My first lathe ... 618

As Frank said, the reason that the cross feed screw moves around is that the attachment screw for the nut is missing. He's probably correct about the countershaft assembly as well.

Current practice is to call the center shown in your tailstock a live center. Two generations ago, a live center was one in the head stock and the one in the tails stock was either a dead center or a rotating dead center. So when you see "live center" or "dead center" in print, you need to consider vintage and context before deciding what the author meant.

Regardless of the sloppy wiring, a 3/4 HP motor is 2X over-kill on a 6" machine. Atlas recommended 1/4 to 3/8 HP. An oversize motor only does two things. If something does go wrong, you're going to break more of the machine than you would have with the proper size motor. And it costs more to operate.

On the way that the motor is mounted, there are four possible ways, and I've seen photos showing all four. There are two ways in which to assemble the counter shaft assembly. The way that yours is is uncommon. The standard way has the large driven pulley (which BTW should be a two step, not a single step, on both the countershaft spindle and on the motor) on the left end of the countershaft spindle. In various Atlas publications I've seen the motor mounted either under the countershaft or to the left of the countershaft, in both cases with the large pulley on the left side. However, that really doesn't matter. But putting the motor where yours is is the worst of the four choices. Although most chips will be thrown toward the operator, the second most likely is toward your motor. The same goes for coolant if you use any. The motor is safer up under the countershaft. Which is where most of the Atlas photos show it. I imagine that whoever put the oversize motor on it discovered that the motor is too large to fit under the countershaft. So instead of using the proper size motor,he turned everything around. As far as which direction the lathe runs, AC motors will run in either direction, depending upon how they are wired. If it runs backwards the first time you turn it on, you just change the wiring.

The back gears look like they have not been greased in decades. Probably the rest of the machine is the same way.

The six chuck jaws look like the standard set for a small 3-jaw self-centering chuck. Unlike on a 4-jaw, you cannot turn the jaws around on most 3-jaw.chucks. So they all come originally with two sets of jaws. Usually, when you buy a small 3-jaw chuck, they only come with whichever set is in the chuck. Because the PO has lost the other set. So you got lucky there.
 
I understand that the motor is not in the ideal position and should be remedied. I am going to have to study that.

I am gathering very useful information from your posts. I thank you all for your input.

At this point ... I am trying to assess what needs to be done/bought and tally the cost. I have a limited budget so I have to be careful. Maybe I will have to spread the costs over a bit of time and not try to get everything fixed in the same week.
 
OK. Just so I'm sure that you understand, I don't think that you can move the existing oversize motor. To get it back under the countershaft assembly, I think that you are going to have to put the proper size motor on it. The DC treadmill motor that some people have put onto the various 6" Atlas/Craftsman machines tend to be smaller that the same HP single phase AC motors and might fit. But you don't have one of those, either.
 
I started taking the machine apart to assess what is possibly needed to make the lathe run correctly.

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First up is the carriage jamming situation ...

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The ''CARRIAGE TRAVERSE SHAFT + PINION'' (M6-68) looks chewed up. The rest of the gears look great and turn very smoothly with no hint of binding or coarseness of any kind.

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Looks like I am going to have to find a replacement for this part.
 
Secondly ... the sloppiness in the compound rest screw. I was assuming that the brass nut (M6-19A) was missing. It was there but the 10-24 x 1/2 inch ''FLAT HEAD MACHINE SCREW'' that holds the guard and Brass nut in place was missing.

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I am inclined to replace the brass nut because the top part where the screw should attach is chewed up pretty badly. I will try to source the screw and guard from somewhere.
 
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I also found a third problem involving the tail stock.

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The hand wheel is cracked ... I will be looking to replace it sometime down the road ...

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... and the clamping system looks like it was made by a blacksmith ...

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I am gonna have to do something about that!
 
Now, how do ya suppose the hand wheel gets broke?
 
Running total ... just for giggles ... in Canadian dollars ...

Cost of Machine ................................. 400.00
Fuel to go get it .....................................50.00
Manual ''LATHE OPERATION'' ...........41.35 (REPRINT, ebay shipping included)
Brass nut (M6-19A) ..............................25.06 (USED, ebay shipping included)
Guard with screw (M6-37) ...................44.49 (USED, ebay shipping included)

Total so far .......................................... 560.90 ..................... and counting :)
 
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