First post - Just purchased an Atlas 10" TH48 and have a couple questions

[evilruss]

Hi,
this is my first post. Having never used a lathe prior to yesterday, definite beginner here. I bought this lathe with the first project of making some components to build a shifter from scratch for a car with a manual transmission. I believe the lathe appears to be in fairly good shape. I couldn't measure any noticeable wear on the ways, and didn't find any rust or grime anywhere. Include both a 3 jaw and 4 jaw 6 inch chucks, and a quick change setup with a few tool holders, couple dead centers, and an MT2 drill chuck.

So far I've pulled the intermediate shaft apart in order to clear the clogged grease holes that were keeping the grease caps from being able to push fresh grease into the bearings. I had found a few forums mentioning the use of ISO 68 and ISO 32 for lubrication. I had some ISO 32 on the shelf and it's somewhat cold in the garage, around 40 degrees currently, so I have run the machine for a short time with ISO 32 for everything including the head, and also lightly lubricating the change gears. Was mainly playing around making my first chips, and trying some different speeds out. After some use though I was seeing what looked like gummed up balls of metal stuck together laying below the change gears. I'm a little worried it was the change gears wearing down possibly. So my main question is it likely I did any major damage already to the change gears using ISO 32 on them? Since I wasn't using the lead screw to power anything, I went ahead and removed the 3 sets of change gears for the moment to avoid any possible further damage. Only planning to use them for some threading.

I'll get some decent pictures this evening of the lathe.

-Russ

 

[evilruss]

Quick photo I took after sitting the lathe in it's new home.

 

[evilruss]

Picture of small debris that looks to be falling out of the change gears. I'm assuming it's a combination of metal filings and lubricant. kind of a mix of silver and gold which seems to be the color of the gears.

 

[markba633csi]

Doubt that material is from the gears as Atlas gears are a silvery grey color. Probably chips from the previous owner. Clean all the gears and recheck
Mark

 

[wa5cab]

It is probably shavings AKA swarf from previous jobs that have been allowed to contaminate the gear train. The gold is most likely brass. The silver could be from the gears but is most likely either steel or aluminum (magnetic or non-magnetic). In any case, you need to remove all of the gears and properly clean them, reinstall, and apply a high-temperature grease to the gear teeth. And SAE 20 (ISO 68) non-detergent should be used on the gear bushings and everywhere else on the lathe except on open gear teeth that you can actually get at. I can't think of any spur gears on the 6" that you can't get at the teeth of. The one exception to the oil rule is that you may use Way Oil on the ways and dovetails. Unlike ordinary oil, it is more tacky and tends to cling to vertical surfaces better than straight SAE 20.

Note that the older Atlas or Craftsman manuals will say to use SAE 10 oil. Atlas changed that recommendation in the late 1950;s to SAE 20, retroactive. You should not use high detergent automotive engine oils for several reasons.

 

[markba633csi]

Russ: Make sure there is no chips or debris stuck in the gear teeth- sometimes this requires using a pick or similar tool to clean them out thoroughly.
Material stuck in the teeth can cause binding which can affect your threading operations (ask me how I know)
Also, check the leadscrew for unwanted debris also, and the leadscrew reversing mechanism as well.
Nice lathe BTW
-mark

 

[evilruss]

Thank you for for the replies! I was a little confused by the gold material, brass swarf left over would make sense. I'll be sure to start with cleaning up the gears, any issues with using some brake cleaner to help get them good and clean? The leadscrew looked fairly clean, but I'll need to open up the reversing mechanism, I'm guessing that may be hiding more debris.

Definitely don't want any binding, hoping to practice some threading soon. So far I've just started with cutting down a 5/8" piece of steel rod for my first attempt at making the main shift rod. Probably a bit of a project to try and jump right into for a first time lathe user, but already wanting to spend more time in the garage making parts.

I probably overpaid for the lathe, but didn't see much else out there at the moment except for some really grimy rusty looking things. And being this one seemed to look super clean I went for it.

 

[evilruss]

Picture of the first draft of the shift rod. I believe the factory correct part is 8.45mm thick, I brought this down to about 8.84 so far to leave some room to try for a better finish.

 

[Chipper5783]

I probably overpaid for the lathe, but didn't see much else out there at the moment except for some really grimy rusty looking things. And being this one seemed to look super clean I went for it.

No, you did not over pay for the lathe. You got a decent machine, you are happy with it, it works. The transaction is now history. Of all the people who may have bought that machine - you are the one that took it home. You should be very satisfied. Could you have got it for $50 less? Could you have got it for $500 less? Could you have got it for $5000 less? You'll never know, but what you do know is that you are learning about lathe work, you are getting that shifter made and you can enjoy that activity for years to come.

Just think, instead of making the shifter, you could be coming through adds, looking at machines, trying to figure out transport, considering if the latest find was a good buy - all of which is taking away from what you are actually trying to do. People will spend tons of time diddling around to save a couple hundred bucks. Without even knowing what you spent, I'd say you made a very good purchase.

Enjoy it, David

 

[evilruss]

Thank you David, all valid points! At this point I have a nice, very clean lathe in the garage, and I'm making progress towards a drive-able manual shift car by spring.

-Russ