Newly acquired Atlas lathe.

[Stephen Tegner]

Hi all, I only just joined the site and am from South Africa. I recently bought this Atlas 10 f series (I think!) for the equivalent of 850 USD which might seem high but in this country you have to grab a lathe like this when you can especially when it comes with a fair amount of accessories, these images are all I have just now which were sent to me by the seller and from the looks of it it's mostly there. I don't know what the gears look like or the finer details but will post pics as soon as I get it home. The chuck doesn't look standard to me and looks rather on the large side, hopefully it won't affect the bearings too much. Regards Steve

 

[schor]

It's a fair deal for $850. Now you need to clean and grease and oil it. The book you got will have an oiling chart. Make sure to get everything. I don't think the chuck is a problem but check out the bearings anyways. Yours has the babbitt bearings.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Looks like a great deal, but I would disagree on that chuck size, especially on a babbit bearing machine. There is a good reason those machines came out with a 3 jaw chuck of much more modest dimensions. The additional mass spinning on the end of that spindle would accelerate the wear on at least the bearing nearest the chuck if not both bearings. That is just my opinion for what its worth.

 

[Stephen Tegner]

Looks like a great deal, but I would disagree on that chuck size, especially on a babbit bearing machine. There is a good reason those machines came out with a 3 jaw chuck of much more modest dimensions. The additional mass spinning on the end of that spindle would accelerate the wear on at least the bearing nearest the chuck if not both bearings. That is just my opinion for what its worth.

Thanks guys, nice to know it was a fair deal. Maybe the original 3 jaw chuck is also lurking around the sellers workshop, I'll ask just to make sure.

 

[righto88]

I think you got a very good deal. I wished I could find a deal like that here in Tennessee.

 

[robert1352]

I see you also got the milling attachment. Awesome find!!!

 

[ARM]

Hi all, I only just joined the site and am from South Africa. I recently bought this Atlas 10 f series (I think!) for the equivalent of 850 USD which might seem high but in this country you have to grab a lathe like this when you can especially when it comes with a fair amount of accessories, these images are all I have just now which were sent to me by the seller and from the looks of it it's mostly there. I don't know what the gears look like or the finer details but will post pics as soon as I get it home. The chuck doesn't look standard to me and looks rather on the large side, hopefully it won't affect the bearings too much. Regards Steve

Hello STEVE
Firstly welcome. U could not have joined a better group.
All the best on Your recent purchase.
Had also seen an ad or two on these Atlas Lathes on our local Gumtree. Really admired the one Rudy Kouhoupt uses for his Video Lessons, which we have. His machine of well over 40 plus Years, is not only immaculate but works perfectly and precisely. Must say that we reckon U have been luckier, if not much pluckier to make this deal !!!
We are also in the market for a second smaller faster Lathe.
Had been offered an EMCO MAXIMAT V10P at 30 Grand. Just could not decide on it.
You have stacks of work ahead with this little joy.
Post pics so's we can also admire Your efforts.
kindest regards
aRM

 

[Stephen Tegner]

Hello STEVE
Firstly welcome. U could not have joined a better group.
All the best on Your recent purchase.
Had also seen an ad or two on these Atlas Lathes on our local Gumtree. Really admired the one Rudy Kouhoupt uses for his Video Lessons, which we have. His machine of well over 40 plus Years, is not only immaculate but works perfectly and precisely. Must say that we reckon U have been luckier, if not much pluckier to make this deal !!!
We are also in the market for a second smaller faster Lathe.
Had been offered an EMCO MAXIMAT V10P at 30 Grand. Just could not decide on it.
You have stacks of work ahead with this little joy.
Post pics so's we can also admire Your efforts.
kindest regards
aRM

Hi thank you for the welcome, nice to see I'm not the only South African here. Well like you I went through the various sales rags like Gumtree, OLX and Junk mail but every time I found some lathe I really liked it was snapped up before I could get anywhere near it. An engineering friend put me onto this club that facilitates deals by fellow enthusiasts and he put me onto the gent who owned this lathe and a deal was struck, still paying it off. The chap I am getting it from says he knows nothing about lathes and has boxes and boxes of other parts not appearing in the pictures so I am really looking forward to seeing just what else he can have. I had two smaller lathes that I had to sell to make up the cash for this one. Just for everyone's interest I am the senior restorer at the South African museum of Military History so restoring things is my profession and I am looking forward to this lathes restoration and will definitely keep you all informed about the progress. http://ab40restoration.blogspot.com/ http://charb1bis.blogspot.com/ Here are two of my blogs that I have on the go. Regards.

 

[wa5cab]

Stephen,

The reason that Uncle Buck made his comment about the chuck and babbitt bearings is I think because of the weight. The Atlas 6" is the same diameter but much lighter. Which goes to less wear on the bottom of the front spindle bearing. One thing that you will probably want to check once you get the lathe and see what else you got, etc., is for differential wear (more on the front than on the rear) on the spindle bearings. If there is some, after carefully adjusting the bearing running clearance and re-checking, the usual fix is to shim the front of the headstock up a few thou so as to get the spindle back to level.

Robert D.

 

[Stephen Tegner]

Hi all, I went out today to actually have a look at the 10f lathe I am buying. The good news is that none of the gears under the headstock cover are broken off and everything is covered in grease which I suppose is better than being rusty! The owner let me take home the accessories to play with in the meantime, there are two sets of gears that I found the one set is the original die-cast ones plus another set which appears to be cast iron and not standard, has anyone seen these types of gears before? The milling attachment has a rather heavy duty vise attached which from what I have seen online also doesn’t look like an original part, well-made none the less. The lead screw clutch mechanism seems to be working fine but the cross slide split nut engagement seems loose and takes a few seconds before it starts moving, I won’t really know what’s the condition of the parts until I get it home. The owner doesn’t know if the original chuck is lurking somewhere so if anyone has a spare that they would like to sell or trade I would be grateful to hear from them. I have attached some pictures of what I have so far.