I feel like the Gnome. Been out in the shop all afternoon cleaning crud off with fine wire brushes and rags and WD 40. Finally got the replacement gear I needed to get my old Atlas going, so it is time to be a machine repairman. Now I am covered in crud but the lathe is pretty nice looking compared to a few hours ago. It is also in a million little parts trying to replace the leadscrew drive gear.

Any other Atlas lathe owners out there? I'm trying to figure out why my crossfeed feels so gnarly when I try to run it with the leadscrew by hand. (I have the drive box for the leadscrew off and am turning it by the nuts at the other end of the leadscrew to make sure everything is happy before I try to use it.) The lead screw hasn't turned under power in over two decades as far as I know. I bought it with a broken drive gear and just used the cranks to feed the bit into the cut and along the axis of the lathe.

The lathe hasn't actually run since I left NY a long time ago so I also am rewiring the motor circuit that got pulled out when we pulled the motor for transport. When I actually have the lathe in its final working spot I will also have to level it up and redo the attaching bolts to the heavy plank stand it is on.

Pictures will follow later if you are interested.  

Internet is too slow tonight,so pics will have to wait until tomorrow. Got the saddle/apron or whatever it is called  off and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Pretty much all the gears run as smoothly as one can expect such quality stuff made from ZAMAK (die cast aluminum/zinc/unobtanium alloy) to work after I got all the hardened crud out of everything. Atlas was a cheap lathe, but the overall engineering was pretty good at the price they sold for. Had they used brass or machined steel gears they would all still be working. I doubt they expected to have guys like me still using them 60 plus years after they sold them. (Kinda like a 3a!)  The old lathe should be making chips tomorrow if the motor still functions. It is the original Atlas labeled motor, 1/2 hp.  

Nate I was using WD 40 to lube my soft bristled wire brush on my die grinder, trying to not ruin the patina while getting rid of the rust. To give you an idea of how gentle a brush I mean , I hit my hand several times tonight with no effect. In general it looks like a well taken care of , but well used lathe now. I'm not going to do the complete dismantle and restore with all new paint like a lot of guys do, I have jeeps to fix and I need the lathe working! Besides I like the way it looks now. It was embarassing how bad it looked before. Now it looks like I might have a clue and actually be able to use it.  

 Mineral spirits and a parts brush worked well to clean a lot of the gears and parts I could take off, and eventually I gave up on the painted surfaces with WD40 and used it there too.  Brake cleaner was my final wash off or carb cleaner if there wasn't paint to preserve. I found some markings I never knew it had, unfortunately found the bed has been abused a bunch and has a lot of marks where things were dropped on it. Even had a hacksaw like mark in one spot!! It made me wonder what sort of machining they were doing with it. The shop I had bought it from in the 80's was using it to turn generator and starter armatures..(no commutator mica cleaning attachment to be found however.)  Still has the old lantern style toolpost which one of these days is going to have a quick change take its place.

Between the lantern toolpost and the well known and hated flexible bed, it won't be making parts for NASA any time soon. Its just a cheap lathe, after all. It matches my lathe skills perfectly.  

I see the 3A! Looks good Bill! Now you can build your own hit and miss engine now like mine.

Nice Bill! So when will you start building your own engine? That makes a great practice project.