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Atlas 9 and 10-inch Lathe Accessories - Page 1

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From the early 1930s and the introduction of their first lathe, the 9-inch, the Atlas Company had always offered a good range of useful accessories. However, by 1940 the sales catalog had grown to include no fewer than fifteen pages devoted to the optional extras - with practically everything the amateur turner might have desired, if not actually needed. The catalog pages from the 1940 edition are reproduced on the following four pages - and make for interesting reading - while below can be found a summary of the most important and useful additions.



Toolpost Grinding Attachment
Atlas products had a reputation for being well designed with close attention to detail and ease of use - all attributes found in this useful accessory that had two speeds of   speeds of 4900 and 9100 r.p.m.
Grinding wheels listed by the maker were:
External:
4" diameter 1/8" thick for steel
4" diameter 1/8" thick for cast iron
Internal:
1/4" diameter
1/2" diameter
1" diameter
Cup wheel 2.25" dia.
Saucer wheel 3/4" dia.

Three different Taper Attachments were offered over the years for the Atlas/Craftsman 9-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch  lathes, the Nos. 700, 760 and 6822. The 6822 was for the  late-model (post-1958) 12-inch while the Nos. 700 and 760 were for the early 9-inch,, 10-inch and  early 12". While virtually nothing can be swapped over between the 700 and 760, many (but not all parts) are  interchangeable between the 760 and 6822. Of the two types commonly found on the 10-inch Atlas. the so-called No. 700 "Toolroom" version is shown above, the lighter and much cheaper "standard" 760 version below

Standard lightweight Type 760 taper-turning unit

The very rare Belt Safety Guards. While the changewheel cover was in aluminium its mounting plate and the other parts were all in cast iron.



Safety guards fitted to a particularly well-restored mid 1950s 10-F

Simple but very useful Boring Table 7" x 7" designed to replace the cross slide and fitted with a fully-adjustable vice: - jaw width 3", jaw height 15/8", opening 45/8".

Fixed Steady 27/8" capacity

Accessory No. 500 and 500A
Always the most sought-after accessory, and available from the start of Atlas lathe production in 1932, the vertical  milling slide was fitted with a useful swivelling vise with a maximum capacity of 2
3/8" and a pair of interchangeable plain and V-slotted jaws. Over the years the slide underwent a number of changes with the first versions, sold until approximately 1936, being set up for use on the 9-inch and early 10-inch lathe (the D Type) where the unit was secured to the cross slide by two T-bolts running in a circular slot (it is possible that this design was briefly changed to two T-nuts, with the bolts going in from the top) With an improvement in the design of the compound slide (late in the short life of the 10-inch D Type) the milling unit had to be modified to accept the same fitting - a stout post integral with the cross slide over which either the top slide or the milling unit dropped. Square-headed bolts, passing through the base of the column casting, pushed short bevelled-ended bars against an inverted conical face on the post and so drew it down tightly. The modified unit retained the early slideway with its 3 gib screws (one of which acted as a lock) and a vise held on by two bolts. In 1940 the sliding section was given an additional gib screw and the vise strengthened by using a post mounting (exactly like the base) -a modification that allowed the unit to be strengthened by eliminating the cutaways in bottom of the vise that had been necessary to allow access to the mounting nuts.
Until 1936 the slide had a travel of 2.75" ( the unit fitted both the early 9-inch and 10-inch lathes up to number 3969) and after that a more useful 3.75".
A smaller version, the M6-500 with a vertical feed of only 1.75", was manufactured for the 6-inch lathe (and the Craftsman clone) and, in photographs, is easily confused with the larger model. This slide was also sold by the English Raglan Company for use on their "Little John" and "Raglan 5-inch" Models.

For Craftsmen-badged version the shorter travel slide was listed until 1947 (though that may have been a misprint) and the reference number for the attachment changed as follows:
9 P 2993 (1936 and 1937; fitted to the carriage with two T bolts. Vertical feed 2.75")
9 P 02987 (1938 and 1939 fitted to the carriage with two T-nuts and set screws going in from the top)
99 PT 2987 (1941)
99 PT 02987 (1941 to 1943)
9 T 2987 (1948)
9 A 2987 (1949)
99 A 02987 (1950 to 1958 Vertical Feed 3.375")
99 M 2987 C (1959)
F 9 HT 2987 (1959 for the "new-model" 12-inch lathe).

Final version of the milling slide with the improved stub mounting for the more rigid vise and 4 gib-strip screws on the slideway (including one used as a lock) as first advertised during 1940.

The milling slide as shown in the 1932 Atlas catalog and designed to be bolted to the cross slide using the same T bolts as the top slide.

The 1932 milling slide bolted in position on the very short cross slide



The slide in 1936 as first adapted for use on lathes with a post-mounted top slide. Note the large (weakening) cut-outs in the base of the vise to allow access to its clamping nuts

Lever-action collet closer Part No. 900 The unit consisted of the draw tube, drawtube support sleeve with ratchet adjustment to set the collet tension, handlever, fulcrum  bar and support shaft, a hardened sleeve to fit into the headstock spindle nose, a spindle-nose thread protector and one collet.
Collets could be had with bores from 1/32" to 1/2".

Basic collet attachment with draw-in tube and spindle nose adapter.

Atlas 10" Turret Lathe
Amongst the numerous other accessories available for the 10" Atlas was a range of items designed to convert it into a small production lathe. Almost any combination of specifications could be ordered from the factory and the above is typical of those offered; mounted on the lathe are: a "Pick-O-Matic" thread and feed unit, a six-station, tailstock-mounted turret unit (on a dedicated casting) , a screw-feed, twin-tool cross slide with front and rear stops (more often this would have had a lever-feed) and a 6-position rotary-type  bed-mounted carriage stop. Other production items available included a proper bed-mounted turret unit for serious volume work, lever-feed tailstock, both draw-in and lever-operated collet units, lever-action cross slide, heavy-duty reversing switches and coolant units.

The dedicated tailstock/capstan unit. This example is new, the turret head being undrilled.



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Atlas 9 and 10-inch Lathe Accessories - Page 5
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email: tony@lathes.co.uk
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