New tumbler gears???

[cdhknives]

The gears on my fwd/rev tumbler are worn to points. It still works, noisily, but sooner or later it's going to just strip out.

Being a proactive kind of guy, and usually trying to upgrade when I replace worn out things, would brass gears work better here? Would I have to change the whole gear train on the left side of the lathe if I went to a different material to keep the harder brass gears from eating the original ones? Should I replace them all anyway since the rest of them are showing significant (but not nearly as extreme) wear? The QCGB looks fine, it's just the tumber gears and the rest of the train down to the QCGB that I'm concerned with at this point.

Should I go back to Clausing or is there an aftermarket gear shop y'all have had good luck with buying replacements for Atlas lathes?

I don't care about 'keeping it original'. I want it to work, and work as well as reasonably possible short of spending the cost of a new lathe!

 

[wa5cab]

Check prices with Clausing, and on eBay and for that matter with Boston Gear. They aren't going to be cheap wherever you buy them from. But I wouldn't recommend using brass. It is "softer" than just about anything else that gears are made of except aluminum and plastic. If the gears are shot, the bushings and studs may be, too. Actually, I am surprised at the amount of wear unless your grandfather wasn't the original owner. The lathe is newer than most 10". Fortunately, the gears and bushings (but not the studs) are the same as on the later 3/8" bed Craftsman 12" machines. So availability should be better.

 

[cdhknives]

He was not the original owner...and in his own words it was an abused lathe when he got it. No big divots in the bed, but a gouge in the leadscrew, rounded edges on the leadscrew threads, worn gears, etc. My grandfather mostly used it for woodworking...only occasionally for metalwork. I'm the opposite...and want to tighten it up.

 

[wa5cab]

OK. more words because the server has gone OCD

 

[iron man]

I have been making my own as they go bad I have been making them out of brass but I saw a leblond lathe that has a lot of mileage on it that runs aluminum gears I may try that next they are much quieter running gear.