Question on Atlas lathe endmill holder...

[mickri]

A collet chuck is a better option because you can also use it to hold long stock that can fit in the spindle bore. Not hard to make. I made one for my craftsman 12x36 lathe. Here my thread on how I made mine.

No excuse not to make an er32 chuck for the lathe

I am just about finished with the tool holders for my norman style qctp and already realize that I am going to need more tool holders. Can you ever have too many?? I see an add on Craigslist for a company selling some 1018 crs 1 1/4" x 2" flat bar. Stop by and it is a CNC machine shop trying...

www.hobby-machinist.com

You do have to be able to cut a metric 1.5mm thread. Not insurmountable. Lots of info on the forum on how to cut metric threads on a 6" craftsman lathe. The key is having a 52/44 tooth combo gear.

 

[JPMacG]

Ditto. My collet chuck has been more useful than I imagined.

Yet another ER40 collet chuck for an Atlas

Just completed an ER40 collet chuck for my Craftsman (Atlas) 12-inch lathe. I followed the excellent drawing by Ronald Crowell, Harold Hall's website, and the many YouTube tutorials. This was a real nice learning experience with a variety of operations... boring a precise diameter, internal...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[suzann3k]

How old is that lathe? My family has one and it looks similar.

 

[JPMacG]

We estimate the date of manufacture of my lathe (shown in the link above) to be 1954.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

I ended up using a long bolt and a stack of washers to make a cheap drawbar for milling the tool post t-nut. It isn't pretty but worked and seemed safe enough. Now I can make a proper step bushing for the bolt to replace the washer stack and remove the pre-load from the pulley hub.

 

[m1kemex]

Mr. Pete is well meaning but occasionally comes up with BS because he's too empirical / theoretical averse. I do remember him disregarding the safety precautions with lead. Sure, it's very rare for someone to drop dead after handling some lead but it does poison you with any amount. And it says on your system for long.

While it's true that a lathe chuck won't hold an end mill securely, it's not exactly because it's hardened but because it's adjustable in size. Circles only share contact points around the surface if they are exactly the same size. End mills slip because they are just sharing three contact points, the surface of the end mill being round and the jaws of the chuck being flat. By biting into soft work, a lathe chuck makes small dents, essentially turning its surface into a polygon.

Weldon holders are not the strongest holding tools. Those are heat shrink. And for general milling collets often work fine (I've never tried with a Morse collet). That they are hardened probably makes them to grip stronger, not weaker, due the fact that it helps avoiding ridges / keep the factory grinding.