New lathe!!!!

Yep, I did it! I bought myself a lathe! A guy had an old Atlas 36" listed and I went to look at it and decided that it really wasn't quite big enough, he had a few others but they where about $2000 more so couldn't do it. While leaving I noticed another bigger Atlas sitting near the door. Turns out it just came in and other than a bad motor he hadn't really checked it out yet, well we talked and I'll pick it up next week after he replaces the motor, it comes with gears some tooling chucks and centers. Can ya tell I'm excited?[smilie=w:

Need pics!

Merlin welcome to the rabbit hole. As you begin to acumulate tooling you will enjoy your lathe and create many things some will work some will be learning experiences but enjoy that lathe.

yes pics or it did not happen

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Originally Posted by Smoke4320

yes pics or it did not happen

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It'll be a week, but when I get it you'll get the pics!

GONRA sez - when you buy an olde lathe (cheep, right?) make SURE there is a chuck on it.
Lathe may be cheep - chucks aren't unless you luck out.
Single phase AC "home electric" motor helps too.....

Not to steal your thunder but Welcome to the madness. I brought a new to me south bend 1941 13”x7’ lathe home today. Not much tooling with it but did come with a 3 jaw chuck, taper attachment and a new phase converter to run it off single phase power. This is to replace my older 1913 model O 13” south bend lathe.
Here is a pic of mine from Wednesday in its formal residence.

Buying a new or old lathe is very exciting. I remember getting a Jet 13x40 geared lathe with the stand. Came with 3-4 jaw chucks and faceplate along with some spare parts and tools. Then came the catalogs from Enco, MSC and Travers tool. Kinda like buying an old blade type razor than having to buy the blades to go with it. In any event happy for you. Frank

A recommendation to help you get started and be safe. If there is a night school near you take some of the machine trade apprentice courses. Will give you a lot of information on operation how to and safety. No rings, jewelry, ties, loose clothing. safety glasses and a hat handles on files. are a start.

Clausing still supports Atlas lathes with some new parts and E-Bay is full of accessories and parted out stuff from old Atlas machinery. They’re the Volkswagen Bug of hobby lathes; not fancy but eminently affordable; they’ll get you where you want to go, and unless horribly abused will run forever.

Looking forward to your pictures.

I started with a atlas 12 x 36 lathe. a 1941 model sold by sears. when I first got it I could still order parts and tooling from sears that was up to 1982 . I then got a good deal on a 14 1/2" x 8' south bend tool room lathe. sold the atlas a few years later after I got a 9"x 4' south bend to go with the bigger lathe. so I have two setting in my shop now. then I bought a clausing 6"x 24" vertical mill. then a new enco 9" x 42" vertical mill with all the bells and whistles. then a 12" Vernon shaper came home with me. then not too long after that a 8"x 36" Powermatic horizontal mill joined the heard. the last was a jones and shipman 6"x 18" surface grinder.

so as you see you are just getting started.

My old Atlas 12 x 36 has been a good lathe after replacing the worn out half nuts, and also original toolpost with an AXA quick change tool post holder. All the chucks that came with the lathe are worn and have some runout, so I bought a #3 Morse taper collet set that goes up to .750, and now can turn with precision. Between the casting and lathe tooling addictions, I don't know which is worse !

Nice buy. You guys out that way and Syracuse have a nice active machine market. I am jealous.


I ended up buying a new grizzly this spring but it has its own issues. Reminds me I need to send an email regarding a bad switch.

the 3c collects for a 9" south bend will work in the atlas you just need a spacer for the drawbar. I even had the milling attachment for mine got it new from sears.

all three jaw chucks have some run out some more then others.

on the change gears a drop or two of heavy gear oil makes them last a lot longer. also they run quieter.

I'm guessing by "the 36" lathe not big enough", you're meaning the length and not the swing?

I haven't touched a lathe or a mill for that matter since 2004, sure do miss it. I wasn't a machinist buy any means, I have kicked around even buying a little harbor freight lathe just to play with but just can't bring myself to spend the money.

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Originally Posted by KenH

I'm guessing by "the 36" lathe not big enough", you're meaning the length and not the swing?

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HA, yeah. 36" swing would be a monster! Years ago I worked at a shop that had a bunch of old WWII surplus navy equipment and one piece was a lathe that was about 24"by 20FEET!

We had an old White Flat belt lathe in the first shop was 42" swing and 12' between centers. it had a seat on the carriage to sit on and ride along with it on long passes. Just handing the tooling wore you out LOL. The second shop had a warner and swasey 3A turret lathe with an 8" hole thru the spindle.

I own a machine shop, so take heed when buying an old lathe (or any machine tool)...

First, expect to spend the purchase price on repairs, there is a reason old equipment gets sold cheap, and it's usually because it's worn out.

About the only thing you CAN NOT FIX is bed rails.
Lots of small work up next to the head will wear the bed rails, and there is nothing you can do about it.
If the rails are flat, then you can fix about everything else...

A gunsmith NEEDS to cut ACCURATE threads. (Period.)
Latch onto every set of thread cutting gears you can!
I can cut about every thread I run into, but it took me 30 years of collecting and making gears :( .

Find the online groups dedicated to lathes, and to your specific brand, they will be the absloute BEST resource for finding pieces, parts & information!
Some of these guys make parts no longer in production/available, but you have to find them...
And the know EVERYTHING about the units, they will save you crazy amounts of time & frustration!