All MetalShaping

Go Back   All MetalShaping > General Metal Shaping Discussion > Miscellanous products related to metalshaping
  Today's Posts Posts for Last 7 Days Posts for Last 14 Days  

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 07-08-2013, 10:24 AM
idickers's Avatar
idickers idickers is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 206
Default Lathe help

I hope this isn't too far afield, but I could use some help on a lathe and a brake. I've wanted a lathe, and locally a fellow has an old Atlas lathe that is available from a widow of a machinist. There is also a Lake Erie brake.

Is Atlas a good brand? It looks like an older USA brand, and looks to be in good shape. I'm not sure what kind of brake the Lake Erie is, so I've attached a pic.

Any information would be helpful. I don't really have the budget for more tool purchases right now, but these are local to me and if the price was right I might try and pick them up.








Thanks for any suggestions,
Ian
__________________
Ian in Rochester, NY
M2 site

Last edited by Steve Hamilton; 07-08-2013 at 10:40 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 07-08-2013, 11:15 AM
Joe Hartson's Avatar
Joe Hartson Joe Hartson is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Pass Christian, MS
Posts: 4,981
Default

Ian, The Atlas lathe was a well built lathe but a basic lathe. If it was maintained correctly it will probably be in decent shape. Don't know what you want to do with the lathe but if you want to thread there is no quick change on the lathe. This lathe requires gear changes for threading and changing feed rates. What tooling and accessories come with the lathe. Look for a 4 jaw chuck, steady rest, different tool holders and bits along with a bunch of gears to change feeds. These lathes vary greatly in price depending on condition and what comes with it.

The brake is one I have never seen or heard of before. That is not necessarily bad. Looks to be a manual brake press rather than a leaf brake. If the price is right and it works smoothly probably worth buying. What is the gauge rating on the brake?
__________________
Joe Hartson

There is more than one way to go to town and they are all correct.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 07-08-2013, 11:17 AM
weldtoride weldtoride is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 896
Default

The Atlas lathe is considered by some to be a hobbiest lathe, but then again, the price should reflect that. If you aren't doing contract work for Nasa, I would consider one, if it was in good shape. Pay particular attention to the wear on the surface of the ways (what the carriage travels L/R on) in the area nearest the headstock. Worn ways mean accuracy is lost, and along with it, lathe value.

The price of a lathe is misleading, eventually you may amass tooling like a 4 jaw chuck, collets sets, dogs and plates, tool holders, etc., etc., that easily exceeds the lathe cost. If there is considerable tooling offered for sale with the lathe, this is a major factor. As said above, a good 4 jaw chuck is a major asset. A lathe that has a transmission to change speeds instead of physically changing out gears is of more value than one that needs to have gears changed. As said above, look for a complete gear set to come with a lathe that doesn't have a transmission.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ is a forum that isn't very sympathetic to Atlas owners, but there are extremely knowledgeable people there, many are practicing professional machinists of extraordinary skills.

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/ will be sympathetic towards Atlas and Craftsman lathe owners, and again there are some very knowledgeable folks there, primarily as the site name suggests, hobbiests.

Once you acquire a lathe and begin to see what it can do, you will find so many uses for it, it will not be a lump sitting around your shop. Worse case scenario: buy it right and it will re-sell for the same.

Good luck with your offer, I cannot speak to the brake.
__________________
Mark from Illinois

Last edited by weldtoride; 07-08-2013 at 11:22 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 07-08-2013, 12:28 PM
metal manny metal manny is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Posts: 509
Default

It's better to have a lathe than not have one.

As has been said, the cost of the toolholders, chucks etc. will far exceed the initial purchase price of the machine, so if the price is low and it comes with lots of accessories and tooling, you've got a winner.

Try and get someone who knows about lathes to take a look for you.

As Joe says, the bender looks like a manual press brake, and I don't see the lower die which should look something like an 'X' or 'V' in cross section and fit underneath the 'blade'. Without this tooling, the bender will bend nothing at all! A replacement die could also be too expensive to make purchasing this machine worthwhile...
__________________
Manny

Remember that the best of men, are only men at best.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 07-08-2013, 12:28 PM
idickers's Avatar
idickers idickers is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 206
Default

Thanks for the quick response, guys. The owner is not a machinist, and doesn't know much about either piece of equipment. Your suggestions will give me a starting place to decide if I want to proceed further. I'm just a hobbyist, so either might work fine for my needs.
__________________
Ian in Rochester, NY
M2 site
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 07-08-2013, 01:04 PM
longyard longyard is offline
MetalShaper of the Month September 2013
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Posts: 1,083
Default

Do some searching and try to find the Rudy Kouhoupt videos on lathe and horizontal mill work. Rudy was THE name in hobbiest lathe instruction for many, many years, and his videos are EXCELLENT. He did all his work on Atlas lathes and mills.
__________________
Bill Longyard
Winston-Salem, NC
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 07-08-2013, 01:19 PM
bobadame bobadame is offline
MetalShaper of the Month Feb 2015
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado
Posts: 1,192
Default

That's a really interesting brake. It appears to have a way to move the punch down and then 2 leafs, one in front and one in the back. Take a sample of the material you will be working with and try it out.

There are better lathes out there, and worse.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 07-08-2013, 06:22 PM
Dyce Dyce is offline
MetalShaper of the Month Jan. 2011, Nov. 2016
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Souix Falls, SD
Posts: 901
Default

I have an atlas-craftsman lathe. Mine has the quickchange. I know it's a dirty word, but Harbor Freight has a quick change toolpost that with a little shimming works good on the atlas. Making most dies you really don't need the quickchange transmition. Most profile dies I do are done feeding by hand and finnished with a file and/or a grinder. I also have a big Cisco dinosour lathe. I use that alot more. If the price is right go for it...
__________________
Jeff Dyce
Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.
Thomas A. Edison
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 07-08-2013, 06:54 PM
TheRodDoc TheRodDoc is offline
MetalShaper of the Month Nov 2020
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: iowa, USA
Posts: 446
Default

Jeff, This is what was meant as the quick change. (circled in orange)

Lathe.jpg
__________________
The Rod Doctor,
Richard Crees
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 07-08-2013, 06:59 PM
Truckntran Bill Truckntran Bill is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Coleman, Texas, a little town in the middle of the state.
Posts: 183
Default

Make sure that the Atlas works and the power feed for the apron works too. There are manuals online, that looks very similar to my TH42 model. Generally the Atlas is thought of as weak, and flexible but if you are patient it will turn out OK work. Just plan on many light cuts to make something.

Parts can get expensive. On the hobbyist sites that lathe would go for between 600 and 1500 depending on included tooling. I would guess about 1000 is average for what I see in your pic.

I am on the Hobbyist site, look for DJ Bill there and check out my posts when I resurrected mine and got a Quick change tool post for it. I don't think you can do much on that site unless you join up.

I'd love to get a press brake like that. Drool.
__________________
No longer driving for a living so its time to dust off the old tools and get crackin'!
I'm now spending winter in the Northeast and Summer in Texas??! I think I got it backwards again...


Bill F.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:19 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.