A lathe finally! Craftsman 12x36 101.27440

[Uncle Buck]

jfcayron, you have done wonders with what you started with. Stand proud! Please do a photo session as you restore your mill.

Uncle Buck, your lathe looks like it just came off of the show room floor.

Mule

Thank you, I lucked out it looked like that when I bought it. Machine is heavily tooled with very little use.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

i'll bet you could JB weld that pulley.
yes, maybe it is fine as is.

Nice find Jeff.

The tooling makes whatever you paid for it a good deal. It would likely cost more than the lathe to buy all of it separately.

That gear can be repaired by dovetailing some material (aluminum would be a good choice) into the damaged area and re-cutting the teeth. There is also solder available that is compatible with zinc. You could build up the area with that and re-cut the teeth. Might be more trouble than it's worth though since the gears are probably readily available. Check with Plaza Machinery.

The chipped pulley won't hurt a thing.

Tom

 

[itsme_Bernie]

I restored an Atlas 618 that was in MUCH worse shape than that, and ran perfectly when I was done!


Bernie

 

[jfcayron]

Quick update:
The lathe came with a single 2" motor pulley. That robbed me of both ends of the speed range. It should be 28-2072 RPM with the original dual pulley, but with that one it went 35-906 RPM.
Our friends on the Atlas-Craftsman Yahoo! group have the plans for the original pulley, so I made one from 4 1/2" round Al stock.
It came out pretty nice, happy with it.

 

[wa5cab]

You'll find the same drawing in our Downloads. (I happen to take care of both Downloads and Files on the main Atlas Yahoo Group so most files can be found either place).

 

[jfcayron]

You'll find the same drawing in our Downloads. (I happen to take care of both Downloads and Files on the main Atlas Yahoo Group so most files can be found either place).

I did not realize that. Thanks so much for taking care of those libraries.

 

[Round in circles]

Rickard, thanks for the advice. I ended up buying a replacement, so I will not try at this time.

Has anyone seen this kind of horrible gunk for grease?

Many times it is very old grease that has dried out .
I've used half a gallon of Nitro Mors cellulose paint stripper in a big earthenware pot to soak it off .. leave every thing in the pot for a week with it covered over by a good lid and hey presto they are are most clean as you pick them out . give what's left a rub with and old paint brush & they end up looking like new . The used stripper goes back into the can for future de-greasing jobs
The stuff I've currently got in the steel can is several years old & nearly as black as the crap it's been used to take off, but still carries on being useful .

 

[Round in circles]

Very nice work you've done there Jeff, really like look of yours standing on it's legs with the wood fitted, so I've decided to have my Atlas like that.

Do you think your wood is original and is it hard or softwood, can you make a guess as to what breed of tree it comes from? I reckon Ash would be a good bet.

Bernard

My Atlas table top ( original ) is beech with beech nosings fitted to the edges .. it handles oil far better than the more open grained woods ie. does not swell up as much & is reluctant to splinter .