Good recommendations on the tool holders.
But he hasn’t said what other tooling he has with the lathe. ?Without it the lathe is useless, and that tooling can easily cost much more than the lathe itself.
My recommendations for basic tooling would be:
headstock center
tailstock center
dogs of appropriate sizes?
tailstock chuck
four jaw headstock chuck
three jaw headstock chuck
faceplate
tool bits
steady rest
Given those, plus the lantern toolholder and an assortment of normal shop stuff - lubricants and cutting fluids, taps, measuring tools and a bench grinder - he can make all of the additional tooling he will want. ?I know, I did. ?And that’s the fun of it.
Stuff he can pretty easily make will include:
end mill holders
center drill holders
fly cutters
boring bars
boring bar holder
four way tool blocks
cross slide angle plate for milling
tailstock die holders
arbors of various kinds
carriage and cross slide stops
spiders and catheads
clamp straps, studs and special clamps
holder to use hand grinder as toolpost grinder
indicator holders
And probably a lot of things I’ve forgotten. ?In the end, he can have a well-tooled lathe that will easily and efficiently do anything he asks of it - within it’s limitations of size and accuracy.
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On Oct 27, 2024, at 10:23 AM, charles brady via groups.io <ctb11365@...> wrote:
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Welcome to the world of Atlas Lathes, Joe.
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Some questions for you:
What model lathe did you get? ?They made a 6" swing, a 10" swing and a 12" swing, I think, and recommendations will vary.
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The simplest is the traditional ROCKER STYLE (some call 'em Lantern Style) tool post. ?Next step up would be a block tool holder, where you might be able to mount two or more tools and rotate the block to bring a tool into use. ?Finally (and there are variations and opinions here too) would be a Quick Change Tool Post. ?Knowing the size of your lathe will dictate what choices make more or less sense.
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Did your lathe come with change gears or a Quick Change Gear Box?
We'd love to see more pictures of your lathe
Charlie
