I have an Atlas 10F lathe. It has manual gear change, not quick change. Sometimes I don't want the threading gears operating and sometimes I do. If you have one of these lathes, you know that the whole gear train runs unless you remove the gear that transmits rotation from the headstock gear to the rest of the gear train. This model has no forward-off-reverse lever up there like the quick change models do. That function is taken on by the gearbox down by left end of the leadscrew. That's okay from an operational standpoint, but I hate to hear all those "Zamak" gears going around uselessly. I even bought a gear changer from a 12" lathe to try to retrofit, but there isn't room. It appears that the extra height of the 12" lathe's headstock provides space for that device. Has anyone already addressed this problem successfully? So far, I can't figure a way to take that first gear out of the "circuit" without having to lower the banjo, first. If you don't have an answer, I will have to put my own brain to work on it and that will tax these aging brain cells a LOT!
Please don't flame me for having this lathe in the first place. I have learned pretty well how to work within its limitations. (Don't use carbide tooling for accurate cuts).
Pete Stanaitis