Zamak Parts and Magnetism

D

Deadbolt47A

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This is probably an ignorant question but one that I need to ask. Is Zamak magnetic. I've read where some Atlas mk ll lathes had headstocks made from zamak. Would a magnet stick to a zamak headstock?
Thanks .
Eric
 
According to Wikipedia, Zamak is zinc with aluminum, magnesium, or copper. So no, it would not be magnetic.
 
No a Magnet will not stick to Zamak however depending on how strong the magnet is it might have the capability to "grab" some other component of the headstock that Is Magnetic into its field of attraction which may give the zamak the "appearance" of being somewhat Magnetic only because its between the magnet and a magnetic material!
 
Tap with a light hammer and it will sound different than iron or steel.
 
Zamak is non-magnetic. And yes, the last several hundred Atlas 6" MK2's had Zamak headstocks and legs. Although some are known to have survived, more didn't. That mistake as much as anything else caused production to cease. I understand that some repair kits with the previous version cast iron headstocks and legs were either supplied or sold. It isn't known whether they were supplied at no charge or not.
 
Hi Guys,

Zamak, Mazak in the UK, is horrible stuff. Steer well clear. As we say here, made from milk bottle tops...
 
It's actually pretty durable if made with a high degree of purity- if not, it can develop a problem called "zinc pest" which causes it to deteriorate. It is not suitable for such things as headstock castings, as Atlas discovered, but for gears it gives a fairly good service life / cost ratio
mark
 
Actually, Zamak 5, aside from about three known instances of them using what turned out to be contaminated Zinc, has held up pretty well. On my 3996 (the newest 12" currently known), after 38 years, none of the gears nor the half nuts really need replacing. But there is one thing that all of the nay-sayers ignore. And that is that there are more Atlas machines still around today in either working or restorable condition than at least the next three or four more expensive US badges combined. That we know of, between 1932 and 1981, Atlas built a total of 267,034 metal lathes of 6", 9", 10" and 12" swing. The actual figure is probably approaching 300.000. Atlas started out to build metal lathes that were more affordable than the then competition and still be capable of turning out useful work. And for about half a century, they did just that. So we can do without comments like the one in post #6.
 
Let me also clarify my statement about headstock castings: A strong enough casting could be made but not a simple substitution of zamak for cast iron using essentially the same mold- additional webbing and thickness would be required in the part but it would have required a re-design. Didn't happen.
mark
 
Right. If the Zamak part had been the same dimensions as the cast iron part, it would have been fine strength-wise, But definitely not cheaper.
 
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