Atlas 618 rebuilt, repainted, new screw and half-nut, VFD and hard mounted...

Stunning restoration and improvments. I may be wrong in this observation but I think that 3 jaw might be at least one and possibly 2 inches too big for that machine. I am thinking you will not be able to open the chuck jaws very far before interfering with the bed thus severely limiting the size of stock you can mount in the jaws of that chuck.

I really hope the thought I just expressed is incorrect. Smashing job restoring her though.
 
I think Uncle Buck may be correct on the size of the chuck. However I must say, that is an outstanding looking resto on the lathe!!! Can you provide any info on the paint you used and the process? It looks great!

Steve
 
Intriguing comment regarding the chuck size, and I do believe there will be very limited space for the size of the work piece. I may very well ebay it. However, the work pieces I plan to use is no larger than 1/2 inch. But I may go the collet path and sell the Buck Chuck anyway. I have a 4 jaw Atlas chuck I can use when necessary. I appreciate your observations, and will certainly look closely at its fit and future use.

The paint is a hammer finish grey. I tried three colors on a couple of parts before settling on it; silver looked plastic, bronze looked odd (seen on the pulley bracket). Homedepot carries it.

Cheers~
 
You should be able to easily find that paint in a good range of colors. The paint is Rust-O-Leum (sp) brand and even found at Wal-Mart. For those that have not used this paint it really does a great job of sort of hiding imperfections in surface finsh due to the hammered effect I think. Unlike a solid color these paints result in fishes that do not draw the eye as readily to every single battle scar or surface imperfection they are trying to cover. It is important to follow the directions on the can and shake well as I recall, if not your finish will not result in the hammered effect touted on the can.

Great choice, I have used it myself and will again for sure, a wee bit pricier though but well worth the difference.
 
Outstanding resto..

wondering about the VFD:
Were you able to use the original AC drive motor?
If you don't mind my asking, what was the total cost of the VFD up date?
Should you decide to go to a larger lathe, will you be able to install this VFD on it if it also uses a 110v AC larger motor

Thanks for your response
 
Thanks for the kind comments.

Unfortunately, I was not able to use the old motor, as when I converted the system to a variable frequency drive (VFD), I moved from 110v to 220v. So I'll sell it, the switch and riser on ebay as I will not need it again.

The cost was nearly $800, but it could have been done a lot cheaper. Not using a nasa welder, not building a sophisticated riser, using top wiring, new lead-screw and half-nut, and a few other things could have shaved $400 off. I already had the table so that was nice.

And in building it, I did so using heavier wiring than necessary for the motor used etc so I would have the option to drop another slightly larger lathe in its place. A Southbend 9 or equivalent would be very appropriate, and the table has to space to acommodate it. I planned to grow into a larger unit if I so desire. That said, I'll have some time to enjoy this one.

Like most things in life, it was a lot more work than I expected, and cost more than I anticipated.
 
Like I tell my wife, "thats why I work"...

I call it "smiles per dollar" :))

Is the motor 220 v DC?

thanks again
 
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