathes from those who own them, what do you consider to be the strengths and what are the aspects where they could possibly leave one wanting more?
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I have had an 12" Atlas lathe for 35 years. The number 1 problem with it is that mine does not have a quick change gear box. The cost of a quick change gear box for my Atlas 12" was so high that I was able to buy a 13" South Bend lathe (with QCGB) for $500 more than I would have paid for the Atlas QCGB alone. Even the cost of a change gear set is pretty high for just zalmac gears. Plastic printed gears are reasonably priced I just don't trust them to last for any sort of time.

Most of the gears and knobs on my Atlas 12" are zalmac. They have held up to lite duty home jobs but I never really used the lathe much due to the absence of threading gears/QCGB.

My SB13 is easily 4 times the weight of my Atlas 12". The difference in using them is night and day. I do projects on my SB that I never would have attempted on my Atlas. My SB13 has steel gears throughout.
 
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MikeInOr said:
I have had an 12" Atlas lathe for 35 years. The number 1 problem with it is that mine does not have a quick change gear box. The cost of a quick change gear box for my Atlas 12" was so high that I was able to buy a 13" South Bend lathe (with QCGB) for $500 more than I would have paid for the Atlas QCGB alone. Even the cost of a change gear set is pretty high for just zalmac gears. Plastic printed gears are reasonably priced I just don't trust them to last for any sort of time.

Most of the gears and knobs on my Atlas 12" are zalmac. They have held up to lite duty home jobs but I never really used the lathe much due to the absence of threading gears/QCGB.

My SB13 is easily 4 times the weight of my Atlas 12". The difference in using them is night and day. I do projects on my SB that I never would have attempted on my Atlas. My SB13 has steel gears throughout.
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Wow, I don't even remember making this post, but it was awhile ago. Since then I've literally added a ton of cast iron, including a 6" Atlas / Craftsman and an 11" Logan.

I've come to appreciate Atlas, many of the criticisms against them are valid, they are not heavy duty machines but they do have a solid niche that they fill.
Looking at Atlas machines in general, while they clearly made some decisions in design and materials to keep the costs down, they also included many user friendly options to make the machines easy to use and adaptable to many uses. I think that is due in part to their market being more secondary users, small shops, mechanics, minimally trained wartime workers, home users etc rather than a shop full of trained machinists.

If I had to start over a 10x18" Atlas retrofitted with a QCGB wouldn't be my first pick, but it would make my short list. I need another lathe like a hole in my head, but I admit I'd be looking for a space to squeeze it in if one turned up local at the right price, while hoping it sold before my willpower gave out. :)
 
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