New lathe user introduction

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UtTex

H-M Supporter - Silver Member
H-M Supporter - Silver Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2024
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I recently brought home an old Atlas Craftsman 12" Model 101.07383 lathe. I have no idea what I will do with it other than clean it, repair it, and probably make useless piles of chips with it. I am not a machinist and have never even run a lathe before. I ordered a hard copy of one of the MOLO versions to get started. In the meantime I have been disassembling, cleaning and identifying obviously broken or worn out parts. So far, the traverse gearbox is cracked but holding together (on order), one of the bevel pins for the compound swivel lock is broken (on order), one of the hinge brackets for the pulley cover is broken but holding (will braze or weld at later date), and the threading dial is frozen up (currently soaking in solvent and getting looser). The headstock babbitt bearings do not seem to have any discernable play. The ways have a few small dings I will need to stone out, but not too much wear as far as I can tell. I think I have all of the change gears (10 plus the ones currently installed). It has an Emco brand QCTP installed and a bucket of tooling, mostly HSS. It has a small 3-jaw chuck plus a larger 3-jaw and a 4-jaw. The motor and spindle pulley are not original and the motor mounting plate is missing. The replacement motor is a rather large (70 lbs!) 125v/230v, 13/6 amp unit mounted near the bottom of the homemade stand and has a reversing switch. My understanding is that these lathes were equipped with a 1/2 hp motor from the factory, so this seems like overkill.

One other missing item is the Back Gear Lock Pin (10-256). I don't know the actual function of this pin. Can I get along without it or is it going to be a show-stopper if I can't find a replacement?
 
Welcome, there is a lot of informative guys here.
 
Welcome to H-M and to the Atlas-Craftsman Forum. I suggest that you call Clausing and see whether or not they still have any Back Gear Locking Pins, springs and balls in stock. And any of the other parts that are missing. The consequence of not having the pin present is that the machine will always be in back gear. Slow! The original recommended motor size was 1/3 or 1/2 HP.
 
Yes you need the pin, it's an important item, plus the spring and ball that goes with it- might be a clip also
A good opportunity to study and understand how the backgear mode works vs. the standard drive mode
A 12" Atlas could probably make use of a 3/4 hp motor, max
 
Thanks to all for your replies. I will give Clausing a call for the pin and associated parts.

Is there any downside to keeping the oversize motor? I imagine that so long as I don't overtension the motor belt, that belt slippage will provide an (imprecise) safety breaker to prevent overstressing the geartrain, etc. Am I way off base?
 
Pretty sure the main downside is just its greater ability to break things. Not sure that would scare me enough to buy a different motor, but I’m cheap like that. Definitely something to be aware of, though.

I’m not sure a loose belt would offer you the kind of predictable slippage you’d want to think of it as a clutch like safety factor. A leather belt maybe. But V-belts are supposed to grab by design.

Personally, I’d get it running and proceed with the goal of learning its behavior. It’ll tell you when it’s unhappy. Usually right before you’ve gone too far, lol.
 
UtTex said:
I recently brought home an old Atlas Craftsman 12" Model 101.07383 lathe. I have no idea what I will do with it other than clean it, repair it, and probably make useless piles of chips with it. I am not a machinist and have never even run a lathe before. I ordered a hard copy of one of the MOLO versions to get started. In the meantime I have been disassembling, cleaning and identifying obviously broken or worn out parts. So far, the traverse gearbox is cracked but holding together (on order), one of the bevel pins for the compound swivel lock is broken (on order), one of the hinge brackets for the pulley cover is broken but holding (will braze or weld at later date), and the threading dial is frozen up (currently soaking in solvent and getting looser). The headstock babbitt bearings do not seem to have any discernable play. The ways have a few small dings I will need to stone out, but not too much wear as far as I can tell. I think I have all of the change gears (10 plus the ones currently installed). It has an Emco brand QCTP installed and a bucket of tooling, mostly HSS. It has a small 3-jaw chuck plus a larger 3-jaw and a 4-jaw. The motor and spindle pulley are not original and the motor mounting plate is missing. The replacement motor is a rather large (70 lbs!) 125v/230v, 13/6 amp unit mounted near the bottom of the homemade stand and has a reversing switch. My understanding is that these lathes were equipped with a 1/2 hp motor from the factory, so this seems like overkill.

One other missing item is the Back Gear Lock Pin (10-256). I don't know the actual function of this pin. Can I get along without it or is it going to be a show-stopper if I can't find a replacement?
Click to expand...
Welcome to the group

Dave
 
In terms of learning basic lathe work, I highly commend the book "The Amateur's Lathe" by Sparey. You'll still need to practice, and to turn valuable metal into useless chips, but it's a pretty good lathe education in a relatively small book.

GsT
 
You haven't actually told us the hp rating of the motor you have- if it's 3/4 hp or less I wouldn't be too concerned
Older motors tend to run heavier for their hp rating I have noticed- modern motors are more efficient and lighter
The motor should be 1725 rpm not 3450
 
Welcome to HM!

13 amps at 125 Volts, would make it about a 2hp motor. That's a lot more power you need for such a lathe. Though I don't really see any harm, other than wasting electricity.
 
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