The spindle is driven by a dual V-belt horizontal 8-speed countershaft assembly mounted behind the headstock.
It has power and manual longitudinal feed and can cut threads. The cast iron headstock has a rounded appearance. It has Timken tapered roller bearings on the spindle, 2MT spindle taper, and 1”-10 spindle nose threads for attaching chucks and face plates. So it would be rated as a 6x18, which is where the model number came from. Like all but two of the 6”, it has a 6” (diameter) swing and is the maximum usable distance between centers is 18”. It is pretty accurate.Ītlas produced the Model 618 with mostly minor changes from the summer of 1937 until the summer of 1972. I enjoy the machinery as much as the actual making of stuff.įrom: On Behalf Of Aaron Woods Sent: Tuesday, Septem6:33 AM To: Subject: Re: Pros / Cons of the different models of 6" Atlas / Craftsman lathesĪnd then navigate to the 6” section. I have an 11x24" Powermatic and a Sherline, so I'm not looking to add capability so much as I just like small lathes and these seem to be pretty good ones for the size. Understand at some point there is a need to watch for poor quality castings? There may be a document spelling this out, but I can't open any Word documents since I got a new computer and haven't been able to transfer Word from the old computer so far. I think there are essentially 2 versions of the 618 styled Craftsman branded lathes, then the Atlas 618 (which didn't change much?) and then the later model with square headstock under both the Atlas and Craftsman brand. What I'm really looking for is just a simple breakdown of the models which I find kind of confusing. Had I been able to get away one in particular looked like a good deal, decent amount of tooling and even included a small arbor press. Both had the later square headstock (Mk2?).
I see them pop up from time to time, there were two decent looking ones recently asking $600 that were even nearby, but I wasn't free to go take a look at them. An Atlas just can't handle that.I'm in Northern California. On a heavy-duty lathe, you can use negative rake, which, for lack of a more technically correct description, pushes the chip off the workpiece. What material are you cutting and what kind of tool? You really need to use sharp tooling with positive rake so that it is mroe of a slicing action. You press the knurl against the work and at some point the flex in the bed won't let the tool press in any more (and you just are afraid to push it any more), I got a scissors knurl for that reason. The bed on my Atlas (1952) is so flexible that I cannot use a bump knurler. The thread wear might manifest itself in a wobble or concentricity issue, but I doubt it would cause chatter. It might have some effect during an interrupted cut, but I'm not sure chatter will be the result. The wear on the bull gear pin slot should have zero effect under continuous cutting, as it will be forced against the side the entire time.
A 9" South Bend probably weighs MORE that your 12" Atlas. Seriously, compare your bed cross section to a 9" South Bend and you will see a huge difference. Your lathe chatters under heavy cuts because it's an Atlas.