Just bought an Atlas 12x24 lathe! :)

Travis

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Just unloaded this into my garage a couple of hours ago. It's an Atlas 12" x 24" lathe from the early to mid '60s. It weighs over 500 pounds with the stand so I used my engine hoist to get it in and out of my truck. This one has the quick change gear box for threading and power feeds, and a quick change tool post. It's an under-drive unit which I like because it saves some space. This is my first lathe and I'm pretty excited to start using it! :bike:
 

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awesomeness, my grandad has one, he's had it since the 60's or so. he has worn out 2 or 3 crossfeed shafts on it with all the work he has done with it.

i have a rockwell delta i need to finish putting the motor back on to finish it up. it was a basket case when my grandad got it.
 
NIce! Craigslist? A guy has one around here said He would sell it for 1500 with collets and tooling. I want it!
 
I saw that one. Nice score! Missed one on CL here n MPLS for $250. The kids said he had a million calls.
 
DUDE! I'm coming over saturday....well maybe sunday....well maybe not this weekend, but someday soon as i gotta polish my fork lowers!....congrats!
 
My Dad had one just like it. He offered to give it to me, but I had to turn it down. Transport from UT to AZ wasn't cost efective. Plus I had nowhere to put it.:confused:
 
My Dad had one just like it. He offered to give it to me, but I had to turn it down. Transport from UT to AZ wasn't cost efective. Plus I had nowhere to put it.:confused:

Ah yeah I have two motto's for a situation like this. The essential, "where there's a will there's a way" and my favorite, "cross that bridge when you get there"

Sweet score Travis! Consider me jealous of your shop with your new(to you) tool purchase
 
Yeah I thought it was a pretty good find. It's in real nice shape. I've been looking for a lathe on and off for about two years and when this showed up I couldn't help myself. About a year ago, I almost bought a new grizzly lathe, but never pulled the trigger. For the Atlas, I had to give him his full asking price ($950) because of all of the calls and emails he was getting. That's what he said anyway and I believe it. I was the first to email so he gave me the first shot at looking at it. Nice guy. He had it listed as a 10" but they didn't make them like this in a 10". I knew from the pictures before I went that it was a 12" and I'm sure others did too. The model number confirms that it's a 12" x 24". I wish it were a 12x36 but I shouldn't complain. I'm not sure I would use the extra 12" that much anyway.

NIce! Craigslist? A guy has one around here said He would sell it for 1500 with collets and tooling. I want it!

Yes good ol' Craigslist. It seems like almost everything I've bought in the last 5-6 years or so has come from Craigslist.

DUDE! I'm coming over saturday....well maybe sunday....well maybe not this weekend, but someday soon as i gotta polish my fork lowers!....congrats!

Polish or shave? You can come over but you'll have to wait until I get it in its final spot and get some more tooling. :thumbsup: I'm planning on shaving my fork lowers with it too. Maybe we can use your lowers for the test run? :laugh:
 
I hope so! Even the stand is solid. A lot of it is 3/16" steel. Now days I don't think they wouldn't make a 200lb stand to hold a 300 lb lathe.
 
Travis you will never miss the 12". I have the atlas 36" and would rather have the 24". The extra foot just takes up space. The longest thing you will probally ever turn in a forks leg and I could fit those on my 19" lathe with no problem.
Funny how they call these a 12" swing when they are really only 6", well 6" from center to the bed so technically you could turn a 12" stock.
I sure am jealous of the quick change gear box.
 
swbill, that's good to hear that I won't miss the extra 12" on the bed length.

As far as the swing goes, see the excerpt below taken from http://www.lathes.co.uk/page2.html

I guess the real difference is whether you call it swing or throw. I prefer the American sizing because it tells you the size of the largest cylinder you could turn.

Size:
When you see a lathe branded as, for example, 4" x 24" what does this mean?
The "English" method of sizing a lathe is to quote the centre height - or "throw" - the distance from the centre of the chuck to the nearest point on the bed. In this case the centre height is 4" and the distance between centres (the maximum length of material the lathe can accommodate) 24". With a “bigger-and-better” attitude the Americans of course quote the largest diameter of a workpiece that can be turned clear over the bed - termed the "swing" - and so, in the example above, the American sizing would be 8" x 24". Some American makers, South Bend for example, also quoted the bed length as part of the specification; however, this is an irrelevant figure - it neither tells you the longest piece of material that can be turned, nor the length of the lathe. How big to go? Well, bigger is not necessarily better - and moving larger machines can be an expensive proposition. For most home machinists and small repair workshops something between a 3” x 15” and 6” x 30” machine will be ideal. However, whilst the former would be light enough to lift off the bench yourself, the latter would need an engine crane and a trailer to get home.


And yes mine has the power cross feed. I think all the ones that look like ours have it.
 
that's a nice looking unit. Oil all the cups. I own half interest in a 50's model 13x36 LeBlonde, but it needs a motor at the moment. You can do some real work on that lathe and make some good money if you're sharp.
 
Polish or shave? You can come over but you'll have to wait until I get it in its final spot and get some more tooling. :thumbsup: I'm planning on shaving my fork lowers with it too. Maybe we can use your lowers for the test run? :laugh:


Polish...I (ahem) may have used a resource within my grasp to shave them.:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
hi ,,,thats a sweet lathe,,, having managed and contracted in engineering,,, they are very handy,,, ,,, i was lucky last year at our town auxilary auction to buy a EL LATHE made in 1951 in mint condition.. for $110 aust,, i,m having trouble getting parts .so i may have too adapt parts.. enjoy ,,, regards oldbiker
 
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