A barn find... Atlas Lathe. 110v. I don't have a need for it, but someone might

[possom813]

I answered a radio ad yesterday about reloading equipment and made a deal with the gentleman

He was hobbyist gunsmith that did a lot of Mauser rebarrelling

He mentioned the lathe and showed it to me

All I currently know is it's an Atlas 110v lathe that's 36" and 16"? I'm not a machinist and not sure what that means

It had a drawer open with a lot of tooling and whatnot

The building it's in has rotted thru the floors, so it's going to take a bit of work to get it out, but not too difficult

The gentleman wants $500 for it. I'm going back over to his place tomorrow and can snap a couple pics of it

It's not something I need, and this is just a PSA because it seems like a good deal for someone around the Waco, Corsicana, Palestine area

[Reg]

For 500 bucks it’s a steal and it’s a good beginners lathe and is capable of very good work

[country gent]

Im assuming the 16" is the swing, the dia it can turn and the 36" is the length of the bed between centers. Thats a pretty good sized machine with a 16" swing. It would help potential buyers to also know the spindle bore, taper in the tail stock spindle, change gears or gear box

[HWooldridge]

A larger lathe would not be 110v - it's probably one of the small Atlas machines. Likely a smaller swing than 16", although 36" between centers is still feasible. The hole through the spindle is what is important for barrel work. It's easier to run barrels through the headstock, rather than setup between centers (the latter can certainly be done but more time involved).

[Bent Ramrod]

It’s probably a 10” or 12” x 36”; swing and distance between centers. The headstock hole won’t fit a thick barrel or a blank, but a hobby lathe makes compromises necessary. If the owner didn’t find barrel finishing between centers, or off a steady rest, an insurmountable problem, the next purchaser won’t either.

They generally were set up with a 1-HP single-phase 115-volt motor. All that means is you can’t take a tenth-of-an-inch chip off what you’re turning. Not a problem for an amateur or hobbyist. They need to go slow anyway, sneaking up on dimensions to head off potential problems before they become disasters.

My 10”x24” Atlas came with a ton of tooling and accessories and I felt lucky to get it for $900, thirty years ago. I’d dive on that buy if I had to move the coffee table outside and store the lathe in its place in the living room while I figured out what I was going to do with it.

Always had a soft spot in my heart for Atlas machines. Alone of the manufacturers, they focused on and recognized the needs of the hobbyist, repairman, gunsmith, and other occasional user who needed to stay on a budget and couldn’t amortize his investment by making a zillion widgets in the shortest possible time. Eventually, production costs in the US, even with cast zinc gears and other cost-cutting measures, overwhelmed them, and the avalanche of low-cost imports from the Far East, finished them off. Ave atque vale!

[possom813]

I forgot to mention in the first post, he was using it threading 700 barrels for Mauser actions

Probably other stuff too, but that was the conversation that lead to him talking about the lathe

[possom813]

Im assuming the 16" is the swing, the dia it can turn and the 36" is the length of the bed between centers. Thats a pretty good sized machine with a 16" swing. It would help potential buyers to also know the spindle bore, taper in the tail stock spindle, change gears or gear box

He said he has the owners manual on a shelf I haven't gotten to yet. If I find it Thursday it should have more info on it for y'all

[Bull-Moose]

The Atlas was sold by Sears back in the day. They are excellent machines. I never heard of one that big. The most common size was a 6 inch model (distance from the bed to the center of the chuck) and about 36 inches long overall. For $500 its a deal. Depending on age, the gear box may be an auto selector, or not. If not, ask about the gears, and extra chucks, and accessories that goes with it. If it was used to cut threads, there should be quite a lot of bits, tool holders, center rest, etc.

If its the 6 inch model, 2 strong guys should be able to lift it. If its bigger, you may need an engine hoist. Remove the motor to help with the weight distribution.

[farmbif]

atlas made good lathes, they built quite a few for sears back in the day. a little perspective on price. ive got a little 618 with the sears tag on it and 95% of the accessories they sold for it most still in original boxes and I would not let it go for less than $2000 or something like that. the accessories and tooling can be worth more than the basic machine itself. I cant imagine a 36" lathe with 16" swing except for some of the hardinge second operation lathes made back in the day. Ive had a couple 14" swing lathes and the beds were 4 1/2 and 5 feet.

[JimB..]

Don’t think there were any Atlas machines with a swing greater than 12”.
I believe the spindles were threaded 1.5x8, but I have no recollection at all about the bore size.
If it’s in even OK shape someone could part it out for significantly more than $500.

[country gent]

While atlas made machines for sears and I think Montgomery Wards they also made heavier industrial machines,.

[Daver7]

Here's my Atlas/Craftsman 36' bed with what I would call a 6" swing giving a max diameter of 12", I haven't tried turning any thing larger than 2" on it.
hole through the head stock measures about .781
Its a back gear, (some came with a gear change option) so to change feed rate or thread pitch requires changing gears the back. FYI there are files on the internet to 3d print gears
This was also a barn find I think I gave $100 for it.
I had to do some repair work on it to get it working.
Attachment 305863
The old man I bought it from called a week later told me he had some other "stuff" that went with the lathe.
It's a milling attachment that replaces the tool post.
Attachment 305869

[Geezer in NH]

At $500 with bunch of tooling it is a deal pretty much no matter condition.

[GONRA]

GONRA sez BUY IT! Get all the other stuff too. Sort it all out lateron......

[elmacgyver0]

I bought an Atlas/Craftsman lathe from a friend of a fellow I used to work with.
I paid $100.00 for it.
No back gearing, but I think it may have originally had it.
I built a stand for it and replaced the motor with a DC motor with speed control to compensate for the missing back gearing.
I have no idea why I bought it as I haven't messed with it much so far.
Not that I don't use lathes, this is my fourth.
My Southbend has spoiled me, pretty much use it for everything.

[Shanghai Jack]

They came in 6, 9, 10 and 12 swings and 36, 42, 48 and 54 bed lengths I believe. I just finished restoring a 54 and this might be an interesting and smaller follow on project. I don't believe they came in 220. Generally they came with 1/3 or 1/2 hp motors.

[technojock]

Too bad it's so far away. Otherwise I'd jump on that deal...

Tony

[possom813]

Pics, I'd interested send me a pm and I'll send his contact info

Again, not affiliated at all with this lathe. Just met the gentleman Wednesday to buy some stuff from a radio ad

https://flic.kr/p/2nUegiU

https://flic.kr/p/2nUbBee

https://flic.kr/p/2nUbBds

https://flic.kr/p/2nUcZMS

https://flic.kr/p/2nUegh6

https://flic.kr/p/2nUcZLQ

https://flic.kr/p/2nUdTod

https://flic.kr/p/2nU8Z79

https://flic.kr/p/2nUbBaM

https://flic.kr/p/2nU8Z6Y

https://flic.kr/p/2nUdTkn

https://flic.kr/p/2nUbB9z

https://flic.kr/p/2nUdTkh

[stockerman]

If it's not worn out from a lot of use it's a real deal. I sold my Craftsman/Atlas for $750. It was a 6" x 24". As mentioned above the 3/4" hole through the headstock was a limiting factor but I still managed to fit a bunch of Mauser barrels with it.

[Baltimoreed]

Neat find.