Does anyone have measurements for the Atlas made craftsman 6" lathe
bed/ways? I have most of the pieces and a LOT of scrap metal, I figured I
might be able to make one.

I've heard to stock ones are a little light so they have drawback.

Anyways default thickness width of the 2 sides, etc. would be great.

Marc Britten wrote:
Does anyone have measurements for the Atlas made craftsman 6" lathe
bed/ways? I have most of the pieces and a LOT of scrap metal, I figured I
might be able to make one.

I've heard to stock ones are a little light so they have drawback.

Anyways default thickness width of the 2 sides, etc. would be great.

If you have all the parts, you should be able to figure out what you
need.

Ways are 4.625" wide, with 1.615" gap in center. Thickness is .4375"
at ledges. Front ledge is .250" deep, rear ledge is .425".

Yeah, the stock ones are a little light. So is the headstock, the
carriage, the compound, the tailstock, the spindle, the gear train and
the countershaft. Replace those and you'll have a much more rigid
machine.

Unless you just WANT to make one, find a used bed. Or, if you only
have MOST of the pieces, find a complete lathe. Building a machine
from parts is not the way to go - it takes a long time and it's
expensive.

John Martin

Lots of 618 parts on ebay right now

Marc Britten wrote:
Does anyone have measurements for the Atlas made craftsman 6" lathe
bed/ways? I have most of the pieces and a LOT of scrap metal, I figured I
might be able to make one.

I've heard to stock ones are a little light so they have drawback.

Anyways default thickness width of the 2 sides, etc. would be great.

John Martin wrote:

If you have all the parts, you should be able to figure out what you
need.

Well someones giving me a tailstock but I don't have it till they get
back from vacation.

The ebay pictures I've seen shows a larger gap at the headstock end but
I can figure that one out, just wondering about the rest of the gap,
which you reference below.

Ways are 4.625" wide, with 1.615" gap in center. Thickness is .4375"
at ledges. Front ledge is .250" deep, rear ledge is .425".

Unless you just WANT to make one, find a used bed. Or, if you only
have MOST of the pieces, find a complete lathe. Building a machine
from parts is not the way to go - it takes a long time and it's
expensive.

I'll buy a good lathe but as a project I think it will be interesting.
I'm more interested in the engineering/design side of lathes than using
them.

wrote:
John Martin wrote:

If you have all the parts, you should be able to figure out what you
need.

Well someones giving me a tailstock but I don't have it till they get
back from vacation.

The ebay pictures I've seen shows a larger gap at the headstock end but
I can figure that one out, just wondering about the rest of the gap,
which you reference below.

Directly under the headstock the inside of the ways are notched for some
reason.

Ways are 4.625" wide, with 1.615" gap in center. Thickness is .4375"
at ledges. Front ledge is .250" deep, rear ledge is .425".

Unless you just WANT to make one, find a used bed. Or, if you only
have MOST of the pieces, find a complete lathe. Building a machine
from parts is not the way to go - it takes a long time and it's
expensive.

I'll buy a good lathe but as a project I think it will be interesting.
I'm more interested in the engineering/design side of lathes than using
them.

I'm with you. I have more fun resurrecting an abandoned relic than
buying a new one. I am currently rebuilding a 618 that was under a tarp
in someone's yard, rusting away. I'm about halfway to having a nice
little lathe. This will be the third small Sears lathe I've rebuilt, the
other two are on top of the bookshelf in the den.

Are you on the Atlas 618 Yahoo group? They have the manual and other
files for downloading, plus lots of good contributors.

Rex B
Fort Worth