Saying hello, and introducing my next project - breathing life into an old Atlas 10F

[shed tuner]

Hi folks, new member here.

My main hobby is airgunsmithing, which got me into lathes.. now I have 5 lathes, so I think it's my new main hobby !? Except for a chinese 9x20, all the lathes are smallish pre-war... a portass, a winfield, and two 10Fs. One Altas (a vertical 36") is in nice shape, and I use it a lot for metric threading. The recent addition, is a rear ountershaft 48" long babbit bearing model, that's going to need some TLC...
The carriage wheel felt slightly strange, and I suspected the gear cage was broken.. sure enough, I just got into it today and one tab was broken, so I'm milling a small lump of ali and bolting/JB welding it on the side to effect a repair. Half nuts are pretty good, so I don't think it's had much use threading, and the bevels/gears for the crossfeed all look great too.
The ways aren't too bad, but noticably tighter towards the headstock, so I need to wittle them down a fraction... not sure how best to approach this.. scraping is going to be a bit much, and I don't have facilities to get a really accurate surface level. Might just drawfile it !
Will have a look at the bearings too, but not really sure what to look for with babbit, unless they are really torn up.. and no idea how I'd replace even if they were ! The Timkin rollers on the other Atlas are much easier to work with...

The direction selector for the leadscrew is fine internally, but the knob is missing it;s detent arrangement to lock into position.. I doubt spares are available, so might have to make something - anyone done this before and have any tips ?

Any advice welcome.. I'm not looking to go a full resto... I just want to get it functional, mostly for threading or machining long barrels.

A few searches over the years have landed me on this forum so figured I'd join, say hello, and get the benrfit of all your experience first hand.. not sure I have much to offer in return, unless you are intested in the obscure English lathes

Thanks,
JB

 

[Aukai]

Welcome, and good luck.

 

[jwmay]

I happen to LOVE English lathes!

Welcome to the forum!

 

[wachuko]

Welcome to the forum. Do know that we love photos!!! Share away!

 

[shed tuner]

Welcome to the forum. Do know that we love photos!!! Share away!

Well in that case I'll introduce Portass. Currently setup with the mini milling attachment, so I can mill the ali block to repair Atlas 48. That's what I like about lathes... they repair each other... It normally has a OXA QCTP.

I have just about every accessory for Portass, which is unusual for a relatively old and uncommon model; fixed steady, 4 jaw, couple of faceplates, a load of changegears inc spares. Backgears and screwcutting all works fine, but imperial threads only.

 

[shed tuner]

Well, an hour or so on the Portass lathe-come-horizontal-mini-mill has given me a lump of ali that I think shoudl be able to effect a repair.
Tomorrow I'll drill and tap holes through the vertical section of the cage to bolt the ali to, drill and counterbore the hole for the mounting to the apron, and then test it for alignment. All being well, I'll take it out, unbolt, slather it with JB weld, and bolt the block back to the cage. Should outlast me...

 

[shed tuner]

well, that's working... only issue I had was the strip of metal that hooks enderneath the ways (I'm sure it has a name !) is secured by three very proud screws, and one fouled my repair. So I switched it out for a counter sunk bolt, and job done. Just to take care of the tight ways at the headstock end now...

 

[wa5cab]

shed tuner,

I'll only add one small comment to what you have written. The Atlas 10F (and the equivalent Craftsman 12") remained in production until 1956 or or 1957 so referring to it as a Prewar lathe may or may not be technically correct. I was unable to rough date it from what you have said or shown.

 

[shed tuner]

shed tuner,

I'll only add one small comment to what you have written. The Atlas 10F (and the equivalent Craftsman 12") remained in production until 1956 or or 1957 so referring to it as a Prewar lathe may or may not be technically correct. I was unable to rough date it from what you have said or shown.

For sure. Mine both have the small crossfeed dials (1" ?) so on the early side, but the square not oval power switch. This 48" (about 28" between centres ? I've not had it together to measure ) has the babbit bearing, which I gather they stopped producing realtively early ? Please correct me here: I'mguessing it's somewhat early, but not one of the earliest examples.

 

[wa5cab]

shed tuner,

So I am told, approximately mid 1942 the serial number was moved from the top of the right end of the front way to the nameplate which was at the time located approximately in the center of the rear of the bed casting. In 1956 or 1957 the nameplate was moved to the right end of the bed but AFAIK that only affected the new 12" swing machines with 1/2" thick ways. I believe all of this to be correct but the only example that I have actually seen is a model 3996 12x36 made in late 1980.