Atlas 10F 24... motor RPM and HP verification ..

Wondering if someone could let me know the HP... I believe 1/3 to 1/8... and RPMS of the motor that should be on this beauty Atlas 10F 24 with Babbit bearings ..

Up to 1/2 hp 1750rpm or thereabouts.

My Timken version had a 1/2 hp motor, but it was not original. The lathe came out of a high school.
The motor rpm was the standard 17xx as found on most motors today.
Pierre

thanks for the input

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...One more question just read that my lathe 10F 24 rear gear drive max turning speed is 345 ...thought it was much higher ...can someone tell me if the speed of this lathe is 345 or can it turn any higher ?????MY bad I found out my problem ...

Tawas,

Original motor recommendations for the 10" was 1/3 or 1/2 HP, 1725 to 1750 RPM.

The speed range of the Atlas 10" and 12" machines when fitted with a nominal 1725 RPM motor is 28 to 2072 RPM. The speed range in direct drive is 164 to 2072. With back gears engaged, the speed range is 28 to 345 RPM. For most turning work on a 10" or 12", you wouldn't use back gears. However, it depends upon the diameter of the workpiece and the cutter speed you need for the material that you are working. For a table of cutting speeds versus diameter versus RPM, look in the MOLO around page 47 to 49, depending upon which edition you have. A couple of pages earlier, you will find a chart of various types of steel and other materials versus recommended cutting speeds with HSS (High Speed Steel) cutters.

Robert D.

Let me understand something better :thinking: ...are you saying I dont use the back gears when turning ..I thought the back gears always had to be engaged..what are the back gears for ??????

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Pic of my Atlas 10F 24

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another pic

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Lathe pics

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1 more

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Thanks to this site and help from members its up and running like a champ ..thanks again to all thats helped me with this beauty :thanks:

The back gears are a compact way to slow the spindle speed down by, in this case, a factor of 6 to 1. Doing the same thing in a 2-stage belt drive system would be impractical because the largest pulleys on the spindle and on the left side of the countershaft (motor belt) would be huge. Think of it as akin to the two-speed transfer cases in most 4X4 and 6X6 motor vehicles. If you want to go fast, you put the transfer case in high range (usually 1:1) and use the main gearbox for shifting. If you want to crawl along slowly, you put the transfer case in low range and then again use the main gearbox to "fine tune".

Atlas had a try at doing it all with belts in the early 9" lathe. They called the system the "compound drive". Apparently it worked better in theory than in practice as after a couple of years they came out with a 9" without the compound drive. And shortly after that, scaled it up to 10", which in two or three years became the machine that you have. For a few years in the mid 30's they and Sears sold versions of the 10" and 12" without the back gears. But they dropped those by 1940.

Robert D.

Wow Yikes...... to think I have been running this lathe in all speeds with the back gear engaged..my bad ..I did this because the belt seemed to slip without the back gears engaged ...I better go check my belt tension or find out why my belt slips when the back gears are not engaged ....what year do you think my lathe is approximately????

The Atlas 10F came out circa 1939 (maybe late 1938). The babbit bearing headstock was I think offered up to about 1945. On a babbit bearing model, without a serial number that's as close an estimate as can be given.

RD

the other number I found are 9-95A in rear by gear cover and inside gear cover 10F 24 other than that no more numbers exist ..Also I tried running it without back gears engaged and I can stop the chuck with my hand and some pressure ..belts are tight and new ...the counter shaft belt slips if back gears are not engaged ...any ideas???