jolijar

I have been trying to pick up a small lathe for a few years now and haven't found one I like... till now... I picked an atlas 618 at an auction today.

I think its pretty much all here. The only part missing is the motor and belt which I will need to get. It is covered in light surface rust so I am going to take it apart and rebuild it so that I will have a nice little lathe to work with this summer.

I have already taken the tail stock and carriage off the frame along with the lead screw. I was surprised at how simple the design is. It only took me a few minutes to break it down.

There are however a few things I am concerned about. I haven't started taking apart the headstock yet and quite frankly it kinda scares me. I don't want to accidentally muck things up is there anything I should look out for in particular?

Anyone know a good source for a motor, pulley, and belt?

Also I just noticed that one of the gears on the selector is missing one tooth... I will also need a replacement for it.

what is the best way to remove the rust?

I'll try to take pictures later (my camera is dead right now)

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If it ain't broke fix it till it is.

jolijar

Pictures!

Note the lathe came completely assembled I disassembled it.

I cant seem to figure out how the headstock gears come out I must be missing something obvious.
Also anyone have any idea how old this is? I cant seem to find a date on it.

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If it ain't broke fix it till it is.

lazylathe

Google for te manual, they help a lot with disassembly!!

Nice little lathe to start on!

For rust I use a Besheild product called Rust Free.
Works like a charm!

Andrew

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obrian

I recently acquired a Atlas 10/36 and am working on restoring it. I used a Scotch Brite and a lot of elbow grease and It cleaned up very well. I then repainted and reassembled. The cross feed brass nut was very worn so there was way too much play.. I have made a few chips and a MT3 dead center for the headstock. It takes time to work the bugs out but I think the Atlas will be a good machine until something better is available.

Lots of luck with your restore. eBay and Amazon are a good place to look for a manual.

Have a great day
Dennis

jolijar

I found a copy of the manual for free online.

__________________
If it ain't broke fix it till it is.

jolijar

I cant seem to get the main spindle out its funny because none of the other parts have given me any trouble.

I know there's a woodruff key in the gear but I cant seem to get to it. I think the bearings are stuck to the shaft. as I can move all the other pieces on the inside. I have it soaking now.

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If it ain't broke fix it till it is.

crab

This lathe has bushings but it is the. same .http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/atlas/spindle/spindle.html

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Central California

jolijar

Ive been using that one as a reference... Also he has a nice tool holder I am going to make. The issue is that while the shaft rotates freely it does not slide out even a little so I cant get enough room to pull out the second key. I'm going to take it to my machining class tomorrow and see if we cant get it to break free.

__________________
If it ain't broke fix it till it is.

jolijar

I got the shaft out it required a bit of persuasion. The bearings look okay but I think I might replace them anyways if they are relitively inexpensive.

__________________
If it ain't broke fix it till it is.

Blogwitch

I was going to tell you how to disassemble the spindle, but you have now got it out.

But for the benefit of others who might have the same problem at some time or other, this is how it is done.

1. Push the spindle as far forwards as possible, until the woodruff key contacts the inner bearing shield.

2. Pull the bull gear and all the other bits that slide along the spindle backwards as far as they will go. This will allow to be seen just over half the length of the woodruff key.

3. Where the key touches the bearing shield, you can just get in under the end of the key something like a scriber or ice pick point. Flip up that front piece of the key so that it rotates in it's slot, allowing it to be pulled out with a pair of long nosed pliers. The spindle should then slide out past the nose rear bearing cover.

Putting it back together is great fun, taking hours sometimes to get the key back into it's slot, but there is an easy mod that I came up with when I had my Atlas 10F that you can do that makes things much easier.

Very gently remove the rear bearing cover from behind the nose bearing (it is a gentle tap out, and back in again), and file a small square slot into the edge of it where the key would normally fit against it. Don't file too deep, only just enough to allow the spindle to pass through with the key already fitted, otherwise oil will fly everywhere, as that cover helps to retain the oil around the bearing. Mount the cover with the filed slot at the top.

Once that little mod is done, it only usually takes a couple of minutes to disassemble and reassemble the spindle into the headstock.

I hope that explained it OK


John