Lathe Question

In a similar note, I made a Armstrong tool holder holder for my Aloris tool post. I liked the use of high speed steel for some things and I hate to dump my Aloris.

That gives me access to a whole set of tool holders I have, some not sadly, the bar holders.

I used a rocker type for a while - like it - it is flexible. It is also flexing!

Mart> I like the rocker toolpost. It allows me a lot of adjustment for different

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn
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In like very good or like new condition, the lathe alone is today worth around $500-600 with the 3-Jaw chuck and change gears. The accessories listed add at least another $250 or so to that price. If you can purchase it for a price between $500-700, snap it up.

The 6" Atlas is a great little lathe, but probably better suited to working with brass and aluminum than mild steel, although with light cuts it can definitely be used for machining small, mild steel parts.

IMHO, a very big advantage of the Atlas 6" is in its comparatively light weight and bulk, which makes it ideal for many home situations where 10" are 12" lathes sometimes present logistics problems. Also, since Atlas made a rugged, quality machine, I consider it a far better investment than any of the many Chinese made lathes now flooding the market.

Just my opinion.

Harry C.

p.s. It's rare to find one of the 6" Atlas lathes being sold with the milling attachment. This attachment enormously increases its home shop utility, and often goes for prices well over $100 when sold alone. (I recently purchased a similar Atlas milling attachment for my 12" Atlas lathe, and felt very lucky to find a like new condition one with a mill holder and drawbar for $225.)

Reply to
Harry Conover

Nope. Not much lathe stuff comes into the scrapyard. Carriage stop for an Atlas shouldn't be hard to make, they're basically pretty simple machines.

Reply to
Lennie the Lurker

Better yet is a clamp that holds a one inch dial indicator to the bed, so it bears on the carriage. The cheapistan indicators are quite affordable.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

The pin on my 10" Atlas is 1.5". So I guess I'll have to pass on it. Too bad I've been looking for one for a while now and your price was great./

Reply to
Doug Arthurs

Better yet, J&L sells a one inch travel indicator with a magnetic back on it. That's what I use.

Reply to
Lennie the Lurker

I actually tried this, and didn't have much luck. The mag base didn't really stick that well to the SB ways, and it was heavy enough to not want to stay put, it tended to fall down.

Long ago I machined up a two-piece clamp with a small tommy-bar clamp screw that fits SB ways, and I've kept that part during every lathe changeover over the years.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

Lurker

And still better is a Trav-a-dial - pretty much unlimited travel in an analog display. Not cheap, but they can be found used for $100-250.

Reply to
Mike Henry

Some lathes seem to take trav-a-dials well, but the 10L sb isn't one of them. The spot on the right of the carriage is taken up with the threading dial, on the left is way too tight when the carriage is near the headstock. That leaves in back I suppose. I have one of those things that I got used - I've been meaning to take it apart and clean it and see how well it would work.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

Mounting a TAD on the left or in back would make it probably more susceptible to fouling by chips from the lathe. My Clausing 5914 has the thread dial on the right as well but I just fabricated a TAD bracket so that the thread dial could be mounted on a vertical "wall" to the right of the TAD. The bracket looks like this:

___ | | |____|

and is mounted to the apron on the right with the TAD mounted at the bottom of the U and the thread dial on the right. Getting the TAD adjusted right was a PITA but it's already paid handsome dividends.

Reply to
Mike Henry

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