The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Lathe worth saving??

This is available for scrap price (probably).... worth grabbing? I know nothing about it other than it's current location.

That's probably worth it for the cool factor. But you'd need an overhead flat belt jack shaft to get it to work.

Yes, definitely! What's the swing diameter? (distance from the spindle center to the ways, X2) If you don't want it, I'd be glad to have it. Converting that flat belt drive to a conventional electric motor and V belts would be a very simple task. The original jack shaft is there- - - - -bottom of the second picture.

www.ebay.com/itm/332943593154?

Jerry

We fixed one very, very similar to that up for one of my buddies a few years back.

Works great. If you have use for a lathe and space for it, it is a solid machine (literally and figuratively).

Very cool👍Would be handy for turning drums and rotors if it has a large enough swing. Not as handy for making parts as it has no quick change gear box for threading. It can be used to cut threads if you have the necessary gears and they will need to be switched out manually. Tapping with the tailstock efficiently will require a reversible motor.

Very cool, and well worth saving, but I would prefer a newer machine occupying space in my shop.

Just my opinion.

John

A quick change gearbox isn't terribly difficult to add to an older machine. In general, engine lathes aren't rigid enough to machine drums and/or rotors- - - - -in particular, rotors which must have friction surfaces parallel within .0005". (1/2 thousandth).
Jerry

Jerry, I respectfully disagree. Engine lathers are very rigid machines. We've done more than a few drums and rotors over the past 4 decades. It's all about the condition of the machine, mostly the spindle bearings and also how you hold the part. Holding .0005 tolerance is no big deal here at our shop.

John

While I've done more than a few cobble jobs, using the right equipment for the job is always better. Since I've had a brake drum and rotor lathe in every shop I've run for the past 50 years, there's no reason to use a general purpose machine for those kinds of projects, especially when flat rate labor time is involved. Setting up a general purpose lathe to turn a rotor would eat up the profit margin on a brake job more or less instantly. Rotors must be machined with a carbide cutter bit on both sides simultaneously to hold the proper parallelism between the surfaces the pads contact, or there will be an annoying shudder in the brake pedal. That's impossible to do on most general purpose lathes without building a special fixture for every rotor.
Jerry

Machining with an engine lathe I wouldn't consider cobble work. However, you are correct when it comes to labor cost. We usually only do them when it's something special that the typical automotive machine shop can't or won't do. Also, sometimes the guys in the shop would rather do their own instead of buying new after-market ones, as not very many places turn them anymore. Not to mention, here we can skim off the minimal amount of material needed compared to the typical automotive machine shop that will most likely try and take as much as possible to obtain full clean up as quickly as they can.

There are no rules that say you have to machine both sides of a rotor (straddle facing) at the same time to guarantee zero runout or true parallelism (at least within .0005). The trick is to not remove the rotor from the chuck or mandrel until both sides are machined. Both left- and right-hand tool holders are utilized, just one at a time.

Carbide? Yes, we spend thousands of dollars on carbide tooling (inserts, tool bits, end mills etc.) every year. Pretty much all we use these days.

Back in the 80's and early 90's we used to manufacture tens of thousands of mainframe computer hubs for Control Data, Seagate and many others. Radial runout had to be held at .00015 max and parallel within .0001. We used diamond tipped inserts for them.

Getting back to the lathe. I think it's more of a cool conversation piece than a useful item to have taking up floor space.

Once again, this is just my opinion and no disrespect intended. I still wouldn't be concerned to try and turn a drum or rotor on that lathe.

John

Most shops stopped turning drums and/or rotors a long time ago when the cost of replacement parts got more reasonable than the equipment expense and labor costs involved in turning them. Unless a quality replacement simply isn't available (36/3800 stovebolts, for instance) a commercial shop won't even consider turning brake parts. We're not in business to lose money.
Jerry

Hey Jerry, my local machine shop re turned brand new front drums to confirm they were centric on the hubs…
Made sense to me not trusting current suppliers specs…. Hmmmm, he just retired, did I contribute to his retirement fund?
Chuck

Yes, that's something we did on occasion- - - -usually if we installed replacement drums on front hubs. Most rear drums centered on the axle flange, so they were more likely to be concentric. Way back in the dark ages, it was a routine thing to put a ground, not machined finish on the brake drums that were used with sintered iron brake linings. Those were used for applications like police cars, taxicabs, delivery trucks, race cars, and other heavy duty applications. Noisy, but they would outlast asbestos linings about 3 to 1.
Jerry

I have a friend with a muffler/brake shop and he always turns brand new drums and rotors because they are never true from the factory.

I saw this monster lathe today. The tail section of the ways move so there's more swing close to the chuck, and the chuck is at least 18 inches diameter (my hand span is about 9 inches.) It must be 12 ft long overall.

Kevin, LaBlond is a really great lathe. I have ran many manual brands that size and bigger. All in job shops.
Monark is also a good machine.

Don

Edit: That machine was probably from the 1940's or early 50's.

That's known as a "gap bed" lathe. It allows for a short, larger diameter workpiece to be spun over the ways. I'm about to modify one of my 12 inch swing Atlas/Craftsman lathes by raising the headstock, tool post, and tailstock by 3 inches so I can swing a bigger faceplate- - - -16 inches, I believe. I plan to use that one for refacing flywheels and boring the big ends of Babbit connecting rods for insert bearings.
Jerry

So, what's the consensus? Worth saving or not?

John

I vote yard art and would consider a gearbox and indexable toolpost must haves to warrant shop space.


This is exactly the opposite of using the right tool for the job. Every modification described is destructive to rigidity so results will speak for themselves. Atlas/Craftsman lathes are banned from discussion on the Practical Machinist forum as they are considered home shop hobby machines and not serious metal cutting equipment used by professionals.

I concur.

Dangit Kevin! Do I need to start filling out an accident report and call the incident hotline??? At least don't drip any evidence on the machine!

The lathe I posted about in the first place is a recent acquisition by my old neighbor back at the farm. He got it to resell at his own auction in the fall. So .... It doesn't need "saving" at the moment....

I have to agree with the other professional machinists, yard art. Old iron was usually built very solid, that one does not look to be. Also without a quick change gear box, you are very limited on what you can do.

Just my opinion.
Don

Sheesh .... Well, not *everyone* has access to fancy high speed, low drag state of the art machine shop equipment ... Given the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Old Order Community, I have no doubt someone will find a good use for it.

Ever see the video of the guy on the side of the road "machining" his clutch with a rock??

FYI: The US patent for a quick-change gearbox for an engine lathe was awarded in 1906. That's 7 years before the first Chevrolet "1913 Series C Classic Six". Even Louis Chevrolet probably would have preferred a quick-change.

Hmmmmm- - - --please don't tell my "antique" equipment that it's worthless- - - -it might stop doing stuff that has people standing in line to give me money! One of my Van Norman cylinder boring machines was manufactured during WW II. It still works as it was intended to- - - -makes round, accurate holes in engine blocks.
Jerry

Threading on a lathe started long before quick change gear box's were around. I’ve threaded on lathes that required you to change the gearing in the box manually, but it still did the job. Not that hard, only took a little more setup time.

If that lathe was my only option, I would grab it in a heartbeat and adapt it to my needs.

Yes, you can thread without a quick-change as long as you have the necessary gears. Reverse headstock rotation is also very desirable for tapping.

We have lots of older equipment. A broad mix of manual and CNC. Our Landis Cylindrical Grinder came out of the Martin Bomber plant after WW2.

If John manages to win the auction for me, I have a specific purpose for a machine like that. It will be set up to rough out crankshaft modifications for the stroker cranks I make, prior to being finish ground to final dimensions on one of my antique Storm Vulcan crankshaft grinders. Saves wear and tear on some VERY expensive 16 inch diameter grinding wheels!
Jerry