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| | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 | Hey guys, do any of you know of a 12 inch Atlas/Craftsman lathe bed for sale. An old buddy of mine just gave my son a basket case, but well tooled lathe, but the bed is extremely worn right in front of the chuck. Somebody must have used it as a production machine making short bushings.
Thanks!
Ray
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 295 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 295 | Most work is done in first 12" away from chuck. Call a machine tool outfit and see if they can scrape the ways.
Dan Bentler | | | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 | Grigg and leitmotif thank you for the suggestions. I will pass them on to my son. I have not seen this lathe for about 30 years. Back then my buddy brought it home as a basket case. There was damage to the Morse 2 taper in the spindle. I repaired that by boring out the damaged part, inserting a thin sleeve and then restoring the taper with a Morse 2 reamer in the evening adult education machine shop class I was taking.
I recall the bedways being pretty bad. I suggested to my son that he find a machine shop with a huge surface grinder to regrind the tops of the bedways.
He's a "Rocket scientist" at Lockheed Martin Space Systems so what can an old geologist like me tell him?
Ray
| | | | | Joined: May 2005 Posts: 8,878 . | | . Joined: May 2005 Posts: 8,878 | Tell him to have fun with it..
I suspect a replacement bed/parts machine can be found for something similar to or less than professionally regrinding the ways. Worth looking at all the options before deciding what to do.
Grigg | | | | | Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 469 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 469 | Look on ebay there a lot of older lathes with out quick change for not very much. I think the 10 " lathe bed might inerchange with the 12" as they share a lot of other parts. | | | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 | Thanks ttodd. I actually have a 10" Atlas. I'll keep in mind that a 10" and 12" bed might interchange. Thank you for point that out. We have been checking ebay and will keep doing so.
Ray
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,760 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,760 | A lot of those lathes have a bed that can be turned around, and the headstock, etc. bolts on in a mirror image of its original position. Worth a try, maybe.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
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| | | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 843 | Thanks for that suggestion Jerry. I will forward it to my son. He's a "Rocket scientist" at Lockheed so he ought to be able to figure out a way to put the lead screw bearing and the carriage rack on the opposite side if turning the bed around is an option.
Ray
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