AT-300 lathe-mill-drill, introduction and disassembly

[@LazTLaz]

You never stop working Jan! Really looking forward to this project. These models seem to fetch a surprisingly high price on EBay in the UK. The position of the mill head is universally derided, but a lot of folks who have the basic lathe say good things about it. It'll be interesting to see how far you can push the specification.

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Thnks! Yes, it is a low-end solution, but I wanted to find out how bad it is really.. and thereby the potential for improvement. So far some of the bad impressions have been confirmed, but still..

[@littleworkshopofhorrors2395]

I was given one of those as a plain lathe without the mill attachment and i think a powered leadscrew is the minimum needed to make it usable. Having no saddle handle you have to give your arm muscles a workout every time you use the damn thing turning the lead screw handle. ELS and a ballscrew might make a great start to a cnc upgrade.

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Thnks for commenting. My thought too.. an ELS here would be the "natural" addition to replace the change gear setup as well as provide rapid and slow positioning of the carriage

[@somebodyelse6673]

@@jansverrehaugjord9934 - Change gears shouldn't even be a thing anymore, except for antiques. The cost of an ELS would be shockingly low if it became a standard feature of asian clone machines.

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

@@somebodyelse6673 Agree! Actually I cannot complain about the price of the ELS as it is sold from Rocketronics. The box in itself is (in my eyes) not expensive at all.

[@ogaugeclockwork4407]

Interesting project! Machines getting tipped over and damaged happens much to often!

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Thanks! We'll see what we end with here.. so far a modest "investment". Agree, I guess as lathes are top heavy so they are also possibly prone to tip over under transport

[@sblack48]

These machines should come with a helmet. Every time you bend down to precisely align a lathe tool with the work you bash your head. The spindle is so far above the bed in order for the mill attachment to work that the lathe lacks rigidity. It seems like the best of both worlds to a beginner - get a lathe and mill for the price and space of one. But then once you get serious about using you find it doesn’t do either function well. I’m sure Jan will get the most out of the machine for what it is. Good thing he got it cheap.

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Thnks for commenting. This is kind of an experiment, so will see how it goes. Agree, it is a beginners machine, and the milling head as is a compromise at best. I have some ideas, so will test. However, my bet is that most buy a separate mill and just park the mill aside and use the lathe as they gain more experience.. or sell the machine.

[@somebodyelse6673]

It makes me wonder if it would be much the same thing to put a bench lathe on a thick steel plate base, and bolt a bench drill press to the same plate, over the lathe. I'm not convinced it would be a better idea than a toolpost mount for a drill / router / grinder. Maybe? Maybe not?

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Hmm.. not exactly the same thing, but depending on what your goal is, more than one solution would work I guess. In my eyes what is lacking in the design as it is original (apart from build quality) are rigidity and reach (xy-travel). The former can be solved in various ways.. at least I think it can be greatly reduced. One solution I would like to test is to make a type of bridge construction, possibly anchoring it to the tailstock end. This also involves relocating the milling head a little further to the right, which will allow a bigger performance "envelope" and less need to take off the chuck, in other words also solving the "reach" problem. It probably will involve a 2nd motor though. Anyway, some experimentation and look to what others have done.

[@janvanruth3485]

toolroom specs? you will be lucky to get it to carpenters specs. the construction i not sound and cannot be improved without building a virtually new machine. i had one of those and all we did with it was to spin a circular steel brush in it as that was the only thing it was good enough for.

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Hehe.. call it an optimistic approach.. :) We'll see how far this can be "improved". The design is packed with flaws.. sure, and I know of course that what you say if probably correct. Not to use such expressions as "toolroom specs", I am sure it can be "enhanced" at least. I wanted to have the clean bed/saddle/cross-slide on the surface plate to see how bad it is, then make a judgement. My intent with this purchase was partly based on curiosity and then also to show yet another version of mounting the ELS system, especially for those having similar types of "change gear only" lathes. I didn't need another project now, having just bought another 3 Myford ML7's up for restoration, but since this "wreck" appeared, I thought why not just check it out.

[@xylosfurniture]

Hi Jan. Thanks for the video. I was just as dumb as you on the column bearing😑. Did you find a way to put the balls back? I'm struggling with mine😡. Thanks

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Hi there, thnks for the comment 😁 I have not done this, no. The reason why is that I have relocated the entire mill head and will use another means to raise and lower this (lift cylinder with electric motor). PS! There are some other users with good videos on how to modify this (and much more)

[@michaelwilson4700]

Does anyone know how he remove the Lathe Head? I have the same machine. The manual shows locking pins behind set screws.

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

2 bolts from underneath. Sorry for leaving that out of the video. However, it is possible to understand more by looking at this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmPJaJuAa7FqbLMsi=tvyhtp2R9diS6Svp

[@michaelwilson4700]

@@jansverrehaugjord9934 Thanks, I was wondering why it would not move. The parts diagrams in the Smithy manual did not show it. I just checked and that's it. Thanks again.

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

@@michaelwilson4700 You're welcome. Feel free to ask more if you need to.. I will do my best to answer

[@Dankert919]

Hei Jan! Har en sånn en jeg og så det passer jo helt ypperlig at du lager videoer om denne dreiebenken😊 Har vært på utkikk etter tannhjulsdrev til denne maskinen men har ikke funnet noen, vet du hvor man kan få tak i reserve deler til denne maskinen? Takk for video🥰

[@jansverrehaugjord9934]

Takk for hyggelig tilbakemelding. Tror maskinen er identisk med en Smithy 1220, så du kan jo prøve deres hjemmeside. Fulgte ikke med drevsett til min, men jeg skal sette på ELS likevel så trenger ikke. Send meg gjerne en email på jshaugjord at gmail evt pm .

[@Dankert919]

Takkær☺