Suggestion for Way repair

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grimdbd

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Well, I've been restoring a 1947ish Craftsman 10" lathe. Today I got to the point of removing the headstock from the ways and found this:
PXL_20220510_032232830.jpg
And this:
PXL_20220510_032226121.jpg
So, the big break is right where the headstock clamped to the ways and the bolt hole for the rear is also broken. I suppose it was dropped or something.

anyway, does anyone have suggestions on a repair? I figure I can either weld it into place and make sure the welds are ground below the flat of the ways. Or I could possibly build a larger headstock clamp to catch more of the unbroken ways. I'd have see if that would even be possible or if I have the room but it may be an option. But from looking at the picture the clamp would have to have some notches.

What would you do?

Other than that it is cleaning up pretty well for being 75 years old.

On a side note, what is a good place to buy lubrication oils?
Thanks,
Dave
 
Yeah, I don't see that as a repair. I would smooth out the edges and try to use the lathe as is, any attempts to repair, especially using heat/welding will more than likely not work and will make things worse.
 
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You can not apply enough heat to warp the bed.
If it were mine I would make some new clamps to attach it to the bed.
Use a piece of .001 feeler stock to check for a gap after clamping it in place.
 
It appears the damage is under the headstock?

If the headstock still sits flat on the ways and the "working" portion of the ways are still good....

Versus repairing the ways and the risks mentioned above.

Can you make a clamping setup that sandwiches the ways between the headstock since it appears one of the mounting holes is broken? Something like a parallel bar that connects to both Headstock bolts and sandwiches the ways in between?

There are also a number of Craftsman Lathe Beds Listed on Ebay right now...

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Probably not necessary, but for appearance sake you could epoxy them back in and stone flat. Clean very well first with acetone, and should be plenty strong. Mike
 
Measure her very carefully, then take her to someone who can braze very well.
The temp for effective brazing is necessarily the temp the iron will change (700-800degrees).
You can ask your local guru about the possibility of silver solder. Not as strong but may work well enough.
Regardless, when you get her back remeasure and identify how much she has changed.
The heat may make her unusable.
But depending on what's in your wallet it may be the best option.

Daryl
MN
 
That's a nasty injury- I would be looking for another bed or maybe another change gear model and convert to quick change with your box
I would be suspicious of the headstock too after such an impact
-M
 
I would part it out on eBay and use the money toward another lathe. The bed to headstock alignment is the heart of a lathe.

The preferred oil for an Atlas is SAE 20 non-detergent. Last time I checked, True Value Hardware had it in quart bottles.
 
A common repair is to do a epoxy repair and scrape it smooth. Neither of these places are super critical, but you don't want to promote chips getting under the works at these repair points,

It is all a matter of what it is worth to you. You've taken the trouble to disassemble it, so it must have some value to you. Is it worth making a dam and filling with epoxy mixed with iron particles (you can buy preparations like this) and using a straight edge to scrape it down?

The upside is learning some good skills in a low-risk environment (nothing to lose: if you don't like it, just scrape so there is no contact at all) or potentially return it to fairly good service.
 
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