shop-talk
[Top] [All Lists]

RE: Atlas lathes and Shopsmiths

To: "Tobin,Herbert" <htobin@foxboro.com>
Subject: RE: Atlas lathes and Shopsmiths
From: Larry Hoy <larryhoy@ecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 07:49:16 -0700
Hey Herbert, that'd be to easy!

Good suggestion, I just thought I heard that Altas was long gone and
assumed that parts, manuals, etc were unavailable.

Heck, I have a Sears parts store just minutes from my home!

At 09:18 AM 3/26/98 -0500, Tobin,Herbert wrote:
>Larry,
>
>I ordered some parts for this lathe just a few years ago at the Sears
>parts department. They had microfilms showing an exploded view and a
>pretty complete listing of all the parts. I would not be surprised if
>the manual is listed as one of the parts. 
>It is almost a requirement to have the manual that refers specifically
>to this lathe if you intend to use features like metric threading. I
>doubt that a manual for anything else would do the job. Incidentally,
>the manual has sections on doing things on the 6" lathe and other
>sections on doing the same thing on the 12" lathe, so I would guess that
>the same manual is meant to cover both sizes.
>
>As a matter of fact my old manual is giving up its binding and I could
>do with a new one myself. I think I'll head down to Sears and check this
>out.
>
>                                       Herb T.
>
>
>
>>----------
>>From:         Larry Hoy[SMTP:larryhoy@ecentral.com]
>>Reply To:     Larry Hoy
>>Sent:         Wednesday, March 25, 1998 5:45 PM
>>To:   Tobin,Herbert
>>Cc:   'shop-talk@autox.team.net'
>>Subject:      Re: Atlas lathes and Shopsmiths
>>
>>
>>Herbert, I too own a Craftsman (Atlas) lathe.  I inherited it just a few
>>months ago.  It must be nearly as old as I am (47), as I remember my Dad
>>using it when I was a young boy.  To make a long story short I have the
>>"complete" lathe; including, chucks, tools, gauges, threading gears, etc.
>>I am marginally capable of using this tool but was wondering if there is
>>any place I could get manuals for it?  
>>
>>Can any body out there point me in the right direction?
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>At 03:58 PM 3/25/98 -0500, Tobin,Herbert wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>I bought an Atlas 6 inch lathe almost 40 years ago from Sears and I must
>>>say it was one of the best tool investments I ever made. 
>>>
>>>It obviously wont handle anything large, but there just haven't been
>>>that many times when this was a problem.
>>>
>>>More typically I will need some small item, as for example a few weeks
>>>ago I needed one of the brass screws which fasten down the gas guage
>>>sending unit to the top of the tank on a 1935 BMW. You will not be
>>>surprised to hear that my local BMW dealer does not have any of these,
>>>nor does the local junkyard which specializes in Mercedes and BMW. But
>>>with my handy little Atlas lathe these very distinctive pieces of
>>>hardware are easily made so they can hardly be told from the originals.
>>>This kind of operation is quite typical of the way this machine has been
>>>useful.
>>>
>>>In recent years I have seen asking prices for these lathes as low as
>>>$100 and as high as $500. If you buy one, be sure you get  the chucks
>>>with it. A new chuck can easily cost more than a used lathe. Also bear
>>>in mind that these little lathes can cut inch based and metric threads,
>>>but you must get a complete set of threading gears to use this feature.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>Larry Hoy
>>Denver CO USA
>>1969 MGB roadster
>>1987 Jaguar Vanden Plas
>>
>>"It's not how fast you go, it's how fast you go fast"
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>
>
>
Larry Hoy
Denver CO USA
1969 MGB roadster
1987 Jaguar Vanden Plas

"It's not how fast you go, it's how fast you go fast"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>