Regarding your comments on Sebastian, there were two companies basically, an early 19th century company that made treadle lathes initially and then built larger machines. Of course Sears knew this, which is why they wanted the twelve inch swing. This, combined with the fact that when you move into the 12 inch category, it is a whole different ballgame what you will be compared to. One is that very little is different in dimensions and it is obvious someone just added an inch to the cross slide and the bases on the headstock and tailstock. I think the problem is when they went to twelve inch, two things come into play. It was updated to ten inch and a number of things were re engineered at that point. The issue with the atlas is that the original was nine inch swing. I don’t actually consider most of those machines necessarily flimsy. Thanks Jerry, I was going to write something very similar. If you have only thought about it, are going to do it “someday”, only have the plans or pieces but have never actually built it, etc., don’t speak up. Especially if you originally used the same lathe on some other type stand. If there is anyone on the list who actually has a working lathe on a solid concrete lathe support, please speak up. If you have a permanent tray and oil drain, you really don’t have to worry about it. Whether you use cutter coolant by any means or not, almost every drop of lube oil that you put onto any part of an Atlas lathe eventually ends up either slung off or under the lathe somewhere. You just have to be careful not to puncture the foil while carrying it across the shop. And you can do the same thing with aluminum foil if you are fortunate enough to have a fixed tray with oil drain. įrom: On Behalf Of Robert Downs via Groups.Io Sent: 11 July 2018 08:00 PM To: Subject: Re: Concrete Lathe Benches & Drip Pans Ī quick check on that score turned up the following –Ītlas TH-42 279lbs Myford Super 7 long bed ( its biggest competitor in the hobby market – here at least ) – 275 lbs Emco Maximat V10-P – almost identical in size and capacity and regarded as a “premier” lathe by many – 265 lbs Neither of the last two were ever described as “flimsy”. My impression was that it was always equal to its designed intention and capacity, and compared favourably with its peers. So it again got me wondering “flimsy compared to what ?” I have watched this debate about the “flimsiness” of the Atlas lathe bed with some interest for years. I am not about to build a concrete base, and the steel cabinet (with drip tray) on which my TH42 came has served very well.
![atlas lathe stand atlas lathe stand](http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/img42.jpg)
Right now, I’m late leaving for a meeting.įrom: On Behalf Of cwlathes Sent: Wednesday, J14:16 To: Subject: Re: Concrete Lathe Benches & Drip Pans So it’s no wonder that there are so many still around.Īs to what they would be considered flimsy when compared to, as you said, it is basically a matter of weight.
![atlas lathe stand atlas lathe stand](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/0b/b2/95/0bb2954f74e143087b6f9760206e317f.jpg)
Judging from the number of machines still around, they probably had the bulk of the hobby market until the much cheaper Chinese machines began to flood that market in the early 1970’s.īetween about 1935 and about 1957, they made almost 100,000 10” machines and over 41,000 3/8” bed 12”. Anyway, they pretty much occupied the bottom of the commercial market for the next couple of decades, during which WW-II came and went, and in the US at least, the hobbyist market began to grow.
![atlas lathe stand atlas lathe stand](https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/attachments/f25/247635d1548255238-atlas-12-vs-heavy-10-a-sb10.jpg)
So the 10” appeared in more conventional form. I suspect that the all-belt compound drive turned out not to be too popular or with die cast gears and wasn’t any cheaper to produce than the back geared machines given that the gears were die cast. They must have had some degree of commercial success as they managed to stay in business through the Depression. V-belts and high pressure die casting were both relatively new. I’m not a Logan expert but don’t think that they were around yet. The Atlas 9” with the all-V-belt drive was introduced during the depths of the Great Depression to undercut the prices of some competitors, probably the 9” South Bend and maybe a similar size Clausing. I think, unless some new information surfaces, we have about rung the bells on concrete benches.