Atlas Th54 Pictures Questions Cleaning And Breaking.

I don't think I'll necessarily
Go word for word throughout this thread. Long story short I caught slack for my machine being dirty and couldn't get it to cut correctly so I tore into it for a much needed cleaning, overall adjustment, and to familiarize myself with this machine. So onto pictures. Then I have some questions also. [ATTACH=full]98580[/ATTACH]


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Now here's my questions

- my ways measured .380 rear .375 front. All the way down they measured the SE front and rear. Is that correct?
- I have .004 play (up-down) on the rear of the carriage. The bearing plate is worn pretty bad and I played with the shims and got it from .035 to were it is. The front is about .001 so I'm now super concerned with that. Anyone have any. Or where to get shims for the rear. I'm kind of afraid to scrape the bearing plate because I've never done it but it may be my best option at this point.
- the motor has a ton of brass bronze and metal shavings in it but I cannot remove the start capacitor or the wiring to full disassemble it to clean it. Can anyone shoot me some helpful tips? The chunk missing in the one picture I'm going to attempt to braze or possibly mig it back together as I've had luck with mig welding at work with my toaster oven for pre and post heat. And beings it isn't a structural component is rather it be there just to keep the dirt out.
- I setup my spindle put in a 7" long piece in the chuck and tried to adjust for >.003 play but cannot get below .004. All that is clean and freshly oiled and as I rotate I can feel a spot that it tightens up very briefly then goes back to smooth. Possible bent spindle? Or should I run it in under power and try to readjust?
I believe that's all the concerns I have. Then again I always forget stuff so I'm sure I'll have more later on. Thanks for any help at all.


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If anyone could help I'd appreciate it. Thanks.


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What does "the SE front and rear" mean?

I wouldn't worry about .004" vertical in the rear. Nor .001" in the front unless the carriage binds toward the right end. Just don't do any climb milling.

On the motor, I thought I already made this suggestion. But wash it out with Varsol or equivalent to remove the shavings and let it air dry for a day. Then wash the chunk that broke out and where it fits in the end bell with alcohol and glue it in with either 2-part epoxy or E6000. Fortunately, it will be in compression when you reinstall the end bell. Just make sure that it fits dry before you apply the adhesive.

There should be no radial movement of the spindle. If there is, either one of the cones is loose on the spindle, one of the cups is loose in the headstock, or you don't have any preload on the bearings. Try tightening the threaded collar another tooth. After you get that sorted out and get the motor back together, run it for half an hour at 500 to 750 RPM (monitoring the bearing journal and motor temperatures) and see whether the tight spot goes away.

wa5cab said:

What does "the SE front and rear" mean?

I wouldn't worry about .004" vertical in the rear. Nor .001" in the front unless the carriage binds toward the right end. Just don't do any climb milling.

On the motor, I thought I already made this suggestion. But wash it out with Varsol or equivalent to remove the shavings and let it air dry for a day. Then wash the chunk that broke out and where it fits in the end bell with alcohol and glue it in with either 2-part epoxy or E6000. Fortunately, it will be in compression when you reinstall the end bell. Just make sure that it fits dry before you apply the adhesive.

There should be no radial movement of the spindle. If there is, either one of the cones is loose on the spindle, one of the cups is loose in the headstock, or you don't have any preload on the bearings. Try tightening the threaded collar another tooth. After you get that sorted out and get the motor back together, run it for half an hour at 500 to 750 RPM (monitoring the bearing journal and motor temperatures) and see whether the tight spot goes away.

Click to expand...

Sorry SE is supposed to be same. Autocorrect on my phone has a way of inserting completely wrong words on me. And I think I may have moved one of the races installing the dust caps. I hope not though.

Right now my carriage does bind down the right end of the lathe that could be from a bit of rust on the ways however. I cleaned it all off and didn't think to oil it before I went in for the night thinking it wasn't going to rain. Well it rained and the surface rust is now back. I can't stand rust on my poor lathe. Makes me feel like a degenerate. I'm not sure how to remove it though. So far I've been using either steel wool and oil or a purple scotch brite and oil. The scotch brite works a lot faster with a lot less pressure. Steel wool doesn't seem to do a whole lot.

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OK on "same".

I would use the Scotchbrite. It's safer in several ways.

If you are having to work on the machine outside, put a tarp over it when you aren't working on it. Whether it rains or not, there may be dew.