What is hiding under that paint?

Atlas2start

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As I continue my Atlas 10F restoration project, I got to this "Tumbler"? After removing the paint, I find that the whole thing appears to have been repaired/modified. This is from the lathe that had the New-All quick change gear box. I can find no part numbers on it, and I cannot find a picture in any of the Atlas literature that I have.
Anybody have any info on this piece? It came off the lathe.

Fred
 

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I do not recall seeing anything in what we have, either. And I also do not know whether the tumbler shown is original to the New All kit or not. What appears to be missing is a detent to lock the tumbler into its three normal positions. The assembly sticking up from the tumbler arm might be part of the detent but if it is, there would seem to be a part missing. The missing part would probably be sheet metal, have three holes for FWD-OFF-REV, and one or two probably countersunk holes for flat head screws to mount the detent plate to the headstock.
 
I sorta implied but did not outright say that although the two tumbler gears might possibly be either Atlas parts or the same as Atlas parts, the tumbler itself is neither. While either of the two Atlas equivalents would either work or could probably be adapted to work, finding either of them will be as difficult as finding either of the two Atlas gearboxes. And unlikely to be available by themselves in any case. And I can understand your not needing another gearbox.

And if I didn't make it clear before, we do not that I know of have anything on the New All gearbox other than maybe a catalog page in some post somewhere over the past decade. ]
 
I do not recall seeing anything in what we have, either. And I also do not know whether the tumbler shown is original to the New All kit or not. What appears to be missing is a detent to lock the tumbler into its three normal positions. The assembly sticking up from the tumbler arm might be part of the detent but if it is, there would seem to be a part missing. The missing part would probably be sheet metal, have three holes for FWD-OFF-REV, and one or two probably countersunk holes for flat head screws to mount the detent plate to the headstock.
I wondered that too! So I looked at the exploded view of the parts list, multiple times...zip. Compared it to my lathe..zero. Looked at various other pics..zilch. But I finally found it. There are 3 holes drilled on the inner guard.

Fred
 

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I sorta implied but did not outright say that although the two tumbler gears might possibly be either Atlas parts or the same as Atlas parts, the tumbler itself is neither. While either of the two Atlas equivalents would either work or could probably be adapted to work, finding either of them will be as difficult as finding either of the two Atlas gearboxes. And unlikely to be available by themselves in any case. And I can understand your not needing another gearbox.

And if I didn't make it clear before, we do not that I know of have anything on the New All gearbox other than maybe a catalog page in some post somewhere over the past decade. ]
There are 3 complete tumbler assemblies on eBay right now, but they are for the Atlas Quick Change Gearbox. I looked at them, and am not sure that they would work, even if I could retro fit them. This one may look like crap, but a little paint should help.

Fred
 
OK. I'm sure that the New All tumbler will work OK. And I had forgotten about the the inner guard.
 
Why would the tumbler arm be dependent upon whether you have a QCGB or not? Isn’t the interface with the QCGB just a matter of the banjo position and how/where the gear train is mounted? I’ve only seen two tumbler styles. They did change when the headstock casting changed to the newer “blockier” style.

There may have been installation kits available with the New All/O’Brien aftermarket QCGB but they may also have just provided instruction. I say so because I never see anything other than the QCGB itself in the old advertisements and all the pictures of installations I have show different methods of adapting it to the lathe, so I think your tumbler and mounting bracket were probably shop made by a previous owner.

You can take a spin through my thread here. The QCGB details are shown on page 1, and also some later.


This lathe was circa 1937 production and was purchased new by my Grandfather. He purchased and installed the O’Brien QCGB sometime thereafter. The first page will show the mods made to accommodate the aftermarket QCGB, but in short, all he did was modify the lead screw by cutting it down and adding a keyway and mounting provisions for the drive gear, modified the banjo, and drilled mounting holes in the side of the ways beneath the headstock. Originally I thought the banjo had been repaired but it was actually modified to be a pinch clamp with a brass spacer on the boss of the QCGB for locking it in position, (similar to the 6” lathes I believe) which had worked fine for over 70 years so I kept it that way and have had no problems with it.

One thing I will mention about these QCGB’s, the mounting location reduces the overall travel of carriage toward the headstock because the hand wheel hits the QCGB before reaching full travel. Even with the hand wheel removed, the same is the case to a lesser extent due to the carriage. With the additional spacing away from the headstock caused by installation of a three or four jaw chuck it’s a not a problem but if you were using collets and trying to do work close to the nose of the spindle, it would be a problem.

Best,
Kelly
 
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