Although Atlas constructed various sizes of wood-turning lathe for marketing by Sear, Roebuck as "Craftsman" products, their own range of such machines, from the early 1930s to the late 1950s, contained only a limited choice of models. By 1941 wood lathes had even been displaced entirely from the Atlas company's main catalog, and did not reappear again until 1948 (in a dedicated Wood Lathe Sales Brochure) when the new 12" x 36" Model 7122 was introduced. This was a heavily built (115 lb.) machine which used iron castings for all the main components to gain the mass which is so helpful for successful wood turning. The ground-finish, No. 2 Morse taper, 9/16"-bore headstock spindle ran on sealed, factory-preloaded and shimmed SKF ball bearings with a 1" x 10 tpi thread at both its ends, left-handed of course on the outboard, "bowl-turning" side. The spindle carried a 4-step V pulley (guarded by a neat, swing-open cast-iron cover) which, like the 10" Atlas metal lathe, had a ring of 60 indexing holes on the larger of its two end flanges. Normally, for wood turning, the 1725 rpm 1/2 hp (or optionally 1/3 hp) electric motor was mounted behind the lathe and fastened directly to the bench. Considering how well specified Atlas metal lathes were (and how complete and well-integrated their drive systems), it is strange that the wood lathe was not even offered with a simple, adjustable motor-mounting plate - which would at least have allowed the belt to be slackened before changing speeds. A fixed-position "jackshaft" (countershaft) was, however, on the options' list and this retained the original direct-drive speeds of 635, 1230, 2430 and 4680 rpm whilst providing an additional, slower range, more suited to the turning of large-diameter bowls (and light-duty metal and plastic machining) of 197, 372, 710 and 1343 rpm. For assist with bowl turning Atlas offered a rather unusual (for a small lathe) floor-standing rest and it is difficult to say why the flat end of the bed, which would seem to have offered an easy opportunity to design a simple and rugged bolt-on bowl-turning attachment, was not used as a mounting point. Such an accessory, as used on many other makes of lathe, would have had a much-superior range of adjustments - and been a great deal safer.
The 12" long tool rest was mounted on a swivelling base and fitted with convenient, permanently-mounted handles. The graduated 21/8"-travel No. 2 Morse taper tailstock barrel was provided with self-eject for its centre, but this did mean the sacrifice of a hollow spindle - which would have allowed long-hole boring to be carried out without the addition of an additional "steady rest" on the bed.

Strongly constructed and well braced headstock with the 60 hole indexing ring clearly visible. The heavy cast cover was hinged from cast-in lugs on the back of the headstock.

Quick-setting tool rest.

Of a type normally restricted to massive industrial wood turning lathes, this floor-mounted bowl turning rest allowed - in conjunction with the speed reducing countershaft - really large diameters to be turned.

Jackshaft  (countershaft) which retained the original direct-drive speeds of 635, 1230, 2430 and 4680 rpm and also gave an additional, slower range, more suited to the turning of large-diameter bowls (and light-duty metal and plastic machining) of 197, 372, 710 and 1343 rpm.
The 4-step pulley fitted on the motor was transferred to the unit's main shaft and replaced by a twin-step pulley that matched that fitted to the outboard side of the jackshaft.