New Lathe User - Just Bought An Atlas MK2 6x18

[Skowinski]

Thanks for the input guys. Given the odd cross section shape of these gibs, I don't think I can make them myself, I don't have the equipment to do that. I guess I could take them to my local machine shop and ask them to reproduce them in a metal, but they'd likely charge me $200 or so to make them (I'm guessing).

Maybe I'll just get some new plastic ones from Clausing and move on. The gib for the cross slide looks a bit deformed, so it's not so good now probably.

wa5cab - if any of these are made for sale I'd be interested in knowing.

 

[Dhector]

Thanks for the input guys. Given the odd cross section shape of these gibs, I don't think I can make them myself, I don't have the equipment to do that. I guess I could take them to my local machine shop and ask them to reproduce them in a metal, but they'd likely charge me $200 or so to make them (I'm guessing).

Maybe I'll just get some new plastic ones from Clausing and move on. The gib for the cross slide looks a bit deformed, so it's not so good now probably.

wa5cab - if any of these are made for sale I'd be interested in knowing.

I originally did the same thing and took them to a machine shop as I thought it would be difficult to do. When he was done, he said I'd have to file the edges down to fit, so I thought, "If I have to make them fit, I should have just done it in the first place" Don't get me wrong, I really like those guys at the machine shop and I'm not bashing them at all. The second set I needed I made myself. I have a mill but not a lot of tooling and even less"knowledge on how to run it correctly"to make the angle with it.

Im not saying this is the same size you have just wanted to give you a better picture of the ones I replace and what the look like out of the machine.







The half moon holes in this pic I did NOT put in the metal ones I made. The metal ones I made seemed to stay in just fine without walking on me.



Right or wrong the ones I made were done with a gasket grinding disc on an air operated die grinder. I eyeballed the angle and made sure it wasn't too tall(the .275 dimension) by setting the gib machine and making sure it wasn't higher than the surface of the bottom part of the lateh. It made a world of difference on both machines(3950, Sears and Roebuck 12 x 36)

IF i had to GUESS, my thoughts is that the width is the important dimension to gibs. Maybe smoothness too. I think the angle is just so it fits better and gives more surface area.
If thats incorrect someone here will know and chime it hopefully. Id' say give it shot if you have time. If it doesn't work, your only out some time.

 

[markba633csi]

Skowinski: I still have the fixture I used to make mine, If you want to buy some material and cover the postage I could make you a couple.
Mark
"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse" he says in best Marlon Brando accent

 

[Skowinski]

Thanks for all the details Dhector!

Skowinski: I still have the fixture I used to make mine, If you want to buy some material and cover the postage I could make you a couple.
Mark
"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse" he says in best Marlon Brando accent
View attachment 255489

Wow, thanks, now that is an offer that can't be refused! I'd happily cover material, postage, and a couple of 6-packs of your favorite beverage!

Let me think about material and come up with some rectangular bar stock of the appropriate size (is that what you started with, and any suggestions?).

 

[markba633csi]

I used 1/8" by 3/8" brass flat bar stock from Online metals for the compound. I think the cross slide is the same but a little longer. Brass seems to have a nicer feel than steel (see posts 48 and 49 above) so that's what I recommend but I could mill either. Let me measure mine again before you order any stock.
Where in Vegas are you? I had friends living over on the east side some years back but they live here now. My friend's daughter had to commute over to Primm everyday on the bus- brutal.
Mark

 

[wa5cab]

You can actually cut the bevels with a dovetail cutter with the bar either horizontal or vertical (I forget which). But you do need to mill the open ended slots with the bar laid over at the proper angle. If you don't cut the slots and at an angle, and if you use brass instead of steel, I would guess that you would have to readjust the gib screws pretty frequently for the first few months as the corners of the screws cut into the soft brass.

Skowinski, I'll let you know if we go ahead with it. I'm not putting the drawings in Files as I'm not really supposed to have them.

 

[Fabrickator]

Very Cool, that's the first lathe I owned. I quickly converted mine to QCTP from Little Machine shop. My model had Timken spindle bearings w/decals stating such. I liked it until I went to cut threads and found out that the guy before me had stealthy brazed the gear change sprocket to the lead screw shaft, and I was missing a bunch of change gears. I paid $500 and sold it for $400, but I told the buyer about the threading problem. He was fine with it because he basically just wanted it to spin valves or something for cleaning.

 

[Skowinski]

I'm back with what I'm sure will turn out to be a dumb question, but googling and youtubing isn't turning up anything.

I'm still slowly working on disassembling the cross/compound slides. Are these screws holding the crank handles on OEM parts, or some odd aftermarket parts? How are you supposed to undo them? Can't get a flatblade screwdriver in there because of the center part that stands out.

Looks like the previous owner already buggered up the one on the compound slide (top).

 

[Dhector]

I'm back with what I'm sure will turn out to be a dumb question, but googling and youtubing isn't turning up anything.

I'm still slowly working on disassembling the cross/compound slides. Are these screws holding the crank handles on OEM parts, or some odd aftermarket parts? How are you supposed to undo them? Can't get a flatblade screwdriver in there because of the center part that stands out.

Looks like the previous owner already buggered up the one on the compound slide (top).

View attachment 256090

It's been quite a while since I tore my 3950 apart but if memory serves me correctly I THINK if you loosen the nut towards the inside of the handle, the handle will loosen up and you can remove the outer "nut" Im pretty sure there is a key in the shaft and the handle can slide in and out when the nuts are loose. The dial inside the hex nut is held with a set screw if memory is correct.

 

[Z2V]

I'm back with what I'm sure will turn out to be a dumb question, but googling and youtubing isn't turning up anything.

I'm still slowly working on disassembling the cross/compound slides. Are these screws holding the crank handles on OEM parts, or some odd aftermarket parts? How are you supposed to undo them? Can't get a flatblade screwdriver in there because of the center part that stands out.

Looks like the previous owner already buggered up the one on the compound slide (top).

View attachment 256090

I had an 07301 and it had the same fasteners so I’d say they are OEM.
Looks like somebody beat on a screwdriver or something to tighten the nut.
A spanner type tool would be the tool to use.
You got a great deal with the lathe and all the tools that came with it, congrats