Quirky Atlas mods

[jwmay]

Has anyone else noticed the multitudinous ways our precious Atlas/Craftsman lathes get butchered in the name of getting the job done? I'm forever finding examples of interesting, unusual, and dare I say, bulletproof examples of ingenuity displayed in the modifications to these lathes. I usually post them. But perhaps others would care to join in. So today's contribution is this Atlas whose owner only ever needed to thread one pitch, and he wanted to do it by hand. The "leadscrew" appeared to be threaded rod, but I can't say for certain. I guess it may have been his "power feed" instead. But...I bet it worked just like he needed it to.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

Over the years, I have made any number of "quirky" contraptions and modifications to many machines. Nothing (yet) to my Craftsman, an Atlas build. What I wanted to express is that, in all cases, I gave a lot of thought to making modifications in a way that allows back-conversion to the original design, whenever possible.

The most notable conversion here was to add a planetary gear (back gear?) to a Taiwanese 9X19 to allow slower speed, hence higher torque. Basically a 3:1 reduction gear. The original pulley, a 3 step, was set aside, along with a handfull of other small parts. And the needed modified parts were built up from scratch. That way, back conversion could be accomplished in minutes. Well, a little longer, but less than an hour. . .

Looking at the posted photos, it appears the lathe was a very basic machine, few if any "add ons". As for a piece of "all thread" for the feed shaft, 3/8-16 is a common size for making or repairing a leadscrew. At 1/16 inch per rev it is a practical repair for a manually fed machine. There are several reasons that could have been done. Not the least being inability for a number of reasons to access a proper lead screw. See the "Gingery Lathe" for home brew machines, he also used a 3/8-16 lead screw for a new build.

As far as threading, the pictured machine, I think, is not capable of. One doesn't hand feed the lead screw for threading, it must be geared to the spindle. A 1:1 ratio would give a 16 pitch screw here. 1 rev of the spindle to 1 rev of the leadscrew.

Modifications are a good thing, permanant modifications are often "limited resources repairs", in my opinion.

.

 

[jwmay]

As far as threading, the pictured machine, I think, is not capable of. One doesn't hand feed the lead screw for threading, it must be geared to the spindle.

Right you are. Thanks!

 

[cross thread]

Quirky ? Or intimated by AC 110 ? Anyhow lower left of picture is my / was my on off switch and clearly you can see my factory issue switch . I say was because I'm trying to sell the lathe stand with the power strip on it , that will force me to wire up the factory switch . Yes it has reverse and that will not be wired up . By the way the reason I'm selling the stand is because I finally got a pair of original cast iron legs , pictures later .
Mark .
IMG_0691 by mark westi, on Flickr

 

[jwmay]

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Not sure this is quirky. I included a picture to maybe draw your interest enough to follow the link. This man's answer to the ever present flexibility of our Atlas lathes is worthy of applause I think. Pretty extreme! But I imagine the only give he encountered was in the bearings or the bed ways. And it's got a bed extension! If money were no object, I'd collect these things.

 

[jwmay]

A home made bed extension, and a very good quick change gearbox addition. I'm again impressed with ingenuity of my fellow machinists.

 

[jwmay]

Some sort of variable speed Atlas metal lathe converted for wood turning. Another one I’ve never seen before. I wonder if this is built or bought?



This would appear to be either an Atlas 3996 or a Craftsman equivalent. You can just make out the two rivet holes that attached the contractor name plate to the hinged top cover. The compound and compound slide appear to have been removed and replaced by a wood lathe steady rest.. The only other obvious mod that I see is the roller at the bottom left front corner and I assume the matching one in the rear. The presumably variable speed motor is probably self contained as the only other electrical unit that I see is the drum switch at the front left corner of the cabinet and oil pan.




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[jwmay]

This machine is owned by one of our very own members here. Hopefully he’ll pipe in with all the details. This is an Atlas lathe with an 8 FOOT LONG bed! It has a taper attachment, and an aftermarket quick change gear box. What a cool machine!! They had to have made more than one of these. The bed is a one piece casting and machined. No way they’d have built patterns for a single, right? It may just be the last of its kind.

 

[markba633csi]

I think Atlas sold some wood turning attachments for the metal lathes at one time.
I saw that 8 foot bed- most unusual and probably only a few made.

 

[jwmay]

@wa5cab look at the headstock and tailstock. They’ve been lifted too. This is at least a 13” swing.