Atlas Sphere Lathe

[phil1962Participant @phil1962]

Hi fellas I have been offered a Atlas sphere lathe can someone tell me how many gears should be in a set for this lathe lathe looks and runs well cheers for any help

[phil1962Participant @phil1962]

gears

[phil1962Participant @phil1962]

also is this a good lathe he is asking for £150 for it cheers

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Hello Phil,

Why not take a look at the entry for Atlas lathes on Tony Griffiths superb reference website.

http://www.lathes.co.uk

Regards

Brian

PS They are likely to cost you close to £150 to buy them

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

You could always read the usual source of info

http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/page9.html

[phil1962Participant @phil1962]

Hi I have looked on that site but can not see anything about how many gears there should be with the lathe the fella selling it as a bag with some gears in just wanted to see if there is what there should be cheers for the help fellas

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I've never seen any site or lathe brochure actually list the number and mostly not even what values they supply.

However 20 plus 20 to 65 in steps of 5 will give you imperial threads and adequate metric approximations for most users. Don't forget there will be several gears already fitted.

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

If it's a close copy of the Atlas then you could get an idea of the gearset from the threading chart.

Atlas 10

I would say that £150 is a very fair price if the machine is basically sound. I wouldn't pay much more than a couple of hundred no matter how nice it was.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Posted by phil1962 on 03/03/2019 19:33:26:

Hi I have looked on that site but can not see anything about how many gears there should be with the lathe the fella selling it as a bag with some gears in just wanted to see if there is what there should be cheers for the help fellas

I see 8 change gears in one of the pics on there.

[Bob McParticipant @bobmc91481]

Hi Phil…

just seen a very similar lathe on ebay with what looks like a full set of gears… I can make out about 16 in all,

it is listed as an ATLAS 618 LATHE.

I've got one myself but made an electronic gearbox for it.

Hope its of some help….Bob.

[JuddyParticipant @juddy]

There is a lot of information on Atlas lathes and their offspring in the Vintage Machinery website here:

**LINK**

[JuddyParticipant @juddy]

The standard set of gears is: 2 x 20t, 24t, 32t, 36t, 40t, 44t, 46t, 48t, 52t, 54t, 56t and 3 x 64t

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by phil1962 on 03/03/2019 18:24:14:

also is this a good lathe he is asking for £150 for it cheers

Just before WW2 Atlas came up with a bunch of refinements that made their machines more desirable than most of the alternatives. The lathe is said to have inspired the design of the Myford ML7, a machine that's stood the test of time. So, an Atlas was much better than most hobby machines in the 1930's, but not as refined as a Myford in 1950. Perfectly adequate as a starter machine and perhaps permanently.

Unfortunately, buying second-hand, it is condition that matters most, not the lathe's reputation. How badly worn is the lathe? Is it damaged? Anything expensive or hard to replace missing? Does the motor work? Are the electrics safe? Does it have a reasonable set of accessories? Have you seen it cutting metal?

£150 is reasonable for a lathe of this type in working order even if some of the change wheels are missing and it requires some fixing up. Also losing £150 isn't the end of the world if the machine is a complete dud. (Compared with spending £1500 and finding the machine needs £500 worth of bearings, an unobtainium replacement gearbox , a bed regrind, the leadscrew is missing, and it has a cracked headstock and smoking electrics! ) But be warned, once you own a lathe, you will be spending more money. DTI & stand, Digital Caliper, micrometer, tooling, cutting fluids, grinding wheel, chucks, metal…

Sooner you start the better! Assuming it's not a wreck, I don't think you'll find it easy to find a better lathe for £150.

Dave

[phil1962Participant @phil1962]

he as two other lathes that he is keeping I have seen this lathe running and cutting everything seems to be in very good order all gears on head stock seem to have all there teeth nothing looks missing from what I can see there is a big yellow box full of bits and a bag with gears in it there are gears fitted to the machine all gear guards seem to be there. Even the thread dial counter is there its a Atlas sphere model and looks the same as this on

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Atlas+Sphere+Lathe&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=5MigRFqfA0wcXM%253A%252Ce5-UrEHYvbISWM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRyEQYFUJsOmvUsHsrfGsEIsyheoQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifr7HviezgAhUaThUIHe-xBW4Q9QEwBXoECAAQBA#imgrc=5MigRFqfA0wcXM:

 

 

 

Edited By phil1962 on 05/03/2019 22:23:14

Edited By phil1962 on 05/03/2019 22:25:16

Edited By phil1962 on 05/03/2019 22:26:03

Edited By phil1962 on 05/03/2019 22:33:29

Edited By phil1962 on 05/03/2019 22:44:53

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