Next project: Craftsman 101.07301 6" lathe

[wa5cab]

Not trying to belabor nomenclature, but the usual names are tailstock ram (a spindle either turns or sometimes has something that turns on it). The tailstock ram hopefully never turns! And clamp nuts are called either half nuts or split nuts.

 

[LX Kid]

Correct me if I'm understanding it wrong. I was studying the spindle and the pulleys on it. When the bull gear is engaged, which has the woodruff key, the spindle is turned by the pulley. When the back gear is engaged, and bull gear disengaged, the large back gear drives the spindle on the small gear. When selected to neutral, and bull gear engaged, it's the bull gear locking pin that drives the spindle. Question, "at what point does the pulley spin free on the spindle shaft that will cause the kind of damage that I see on my spindle caused by the pulley?"

 

[LX Kid]

Need a handle for your cross slide or traverse? Here's what I made. I used faucet handles and threaded it with a nut on the front and back sides. The small faucet handles for the six in lathes and the larger faucet handles for the larger lathes. Gets a little tight for the fingers between the two handles but is manageable.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

when the back gear is engaged and the bull gear pin pulled out, the motor drives the spindle pulley/ sheave, which drives the back gear, which then drives the bull gear and spindle. The spindle pulley/ sheave rotates on the spindle and lack of oiling (or some weird azz metal shim) will cause that wear.

for your handles, be aware that it's really easy to run out of space between the cross slide dial and the compound when the cross slide is wound towards the operator for larger work.

 

[LX Kid]

when the back gear is engaged and the bull gear pin pulled out, the motor drives the spindle pulley/ sheave, which drives the back gear, which then drives the bull gear and spindle. The spindle pulley/ sheave rotates on the spindle and lack of oiling (or some weird azz metal shim) will cause that wear.

for your handles, be aware that it's really easy to run out of space between the cross slide dial and the compound when the cross slide is wound towards the operator for larger work.

Thanks for the response. it's like an old friend of mine often said, "You pay less you get less!" The faucet handle was a dollar and the ball crank handle is around $40. Soooooo, "Bubba can get-r-done" on the cheap! LoL Fast and easy temporary fix. Seems like I know someone, real close, that could use his lathe and mill to make something a little better when time allows.

I had to look up the word "sheave" and now understand that the pulley spins freely on an axle/shaft and is not secured to that axle/shaft. Now a tortured mind knows the meaning! LoL

 

[LX Kid]

The locks of the tailstock ram were really frozen in the tailstock. I use drill bits to drill the locks out and then finally used a pin punch to break them loose from the tailstock wall. Fortunately Clausing Lathe had the parts for it as well as the half nut guide.

 

[wa5cab]

Just to be sure everyone understands how the Atlas lathe spindle drive systems all work (except for the MK2 6" and the 1/2" bed 12" cabinet or under-drive models), start with the direct drive pin pushed into one of the holes in the spindle pulley, the back gears disengaged' the set screw in the bull gear hub tightened on the Woodruff key in the spindle and with all of the belts installed. If you start the motor, the motor drives the motor pulley. The motor pulley drives the motor belt which in turn drives the large 2-step pulley on the countershaft. The 2-step pulley drives the countershaft which drives the countershaft cone pulley. The cone pulley drives the spindle belt which drives the spindle cone pulley. The spindle pulley drives the direct drive pin which drives the bull gear which drives the spindle through the Woodruff key. In this configuration, the back gears do nothing and the small spindle gear turns but does nothing else.

In this configuration, if you pull the direct drive pin out as far as it will go towards the tailstock the spindle cone pulley spins on the spindle and nothing else happens. The bull gear and spindle should not move.

If you then engage the back gears, the spindle pulley turns the small spindle gear. It turns the large end of the back gear which turns the small end gear which turns the bull gear which turns the spindle at about 1/6 of the RPM that it turns in direct drive. The spindle pulley turns at about 6X the speed of the spindle, hence the need for the three (two on the 6") bronze bushings in the cone pulley and small spindle gear. Which is why that steel sleeve inside the cone pulley on your machine mangled the spindle.

 

[LX Kid]

My new/old pulley sheave arrived today and wouldn't you just know that the bushings are oversize by .021" and won't fit the spindle. I know I could ream the bushings but will wait for the new bushings to arrive for my original pulley sheave and try boring/reaming them to fit my spindle after I remove .006" from it to clean it up.

 

[LX Kid]

Just can't get any breaks! I assembled the half nut guide and it just doesn't want to work properly. When I tighten the two attaching screws it locks down and won't open and close. When I loosen the screws it will function but but will not open fully. The detent ball will not set and is off by a few thou. I'm thinking of enlarging the apron holes a few thou to let things work properly. Maybe reducing the screw head diameter may let it settle in and work properly. Have to continue the investigation of this problem tomorrow. Also I don't have the fillister screws and am using junk box screws and it may be making a difference.

On the Craftsman 6" does the half nut lever work opposite of South Bend 9's? Moving lever up opens the half nuts and down closes them on my Craftsman.

 

[wa5cab]

Head diameter of standard binding head screws is noticeably larger than fillister head. Round head are usually in between. Socket head is about the same diameter as fillister. Both are commonly used in counter-bored holes. If you cannot find fillister, look for socket.

On all of the Atlas built machines, the half-nut levers work the same. The few larger lathes that I've had my hands on (up to about 72" I think) have also all worked the same, up is open, down is closed. I wasn't aware that SB was backwards.