My new Lathe - running and problems

Taking a look at an Atlas TH54 10f 10 metal Lathe. A few problem to sort out but lets take a look and hear it run. It looks like we have a forward reverse gearbox issue as well as a stuck half nut.

[@bustednuckles2]

Hell of a score!! Congratulations, I am green with envy! You'll get this thing all figured out and fixed in no time.

[@theeddies]

Hey man, I have already started. Forward/reverse had some broken bits, I have already ordered replacements. And the half nuts problem should be an easy fix. I have wanted an older lathe for a long time and finally found one for a decent price. Thanks! Eddie

[@craigtate5930]

Now your talkin! Nice score, can't wait to see your progress on this

[@theeddies]

Thanks Craig, lots to do but there always is.

[@RalfyCustoms]

Absolutely beautiful old lathe, I love my Atlas 10F wonderful old girl, I couldn't imagine being without it, great score buddy

[@theeddies]

I am pretty happy with it so far. Needs work but I think it should be a good project. Thinking about leaving the patina, what would you use to clear coat or preserve a patina look? Maybe a wax or something? Rat Lathe, lol.

[@sharkrivermachine]

I have the same TH54 10F lathe. However I was fortunate that it has the Quick Change gear box on it, which is the reason that I purchased it. I have installed a Shars 6" 3 jaw chuck on mine and I works just great. The reverse feature is very handy when using collets. I have the original 3AT collet setup for my lathe and have also added an ER40 collect chuck. Best of luck to you on your new lathe.

[@theeddies]

Nice, thanks! I will likely put my 3" 3 jaw on it. I was looking for a lathe with a quick change but lathes are hard to find in my area for a reasonable price so I had to snag this one. I might hit you up with a question or two along the way. Always good to hear from you. Thanks! Eddie

[@MattysWorkshop]

Gday, congratulations on the new lathe, looking forward to seeing this in the future, Cheers

[@theeddies]

Cheers Matty, thanks!

[@danielabbey7726]

Always fun getting a new machine. Fortunately for you, there are lots of used parts available out there for the Atlas lathes.

[@theeddies]

Parts availability was a big reason I went ahead and bought it even though it needs a bit of work. Going to be a fun project. Thanks, eddie

[@mftmachining]

Congrats Eddie, another step forward, good shot.👍

[@theeddies]

Thanks man, you have been here since the beginning, means a lot. I have wanted one similar for a long time. All the best! Eddie

[@mftmachining]

@@theeddies Thanks for yer kind words. The last two months i was offline with some serious PC Problems and a bunch of bloody morons in the repair-shop. But since yesterday i´m back in biz. I completed the digitalisation of the Lathe/Mill. Came out extremely well and super-precise. I send you some Photos tomorrow. All the best, Michael.

[@theeddies]

@@mftmachining Welcome back! Please do send some, looking forward to them.

[@mftmachining]

@@theeddies Sent.

[@AaronEngineering]

G’day Eddie, congratulations on the new lathe mate she looks like a little ripper. Thanks for sharing cheers Aaron

[@theeddies]

Thanks mate, I am pretty stoked. Looks like you are getting close to 2k. Growing quicker now. All the best! Eddie

[@pgs8597]

G’day Eddie. Great purchase it’s sure to keep you busy for awhile. Cheers Peter

[@theeddies]

Thank Peter, it is my winter project to go with all the other ones, lol. All the best! Eddie

[@misterbreakit2006]

Nice score! Congrats.

[@theeddies]

Thanks!, It is going to be a fun project.

[@frankmora8336]

Hello, I see you just picked up the th54. Nice machine. I just sold the same lathe a few months ago. I had rebuilt it from the ground up. What brought me here was Steven Lang shark. But he mentioned that you work on motorcycles. I have subscribed and hit the bell.

[@theeddies]

Thanks Frank. I am doing a pretty thorough restoration of the Atlas. It has started pretty slow unfortunately due to some other priorities but is coming along. And yes i do love my vintage motorcycles. Thanks for subbing and welcome! Best! Eddie

[@mechanician7735]

I've gpt a TH42 that I love, but I'd rather have a TH54. I do hope you put some grease in the grease cups for the countershaft, and spindle oil (or any kind of oil!!!) in the spindle bearing cups. You can 3D print gears for it. If you want a metric transposition set, you're going to need a fairly large 3D printer. the 127 tooth gear runs something over 9" in diameter, and you need a 100 tooth gear that is nearly that big, too. My 3D printer is large enough, but probably too slow to really do it. I found it underestimates print time, and it was more than 24 hours estimated for the 127 tooth gear. A 32 tooth gear was a couple of hours, IIRC. Check Thingiverse for the files you'll need to print your gears. Good luck with it! Bill

[@theeddies]

Thanks, yes she will get lots of liquid love before I am done and during use. Thanks for the info on printing. I am looking into it now. I have a friend with a printer, guess we will see how good a friend he is, lol. All the best! Eddie

[@machinenutdel6764]

Hi Ed, Looking forward to seeing much more of her, looks like the issues are through lack of use, had to laugh when you switched her on holding the switch away from your body ! Regards Del.

[@theeddies]

I laughed to when I watched it back, I did not even realize I did, like that would help if it shocked me, lol. I agree with the lack of use issues. The cosmetic damage looks like what you would expect if it got banged around in a shed or garage and all the parts that stuck out were knocked around. I am looking forward to digging into it. I enjoy the adventure, lol. Thanks!

[@deepnhock]

The forward/reverse (L/R) leadscrew trans has aluminum gears and shift fork that can shear/break easily if the leadscrew is bound up (lack of lube at the rh end), or if the carriage crossfeed is engaged when all the way at the end of travel. Pretty common problem. BTDT.

[@theeddies]

Thanks, yep it was exactly that. The bevel gear on the change gear shaft was partially wiped and the transfer bevel gear on top was as well. The fork, shifting castle (not sure what that would be called), and outbound gear are fine. I have already ordered new steel bevels to adapt as replacements. Bought 3 NOS Boston gears for $15 each so with a bit of luck I should be able to get it back working better than new for not much $$$ Thanks, Eddie

[@psgflier]

Looks like fun, I'm sure you'll have it stripped down and re-conditioned better than new soon(or, like me, someday). Looked for one like that for a long time, but they're as rare as hens teeth on the West Coast/Seattle area. even when I would find one it was still 1000 miles away and hard to condition/value, let alone find someone to get to a shipper. Finally settled a new grizzly for not much more than a decent used lathe. Tools and equipment used to have metal electrical boxes and no ground, nobody thought twice about grabbing them, even with worn insulation, of course somebody would get electrocuted every so often. In the Air Force we were taught the only time you should have a hand in a pocket is when working with electricity, only use one hand, never touching anything with the other. I got zapped pretty good one time working on an APN59 radar. I was instructing another fellow, going through the checklist discharging capacitors and coils when it arced into my belly and out my thigh. I got a pretty good burn both places and almost broke my students nose when my arm got thrown back. The unit had just came back from overhaul at depot and they had pinched and shorted a wire from the coil bank to the case. The unit wasn't pluged in, just 10,000 volts stored on the coil bank.

[@theeddies]

I have been looking for one of these or a South Bend 9" for nearly 2 years. They do come up occasionally in the Atlanta area but the prices are ridiculous, easily 3-5 times what I paid for this one. They are much more common in the northeast because there was just more of them sold up there for various reasons. I finally found a guy who had the right lathe at the right time at the right price in the right place. And who did not try to cover the imperfections with paint and polish. I have been hit by 220 and an occasional motorcycle spark plug. I have always heard that 110 will make you curse, 220 will make you jump, and 440 will lock you up tight. I have no idea what 10,000 would do. I am guessing because it was a coil it just discharged through you quick, and lucky it did not continue to do so though I am sure that you did not feel lucky at the time. That' sounds pretty painful. I am going to completely rewire this thing but I want to use the old box, not decided whether to go ahead with switching the motor to 220. I know my compressor runs much better and pulls less amps but I may leave that bit until I get everything else sorted. Just another bit of the project. Thanks, Eddie

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Lots of work there, has lots of potential.

[@theeddies]

Thanks for dropping by Randy. Yep, already pulled the gearbox and apron and found some damage but have some parts coming to adapt and fix. Great thing about this hobby is you can often make what you break. Thanks! Eddie p.s. I just realized for some reason you are not in my subscriptions anymore, been watching you nearly since your channel was my size. I am going to rectify that right now.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

@@theeddies Thanks, always fun to make the parts.

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

The little Atlas is a good machine! I think you will find it better then the lathe function on the 3in1. They are getting very hard to find in the pacific north west

[@theeddies]

It will be much more useful than the combo. They are not that easy to find in the southeast either, and usually people want to retire off the money from the sale when they do come up. Thanks, Eddie

[@raymondj8768]

Sweeeet lathe bro that will come in handy im sure !

[@theeddies]

Hey Ray, it going to be a fun maybe challenging project. Can't wait to get it up and running. Thanks, Eddie

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello Eddie, Nice machine... you'll going to have fun with that... I don't know if you know the "hillsgun" channel, Dan who runs it makes lots of replacement parts for Atlas machines... Take care. Paul,,

[@theeddies]

I think he is in my queue of Atlas videos. I will contact him though and see what he has. Thanks for that. All the best! Eddie

[@wktodd]

6inch chuck will be absolutely fine.

[@theeddies]

Thanks Bill, I figure it probably came off a similar machine. Now I just need to find a backplate err. Best! Eddie

[@MW-tg6jp]

Thats a nice machine. It has spent some serious hours making parts. Looks like it has been sandblasted by all the many chips that have come off of it. There is hundreds of hours on that thing. It proves you can do some work on a craftsman lathe.

[@marioacosta9995]

Hola señor, mi nombre es Mario. Soy de Argentina Buenos Aires... Le comento que tengo un torno Atlas TH 54 al que uso diariamente, Pero le falta la tabla de relaciones de engranajes y por ese motivo no puedo haser roscas... Perdón husted no me podri pasar la tabla?? Disculpa las molestias, Gracias..

[@theeddies]

Hello, Send me an email [e-mail] And I will send you some info. Thanks, Eddie

[@johnstrange6799]

Alright! :) Congrats on the score! I like it. I like the spot it's in, but I know that's major prime shop real estate .

[@theeddies]

Well it will be there a while now, lol. I would love to keep it there too but that's my work table for indoor projects. Thanks, glad you like it. I really appreciate all the help over the last year. Now, let's find a Bridgeport.

[@johnstrange6799]

@@theeddies You have to add a chip pan to the to-do list. I think Vernon (Missouri Old Timer) has the same machine too. Yeah Yeah Yeah, you're welcome. I'm glad you found it first. Meanwhile dude still has that 109 at $750 down from I believe $1995. smh

[@theeddies]

I know. The dude that had this one bought a 6 inch with all types of tooling and the thing looked new old stock. He said he traded a $300 welder he got free for it. Already have a few chip pan ideas.

[@theeddies]

My comments are screwed apparently. Have several from people that are not showing up on the video and cannot respond but see them in notifications. I cannot believe this still happens

[@johnstrange6799]

@@theeddies Did you see this 'Flying Car Renault AIR4...' video? lol

[@Dan-ue1gr]

Can find gears on eBay!

[@theeddies]

Yes, original sets are available for 1/2 to 3/4 what I paid for the machine. I had a set of 3d printed gears made for a 3rd of that. And just got a 3d printer so now I can print my own if one breaks. Might use the prints to cast some out of aluminum as well. Thanks! Eddie

[@DavidHerscher]

Forget the change gears bro. Get the QC gearbox. change gears SUCK, and you will avoid single point threading just to avoid the change gears. Get the gearbox.

[@theeddies]

I hear ya and I will be on the lookout for a qc gear box but the prices on them are double what I paid for the lathe, so it will have to be the right price. But I like fiddling with things, plus I have the ability to cut a bunch of metric threads that the QCGB either has to be modified to do or maybe can't..

[@DavidHerscher]

@@theeddies Yeah i definitely understand that. Congrats then as well on getting a great lathe at a good price! I believe I was reading on a forum recently that you can actually call up Sears and score some new old stock parts for the craftsman/atlas lathes. I can't say for sure, but it might be worth looking into.

[@theeddies]

@@DavidHerscher Thanks. I have not yet called them but I have read those same comments and will give them a call when i get a final inventory list. My understanding is that they are about the same as eBay but I will let everyone know what I find out. Thanks!

[@Just1GuyMetalworks]

Sweet! 😀 I believe the H stands for horizontal counter shaft. 10" buddies? 🤔 Well, we got the same swing. Yours is longer but mine is older and more experienced 🤣. Maybe some Atlas swag! Just so happens I have a 2step pulley for you 😁. Send me an email bro!

[@theeddies]

Lol, I knew you would find that funny. The whole reason I bought the lathe was to make that dumb joke, lol. H for horizontal makes much more sense That's awesome on the pulley. I will email you when I get home in a bit. I have been bingeing your videos. Talk in a bit. All the best!