Today, at the salvage yard..

[skeer]

Whilst trying to free a small electrical device from a commercial deep freezer I helped a guy back his trailer in. After some back and forth he's like 'Do you want a lathe?' LOL!

There wasn't enough of me to wrestle this beast into the back of my truck.. but I will be there in the morning when they open the gate to section it up into manageable pieces. Guy said it'd been out in the weather for a while. Every nut and bolt I loosened today was super easy. I'm sure the rails are seized tho. I don't know if Ill make it out of there with it but Im going to try.

 

[skeer]

A little bit of Google-Fu and I know what it is now!

Atlas Lathe Restoration - Bloominglabs

www.bloominglabs.org

 

[ChevyEFI]

I am jealous twofold. You've been to the salvage yard more recently than me. I like the car ones. And well, a lathe is on my need in the future list. Carry on.

 

[jabberwoki]

Nice, looking forward to the resto thread.

 

[Shiftless]

Nice project. Great score!
That should keep you busy for a while but the end result will be something to be REALLY proud of.

 

[skeer]

Yeah I’ll be honest, after watching a couple videos last night in these… idk if I can fund an actual/original restoration. I usually also lack the patience for that. I know at least one pulley on the quick change is half broken, also missing the lock knob and pin on the tail stock, and a broken knob on that center um.. tooling/holder part. Not sure what else. It took everything the guy and I had to get it unhooked from the rest of the stuff he dumped.

 

[liliysdad]

If you can get it cheap, you can make very decent money parting it out on eBay.

 

[Zeke]

If you can get it cheap, you can make very decent money parting it out on eBay.

I put dozens of CM parts for 3 machines on the flea and ended up leaving them out for the scrapper. I had a tailstock, tablesaw trunnion and all kinds of things like that. Not worth the time and effort. You might sell the handwheels and gears.

 

[skeer]

It’s coming home with me!

 

[skeer]

Whelp got it all home and unloaded. As far as I can tell, all that this is missing is a chuck, chuck key, the Pinot end for the tail stock, and one of the handles on the rest. More pics to come.

 

[skeer]

So in the absence of serial number or legible tags, how can I identify the the model?

Nevermind, it’s a 10F

 

[skeer]

https://imgur.com/a/yUMMUmK

https://imgur.com/a/wHEEM3J

https://imgur.com/a/sWv5OW7

 

[liliysdad]

I put dozens of CM parts for 3 machines on the flea and ended up leaving them out for the scrapper. I had a tailstock, tablesaw trunnion and all kinds of things like that. Not worth the time and effort. You might sell the handwheels and gears.

This has not been my experience at all, but the market is fickle. Between FB Marketplace and eBay, this sort of thing is always worth the effort.

 

[CraigStu]

I have a similar lathe but it labeled from Sears. I would just get working what you can w/o spending a lot of $. Reason I say that is my threader doesn't work and I have never changed the speed w/ the gears. I 'think' I changed it once 5 years ago by swapping the belt to another groove on the pulleys. I am obviously not a sophisticated user but I have made a ton of stuff from Al and steel and I wouldn't sell it unless the price was outrageously high. It is really nice to need some kind of spacer sleeve, spend 20 min on the lathe and make whatever I need. I get bits and a quick change tool thing from Little Machine Shop.

 

[skeer]

I gotta say… electrolysis is no joke. Wow

 

[nadogail]

You have a lot of potential in that lathe. If it were in my workshop, I would repurpose it into another machine.

 

[skeer]

So I messed up last night.. I put the tooling base I to the electro bucket with the leads reversed. Hot on the part, negative on the rods! The part looked like complete hell 10 minutes ago.
I switched them and am hoping the nastiness is just surface clumpings and that I didn’t cause forces pitting.

 

[skeer]

You have a lot of potential in that lathe. If it were in my workshop, I would repurpose it into another machine.

Oh? Do tell!

 

[bb29510]

thats an atlas

 

[skeer]

Ok so here’s the resulting damage from incorrect polarity when using electrolysis: warning NSFGJ

 

[skeer]

I feel so ashamed, sad, mad and stupidity. It still slides smoothly so I might technically be fine but ugh. Going to have to keep an eye out for another.

 

[skeer]

So the bearing plates are perfect.. so the bottom of the saddles surfaces I think will be fine.
The bottom half of the swivel has perfect gib/bearing plates. As well as the upper swivel and tool post slide.

So far I’ve been able to disassemble everything except the head stock and tail stock.
What’s the best way to free up that tailstocks ram?

 

[John in OH]

I have a similar lathe but it labeled from Sears. I would just get working what you can w/o spending a lot of $. Reason I say that is my threader doesn't work and I have never changed the speed w/ the gears. I 'think' I changed it once 5 years ago by swapping the belt to another groove on the pulleys. I am obviously not a sophisticated user but I have made a ton of stuff from Al and steel and I wouldn't sell it unless the price was outrageously high. It is really nice to need some kind of spacer sleeve, spend 20 min on the lathe and make whatever I need. I get bits and a quick change tool thing from Little Machine Shop.

IIRC. the larger 10" lathes sold under the Craftsman name were Atlas lathes. They are recognizable due to the flat bed ways.
Craftsman also sold a much smaller lathe as well. From what I could tell from years ago the smaller lathes weren't much use but the larger Atlas lathes were quite nice for home-shop lathes.

Skeer done good!!

 

[spike99250]

Ok so here’s the resulting damage from incorrect polarity when using electrolysis: warning NSFGJ

I wouldn't say that is damage from the reversal, it just looks like the pitting left from the rust.
I have done the electrolysis and vinegar soaks and had pieces come out looking like that.

 

[alfadan]

Yep, I think the ways (whole thing) were junk to begin with. A good parts donor anyway.

 

[skeer]

IIRC. the larger 10" lathes sold under the Craftsman name were Atlas lathes. They are recognizable due to the flat bed ways.
Craftsman also sold a much smaller lathe as well. From what I could tell from years ago the smaller lathes weren't much use but the larger Atlas lathes were quite nice for home-shop lathes.

Skeer done good!!

From my research the Atlas company.. it's first version, sold a number of things under the Craftsman badge. Then there was some internal strife, the OG family sold off their stake to the partner who then tried to swindle them on the name.
It's a long story.. but there were plenty of 10" sold under the Atlas name. They also had beds that went from 3' to 54".

I should start another thread with all the tear down and cleaning pics together.

 

[csp]

IIRC. the larger 10" lathes sold under the Craftsman name were Atlas lathes. They are recognizable due to the flat bed ways.
Craftsman also sold a much smaller lathe as well. From what I could tell from years ago the smaller lathes weren't much use but the larger Atlas lathes were quite nice for home-shop lathes.

Skeer done good!!

Atlas made Craftsman lathes from 6" to 12" throws. Any that start with model number prefix 101 are Atlas. Those that start with 109 (6" only) were made by the Double A company and were of a lower quality than the Atlas versions.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Good news/bad news time.

Bn…A lot of that machines parts are pitted.

Gn….. most of it does not matter much.

Bn…those machines have flat bed ways.

Gn….flat ways are easy and cheap to have redressed and you can even do this yourself.

Bn…..that machine has Babbit journals.

Gn…,Babbit journals won’t be tore up from being out in the rain whereas roller bearings would be toast.

The lead screw should be OKish and the “clamp is called the half nut and engages the lead screw, but you’re a long way off using that function.

As to the tail stock mix up some “Ed’s red” and soak it and it should free up.

 

[skeer]

Actually.. the pitting is only bad on the part that I made the mistake with. The others..e ven machined surfaces were actually really good for the age. The guy had said it had sat out in the weather for a while but I neglected to ask exactly how long.

I don't know enough to agree or disagree with the flat bed.. but a lot of ya'll seem to hate 'em. I have to switch my rust-eater setup into a 40 gallon trash can today so I can soak the entire bed but I gauge the health of those ways.

I did get the headstock gears/shaft to rotate freely, there's no perceivable play in either the fore or aft bearings.

And for the tailstock, I've soaked it a few times in a bucket of old synthetic engine oil and transmission fluid. It's still SUPER stuck so I'll likely throw it back in there and leave it for a few days.

 

[tdkkart]

The handy part is, you can build one of those lathes from Ebay parts in a matter of a few weeks of waiting for the parts you
need to show up.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Actually.. the pitting is only bad on the part that I made the mistake with. The others..e ven machined surfaces were actually really good for the age. The guy had said it had sat out in the weather for a while but I neglected to ask exactly how long.

I don't know enough to agree or disagree with the flat bed.. but a lot of ya'll seem to hate 'em. I have to switch my rust-eater setup into a 40 gallon trash can today so I can soak the entire bed but I gauge the health of those ways.

I did get the headstock gears/shaft to rotate freely, there's no perceivable play in either the fore or aft bearings.

And for the tailstock, I've soaked it a few times in a bucket of old synthetic engine oil and transmission fluid. It's still SUPER stuck so I'll likely throw it back in there and leave it for a few days.

You didn’t make a mistake, well at least not a detrimental one. May have hurt you pride more than the castings.

Flat bed lathes are fine as long as their in good condition. The problem is when they wear they become more unstable in the cut than a V way machine with twice the wear.

Your head bearings are most likely adjustable but leave that for later. Best bet is to remove the spindle and remove any rust or scoring with emery cloth and reassemble with proper oil. The cotton was in there as a wick so the oil did not just run straight out of the bearings after being oiled.

And you will want to oil those bearings before each use, sometimes even half way through a long day of use.

I’ve rebuilt several in my garage that were in far worse shape, and for light hobby use they were all fine.

 

[rancherbill]

YOU ****, what a great find. Now that you are an owner of a lathe that looks like it will be running soon, you will be able to make all the parts you need.

Remember a lathe was the machine that initially built and can build everything in a machine shop.

 

[cruzer75]

Any lathe is better than NO lathe! It will get you started on the hobby, you will make lots of parts and figure out what you like/don't like. Don't worry if its flat ways/v ways/ flame hardened/ etc. Get it together, get it running, make some stuff and have fun with it. You will be able to sell it and buy a bigger one if you need to later!