Having failed to learn from the past, I am rebuilding another lathe. :-)

The lathe so far

    The story starts in the summer of 1999, when I saw an ad for a 12 X 36 Atlas lathe in the local paper, for a very low price (Figure 1). I already had a lathe (1930's Atlas 12 X 24, change gear model), but decided to check this one out.  When I called the owner he was up front, that the lathe was WELL worn (he had never used it, it was his father's).  The price was low enough though that it could be a useful parts source.  What I found was a 60’s vintage Atlas (rectangular headstock) with a Quick Change gearbox, and power cross feed.  The quick change sold the lathe, and I thought I might be able to use it as it was, but mostly I wanted that QC box!

    When I got it home and in better light, what I found turned it back into a parts lathe!  The late father had used the lathe almost exclusively for wood working, not a normally a problem, but he had apparently NEVER used oil on the bed!  I guess that was because he was afraid of getting oil on his wood work pieces.  The top of the bed was worn down 0.020” near the headstock, with matching wear on the carriage!  There were also several other problems.  It might have ended there, but I came across a good deal on a replacement bed and carriage.  The bed is somewhat unique in that it was modified by Atlas with a 13" extension on the end of a standard 54" bed, making the lathe a 12 X 49 model.  Atlas sold a 13" extension that bolted onto the ways at the tailstock end, meant for use in wood turning, but this setup is quite different.  The mating ends are milled flat, bolted through and a 3” X 2” X 7” steel bar spans the bottom (Figure 3)

    Figure 1 shows the lathe partially disassembled. The lathe was also painted over with "Baby Blue" latex, Yuk!!! (Figures 1 & 2)

                                Figure 1                                                                      Figure 2

Figure 3

Clean up

    The first task was removing that latex paint!  After trying a special latex paint remover (worked, but "Melted" the remaining small flakes into the factory finish, and left the finish very dull). I tried to remove just the latex with my fingernails (worked on some sections, but not most), and a screw driver (often took the original paint with it). I gave up and switched to mechanical removal of all the paint, or at least all the latex, leaving some of the original paint in spots.  I use a machinist scraper I had, a screw driver (an old one sharpened on a grinder), and a wire brush (all mixed with some occasional colorful language).

    There is a LOT of painted area on one of these lathes!!  In a two week period, working on and off, I cleaned up the headstock, cross slide, swivel, top slide and the tailstock. I still have a lot to go!!

Rust Removal

    After getting into the removal of the paint, I found the reason the previous owner had applied the paint.  It appears he was not the first owner.  There was a painted over "EYE PROTECTION REQUIRED" sticker on the tailstock. I do not think Atlas put this on (no such thing in parts list), so the lathe most have been used in some commercial facility.  While the machined (and therefore oiled) surfaces were clean, many of the painted surfaces, in areas you would expect normal handling wear on the paint, had underlying surface rust.  I figure that either the lathe sat uncared-for before the purchase by the previous owner, or he used it for a while with sawdust left on it, and the non oiled and unprotected surfaces rusted.  The previous owner (a woodworker) used the type of paint he was familiar with, to "fix" this condition.

    In addition, on the headstock, both on the inside (original paint in good condition) and outside (repainted), there was rust where sawdust had built up due to sticking to areas where oil had accumulated.  While I would not have thought this would be the case, I guess the dampness that sawdust would tend to hold, over came the protection that the oil provided.

    For most accessible external surfaces I used the above to remove the rust, before repainting. The headstock (and some other) interior surfaces and some parts that Atlas had not painted were another matter though.  They were inaccessible or more heavily rusted.  When I was at the hardware store I came across a rust remover called "C.B.L. ALL RUST REMOVER". The directions said "Spray on, Let Dry, and Paint over".  What the heck, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it.  It worked as advertised.  The actual directions, of course, were a bit more detailed, but still basically as advertised.

Painting

    When I restored my original Atlas I used regular Rust-oleum paint.  This gave a good finish, but it chips a little too easily.  For the new lathe I'm trying their "Industrial" grade paint.  I found this at the local Home Depot.  I chose "Light Machine Gray".  I chose this as I hope it will show well in photos for this site and any articles I write in the future.  Time will tell if it proves more durable. ** The answer time gave is that the "Industrial" grade worked no better than the regular paint, even a couple years later, the paint is still soft and easily chipped.

    As I have been restoring the lathe I have found that the "Light Machine Gray"  shows each and every oily fingerprint.  If I had it to do over again, I would choose the "Dark Machine Gray".

    I used two coats of primer and two coats of the top coat.  Some pieces got additional coats as appearance dictated.

Planned Modifications

    While I've got the lathe in pieces I plan to do some modifications to add improvements I wished for on my first lathe (but never got around to), and others based on examining this lathe while it was apart.

Oiling and Bearings

    Many of the various rotating pieces have sintered bronze bearings, which is good.  Unfortunately, the previous owner did not adequately oil some, and painted over all the ball oil fittings.  The bearings saved most of the wear (but not on the counter shaft), but I plan to install all new ones, in case some may be dry.

INDEX

Topslide Nut Attachment Screw Fix (Opening up the feedscrew plate to allow access to the setscrew)

Adding Sintered Bronze Bearings To The Carriage Handwheel Shaft

Repair And Improvement Of The Damaged Countershaft And Pulleys (For late model lathes)

Tailstock Upgrades (Various Improvements)

Carriage Upgrades (Various Improvements)

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