It’s not a project so I’m posting in chat. I picked an Atlas 10” lathe over the weekend. The owner’s father bought it new in 1952. It has some light wear and father and son both put it to use, but it’s been a basement princess most of its life from what I can tell. All original except the motor which the son changed out so he could have reverse. No quick change gearbox, but a full set of change gears in great condition. Original legs. Tons and tons of attachments and goodies including PhaseII QC toolpost with half dozen tool holders, 3 4-jaw chucks, 1 3-jaw, 5C collet chuck with full set of collets from 1/32-1”, steady rest, follower, double turret tool post, turret tail stock, air jet cooler, toolpost grinder, milling attachment with mini Palmgren vise. Lots of new and gently used carbide tooling (no junk, surprisingly). You get the picture. When I went back to his house to pick it up he had it all ready to pick up and go and neatly in crates. I brought 2 strong men to carry it up the stairs (not me) and into the truck. $1500. Happy. Pete
With all those accessories and tooling, you did very well. I have one (a 12x42) that's been in my family since my Grandfather bought it in 1946. In the 50s, he installed an aftermarket QC gear box. He had a Monarch 10EE in the back of the shop for larger work but for small precision work, everything went on the Craftsman. I learned on it when I was a kid and now sits in my shop. For anyone that has used larger higher end lathes, you wouldn't think much of it but if you are patient and skilled, you can do about anything with them. Given my druthers I would have made a different choice but I couldn't bring myself to part with it after my Father and Brother passed. If my son takes it when I'm gone, it will have been in the family 100 years. It has tooling galore, but I did have to make some changes for it to fit into its new living space and to suit me, along with some updating. Though the Atlas/Craftsman purists certainly wouldn't approve, I converted it to underdrive, which required a contemporary headstock casting, but the rest is the old bones. I added an AXA QCTP, DROs, VFD drive, and fabbed a cabinet and hood. I use it often. With a sharp HSS tool, people might be surprised what you can do with them. Congrats on the purchase Petee. Best, Kelly
Wow Kelly, she's tricked out! For anyone interested here's a pretty cool catalog of some "modern" Atlas equipment. http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/51/3848.pdf Pete
I have a little craftsman flatbed. Mine must be a 6x24 or something like that, it's pretty small. Think I only paid 250 for it. It's still plenty useful.
