12"/36" Atlas Lathe has Landed

[Carroll Courtney]

Guys here is a pic of what I pick up and as you can see there is no base for the lathe.Just setting on my bench and I was wondering what others have don't w/theirs that did not come with a base.Did you make yours out of wood or metal and is it mobile?If you have please post pics of yours and discribe---Thanks Carroll

[Bruce Page]

Carroll, a lot depends on what type of machining you plan on doing. If you are making tools, threading shafts - the sort of machining where surface finish and critical tolerances are not too important then a stout wooden base will work just fine. If you plan on doing more precision work where tolerance and surface finish is important than I would recommend a stout, welded, metal base. The key is to eliminate as much vibration as possible.

Nice looking lathe!

[Adam Neat]

Nice lathe; I would probably go with a stout wood stand, get something like a cookie sheet to sit under the bed to catch chips but mainly to catch any drippings from cutting oil.

Get the southbend book "How to run a lathe" http://www.grizzly.com/products/HOW-TO-RUN-A-LATHE-ENGLISH/SBCE3450

Add some HSS cutters and you will be in business.....

[George Carlson]

One of the things to be careful about is that if you bolt it down to non-flat surface, it will pull the bed out of alignment. The same thing can happen with a wood surface if moisture makes it twist. I had a light-weight lathe once, and I mounted it on a piece of 8" channel iron. As you would expect, the channel was not perfect, so I bedded the lathe in liquid steel (like JB Weld). This was done by first marking out and drilling the mounting holes. Then the feet of the lathe were coated with a good coat of paste wax to prevent the epoxy from sticking. The areas of the channel where the lathe was to be mounted were coated with a liberal amount of liquid steel. The lathe was set in place and the mounting bolts set in place, but not tightened. Let the epoxy cure for a couple of days, then tighten the mounting bolts. This should mount the lathe to the channel without putting any stress on the lathe bed (much like when a gunsmith epoxy beds a rifle action).
I had welded three angle tabs to the channel. The tabs have holes that allow the channel to be bolted to the bench. Two tabs were at the headstock end, the third was at the tailstock end of the channel. The reason for three tabs is so the channel can be mounted to the bench without twisting the channel. My Monarch 10EE is much the same. It has a huge cast iron base with three points that touch the floor. A very nice system.

[Steve H Graham]

Now you're in trouble.

1. Bench grinder (3600 RPM) with quality aluminum oxide stone and dressing tool
2. 4-jaw chuck
3. Lots of tool blanks
4. Carbide insert tools (LH, RH, spooling)
5. Gallon of WD40 for aluminum cutting
6. Moly Dee for threading and tapping steel
7. Pipe cutting oil for turning steel
8. Pliers for clearing swarf
9. Quick change tool post and holders, with EXTRA holders
10. Boring bars with inserts
11. Scissor knurling tool

The list is endless.

Look up the "Rollie's Dad" method of lathe alignment. It's not really correct, but it helps.

Buy a shop apron. Oil is going to be all over your shirt.