Atlas Lathe help needed

poolcuemaster

poolcuemaster

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am using a very old 10 by 54 inch Atlas lathe made by Oldsmobile to do cue building and repairs. The lathe ways are great and very smooth and the carriage moves like its on hot butter for the first two thirds of its travel it is effortless but very accurate. The last third towards the tailstock where there has been very little use over the years it takes both hands to slide the carriage and I need help determining what will loosen up the motions. I have cleaned the ways and lubricated them lightly and cleaned the feed screw but have not messed with the gear track underneath the ways except to look at it, what are some problems that can cause this and how do I adjust for them. I only have about 1 inch spindle bore so I have to use a steady rest and bearing at the 30 inch range to drill and tap the butt section which is easy enough but trying to move the carriage to turn down tenons, joint collars and butt caps with both hands while controlling the crossfeed is really tough.

Please help--Thanks--Leonard
 
poolcuemaster said:
I am using a very old 10 by 54 inch Atlas lathe made by Oldsmobile to do cue building and repairs. The lathe ways are great and very smooth and the carriage moves like its on hot butter for the first two thirds of its travel it is effortless but very accurate. The last third towards the tailstock where there has been very little use over the years it takes both hands to slide the carriage and I need help determining what will loosen up the motions. I have cleaned the ways and lubricated them lightly and cleaned the feed screw but have not messed with the gear track underneath the ways except to look at it, what are some problems that can cause this and how do I adjust for them. I only have about 1 inch spindle bore so I have to use a steady rest and bearing at the 30 inch range to drill and tap the butt section which is easy enough but trying to move the carriage to turn down tenons, joint collars and butt caps with both hands while controlling the crossfeed is really tough.

Please help--Thanks--Leonard
Click to expand...

if youre large square nut to the right of the cross slide doesn't affect it when loosened (its for locking the saddle) your bed is wore from all the work usually done near the chuck.

you can loosen the gives on the saddle, i think they are 4 philips screws near the 4 corners of the saddle.


unless you have gunk build up under the ways , rack or lead srew.

on a lathe that old its usually the bed...you can just adjust each time you use it at either end.

hope it helps
 
I have a lathe like yours. I took it to a machinist & he bored out the headstock shaft, to 1.100". I also attached a chuck from a pipe threader to the back of the headstock. I made Qs with that lathe & a wood lathe, that had a chuck from a large drill press & a DC motor. I made Qs with these 2 lathes for about 3 years. Good luck. By the way, somewhere I have an address for Atlas parts...JER
 
I have the same type, an Atlas TH-54. It sounds like the ways are worn for the first 2/3 of it. One way to check would be with a micrometer, measure the thickness and width of the ways, every few inches going from the headstock to the tailstock. That will show how much wear there is. There are adjustments, but with a worn way, it will be sloppy on one end, while tight on the other, unless you get real lucky and can reach a compromise weithout sacrificing accuracy. The real solution is to have the ways reground, or scraped, by an experianced machinist, then go thru and readjust everything. It will cost some $$$ but it should put everything in line. Also, a tip, instead of oil to lube the ways, I use transmission fluid, as it lubes great, but doesn't clump up the sawdust and make a real mess of the lathe. PM me if you need more info.
Dave
 
The atlas TH54 has 3/8" bed ways, measure yours up near the headstock and at the end where the bed number is stamped into the ways behind the tailstock. This will tell you if your bed has wear.
If you look at the back of the saddle, you will find the gib screws, 4 of them across the back. They are slot head screws with a jamb nut holding them down. Loosen the nuts and adjust the gib screws out a little and see if it will move easier at the end of the bed.
Normally, the major wear area is 6-10 out from the chuck not at the end near the tailstock. I am guessing an adjustment of the saddle gibs will take care of your problem. This adjust the slide on the outside edges of the bed, it does not compensate for the top way bed wear. There are shims under each side of the saddle that are for adjusting that wear.

Kenny
 
Thanks to all the responses guys I will loosen the gib screws a tad and see what it does to help, the bed may be worn some but it sure does cut very precise passes from the chuck out at least 12 inches it is less than 2 thousands out total. ---Leonard
 
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