"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

Which size? The little one (6x18") uses Zamac (pot metal)
gears, and if they are run with the mesh too tight, they start to
crumble. My example was a Craftsman rebrand of an Atlas 6x18". The
early ones were bronze bushing bearings, the later ones had Timken
roller bearings. Even with that, they aren't rigid enough for serious
work. And the beds are box not inverted V, so things aren't kept as
straight.


But at $50.00, that is not a bad price. The question is --
*which* gears. If it is the back gears, it is part of the heart of the
lathe, and you will either have to hope that Clausing (who merged with
Atlas at some point) still has those parts. If it the thread cutting
gears, especially on one without a quick-change gearbox (and *all* 6x18
lathes had no quick-change gearbox), you can likely find replacement
gears -- or make them with the right tools. They are plain spur gears
with a double key, and you could make them of something other than
Zamac so they will outlast the rest. :-)


He said they were 'aluminum', and from his description, they are for
driving the feed.

Those are the Zamac (pot metal) gears, then. They sort of
*look* like cast aluminum, but they aren't. (And just as well, aluminum
gears meshing with aluminum will gall badly over time.) If you *have*
to have aluminum gears, have them mesh with steel or some other metal.


What you really want is an ELS (electronic lead screw, (See
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/E-LeadScrew/
for one version, and some of it's variants.


But as for buying it, I think it is a steal at $50
I thought I was lucky when I got mine for $100.
Including boxes of misc parts that turned out to have a watchmakers
lathe in it too)


jk