Lathe question - Atlas 10"F H-36

[Rickk]

For those of you that know something about lathes, especially older ones, I have a chance to buy an old "Atlas  Model H-36" lathe. It needs a motor and supposedly the screw mechanism is messed up. The motor should be no big deal. The guy who has it says he looked into getting parts to fix the screw, parts he says are available, but he never did anything with it.

The price is right,,, like $65 dollars. I don''t mind messing with something a bit to get it working. What I don't need is another thing in my shed that is a bunch-o-crap just occupying space.

I know nothing about lathes... don't even know where to begin using one. I am figuring that the price is cheap enough that I would be risking little to try to learn how to use one. I don't mind putting a new motor in. I figure that will run me about $100. The screw mechanism I am not sure about. I don't have the whole story about what is wrong with it yet nor do I know what it will cost to fix it.

it is a 10" lathe. The bed is 36 inches long There is drawing of it at http://www.atlas-press.com/tb_latheid.htm#10-inch%20lathe

Does anyone know anything about this thing and does anyone have an opinion about it? If I get it working, what can I realistically do with it?

I don't mind risking the $$ on it, but if it is a total loser I don't need to add it to my growing collection of junk.

Rick

[GGaskill]

Buying a used lathe always carries some risk as well as potential reward for getting a deal.  Be sure to get a bunch of tooling with the machine (especially the change gears if it doesn't have the quick change gear box) as adding tooling will cost as much as the whole machine for just one piece.  Read the Atlas 10" lathe review at lathes.co.uk for more information about the machine itself.  As noted there, the 36" bed gives only 18" between centers so you will be significantly limited in the length of barrel that you can make, let alone drill.

[Cat Whisperer]

To me the question is one of devoting the TIME to fix it up.

I have two identical lathes purchased when the local HS shut down it's metals program.  One STILL doesn't have the feed mechanism working - although it wouldn't take much parts wise to fix.  It's just tearing the whole thing apart to get to where a shear pin or key is that would take a week of my time to do.  Cleaning, cleaning and cleaning is the first thing that needs to be done in most cases.

Starting with a used lathe - not a bad idea IF it comes with LOTS of tooling, like 3 and 4 jaw chucks (collet chuck is the one I use MOST), steady rest, face plate and lathe dogs.  If it doesn't have these, look at another place to start.

[Rickk]

From what I gather by looking at the links is that this is probably the most common lathe ever made. Parts seem to be abundant on ebay. I'll go look at it next weekend and see waht I am getting myself into.

I am guessing that full sized 24# mortars and half scale mountain howitzers would be possible with this thing?

Rick

[GGaskill]

I am guessing that full sized 24# mortars and half scale mountain howitzers would be possible with this thing?

You can turn the barrel but won't be able to drill it.  Drilling requires a lathe of twice the barrel length, more or less.

[Rickk]

Is there an improvised way to drill deeper? I know nothing about these things so far.

[Cat Whisperer]

Is there an improvised way to drill deeper? I know nothing about these things so far.

If I'm not mistaken, CJ (Calamity Jane) did just that - for drilling and boring.  It's one of the earliest threads with LOTS of responses, might still be with pictures, might still be on her website.  Do a search on Calamity Jane and look through all her posts - it's in one of them that has a BUNCH of responses.  It wasn't necessarily elegant, but it DID the job.

[Cat Whisperer]

Here's a link to her website:

http://www.geocities.com/diannebest/index.html

check out the first two topics on the 6lb-er.

[Rickk]

I see the pictures, and i grasp the concept. The amazing thing is that her improvised details are ignored, like any idiot should be able to figure it out.

When I turn on my MIG, wy wife leaves the area.

Well, at least my wife can shoot my 1858 Remmy revolver... it's a start 

[GGaskill]

Upon further analysis, I doubt that you would be able to turn a full scale 24 pounder Coehorn on this machine.  They are 8.65" max dia and the 10" swing is over the bed, not the carriage.  I can't find exact specs for it but you have to figure at least an inch less radius (2" less swing) over the carriage.  If full scale Coehorns are a requirement, look for a bigger machine, both in swing and length.  More length is desirable anyway even for cannon or howitzer barrels unless you are going to limit yourself to barrels that qualify for The 2007 International Open.  If it is functional and you need a machine to learn on, it would be good for that.  Even if you break it, you're not out much.