Atlas vs the others

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Dranreb said:
Clever work you've done there Iron man, looking forward to more detail when you have the time to share it, thanks..:thumbzup:
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I will try and get it torn down sometime this week end I started another post for that I hope it helps you get yours going.
 
In case anyone is following the recent part of this thread because they need Atlas parts and don't know, I'll mention that Clausing still has considerable support for the Atlas lathes and to a lesser degree, some of the other type machines that Atlas built. Prices generally reflect current (not 1940's) costs to produce but a pair of half nuts for a 12" last time I checked were under $35. If you'd rather make a part because you can and don't need the machine back up PDQ in order to make something else (which would generally be my case), have at it. Just know that you may not have to.

Also (with the exception of the Model 3950 headstock casting), generally ignore derogatory comments about Zamak parts. For the most part they are just sour grapes.

Robert D
 
All I was saying was if he was interested is production, an Atlas might not be the machine for him. Try taking a .200 cut on an Atlas with a V belt drive. The box ways are considered a weak point and are generally regarded as inaccurate. Changing gears is also time consuming. By all means though, delete my comment because I offended someone. BTW, I owned an Atlas and enjoyed using it, but I was always mindfull of it's limitations. When I run bigger work, production, and tight tolerances, I use my Harrison.

Use the right tool for the job.
 
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Brandon said:
All I was saying was if he was interested is production, an Atlas might not be the machine for him. Try taking a .200 cut on an Atlas with a V belt drive. The box ways are considered a weak point and are generally regarded as inaccurate. Changing gears is also time consuming. By all means though, delete my comment because I offended someone. BTW, I owned an Atlas and enjoyed using it, but I was always mindfull of it's limitations. When I run bigger work, production, and tight tolerances, I use my Harrison.

Use the right tool for the job.
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I would take issue with the flat ways we had some awful big lathes where I use to work big enough to turn a man hole cover and the ways where flat. It is all about how much surface contact and and inverted V does not give that big of an advantage. I also have used many of the South bend of the same size as the Atlas and I could take no larger cut on them than I could on an Atlas. The gear box on mine looks Identical to a South bend so close I think you could interchange them.. But these lathes where never made for production even though some have found there way being used that way. But for a home machine shop they are only limited by your imagination.. Ray
 
wa5cab said:
In case anyone is following the recent part of this thread because they need Atlas parts and don't know, I'll mention that Clausing still has considerable support for the Atlas lathes and to a lesser degree, some of the other type machines that Atlas built. Prices generally reflect current (not 1940's) costs to produce but a pair of half nuts for a 12" last time I checked were under $35. If you'd rather make a part because you can and don't need the machine back up PDQ in order to make something else (which would generally be my case), have at it. Just know that you may not have to.

Also (with the exception of the Model 3950 headstock casting), generally ignore derogatory comments about Zamak parts. For the most part they are just sour grapes.

Robert D
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That is good info I use to get small catalogs from them but now they dont even have the web site up anymore. Thanks Ray
 
Brandon,

The name of this site is Hobby-Machinist. With equal emphasis on both words. Several other roughly similar internet lists use the same word in their names, or use "Home". For the most part, even 20 years ago none of the machines commonly discussed here would have been usable for production. Even today most machine shops will still have several manual engine lathes on the floor for prototypes, one-off's and the like. But if they tried to use them for production, labor costs would be prohibitive. And the cost of even those machines is beyond the means (or beyond the willingness to pay) of the majority of the people who turn up here.

I've never particularly needed to take a .200 cut but if trying to do so with a V-belt drive would cause problems, trying to do it with a flat belt drive would be if anything worse. But I consider it a non-issue on this site.

Although very few flat bed lathes are made anymore, it's more because they are generally regarded as inaccurate plus one other issue than because they are inaccurate. A badly worn V bed is just as bad as a badly worn flat bed. The only real difference is that a badly worn V-bed doesn't give itself away by being hard to traverse all the way to the tailstock end of the bed. Unless you have to do work accurate to 0.0001" or less, the only real problem with a properly adjusted flat bed lathe is differential bed wear. Which can be a problem. On the other hand, it's cheaper to regrind a flat bed than a V-bed.

I don't understand your time consuming gear change comment. If time is critical, don't use a Change Gear lathe.

In any case, it wasn't what you said, it was how you said it. Had you told the guy that for a production shop, forget anything more than about 30 years old (and therefore most machines anyone on this site owns other than Chinese built), and to go buy a good used NC machining center, there wouldn't have been any reason to take exception.

Robert D.


Brandon said:
All I was saying was if he was interested is production, an Atlas might not be the machine for him. Try taking a .200 cut on an Atlas with a V belt drive. The box ways are considered a weak point and are generally regarded as inaccurate. Changing gears is also time consuming. By all means though, delete my comment because I offended someone. BTW, I owned an Atlas and enjoyed using it, but I was always mindfull of it's limitations. When I run bigger work, production, and tight tolerances, I use my Harrison.

Use the right tool for the job.
Click to expand...
 
I owned a Logan, 3 Atlas lathes, a Sheldon flatbelt, a Jet and now have an 1880's Prentise Bros treadle lathe and a 1440 GoodWay gearhead. All good machines and I made hundreds of parts on them. I was happy with each lathe when I had it, but every now and then each one either wasn't quite large enough or didn't have collets or was too slow for some jobs or something else. They were good 80% of the time but could be agrivating at times also. Life is full of compromises. As I have gotten older and with a lifetime of turning, it's nice to have that I really enjoyed using and has fewer limitations and offers many of the features the others didn't have.

Charlie W.
 
Robert D.
I was sharing my experience dealing with Atlas lathes. I gave an honest assessment You didn't like it, so you deleted what I typed.
Your comment of "Even today most machine shops will still have several manual engine lathes on the floor for prototypes, one-off's and the like. But if they tried to use them for production, labor costs would be prohibitive" Is not accurate at all. Do you see the lathe in my avatar? That lathe is used every day, as well as a collection of manuals that you don't see. I regularly take .200+ deep cuts with my machine in my shop. That is why I make money.

I am a machinist and tool and die maker by trade, and by choice. I set up and run CNC machines and every sort of manual machine that you can think of, as well as most brands. I belonged to the IAM for years. I was sharing my experience with a person that was asking for help. I'm sorry if I insulted your favorite machine by pointing out it's well known problems. I figured that you would welcome different viewpoints as well as an experienced professional machinist to your site.
 
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