Metal Lathe

Since I was getting into experimental rocketry and I wanted to go to the next step. That meant I wanted to make my own metal parts so I bought a used Atlas lathe off ebay for $750.00. I bought this one for several reasons. The price was right for the size which is a 10X36. Three other factors where that it had quick change gears, it was local so I didn't have to pay shipping charges and it used single phase power. The lathe was in fair shape when I got it. so I decided to restore it. This meant tear down to every last nut and bolt.

The first thing was tear down. I removed every part including bearings, gears and even oil galleys. I then cleaned all the parts to remove old grease, rust and paint. The then re-cleaned the parts and painted

most of the main parts with a light machine gray and navy blue paint. I was watching the paint dry and noticed a date stamp on the bearing. It was made Jan14th 1947 so I believe the lathe was built in 1947 also by the serial number on the Atlas tag.

One of the places I was working was throwing out a old metal leg desk. After looking at it for a while I was able to talk them into letting me have it. I would be perfect for a lathe stand. I had bought a couple of oil drip pans from the local auto parts store to use as chip trays.

Here are some pictures with the lathe in use. I also added a quick change tool post.