It will cut most common threads, and the lowest spindle is a very handy 55 rpm, which makes thread cutting easy. They were equipped with a standard American type carriage with a rack and pinion drive for regular carriage movements and a leadscrew and halfnut for threading chores. It has a 2 Morse Taper in the headstock spindle, and a 1MT in the tailstock. If that is what you're looking for, go to the bottom of this page and click on the Taig link.
ATLAS LATHE 618 STEADY REST SERIES
If the prefix starts with If prefix starts with There are web pages elsewhere on this web site that deal with the Craftsman AA series of metal lathes. It will be on one end, or on the back side of the bed casting. If you have a Craftsman lathe, look for the model plate on the bed. Sears contracted with them to make lathes for the Craftsman brand, same as they did with other tool makers, but Atlas supplied the same basic lathe for rebranding as they put their own name on. Atlas made their own lathes, and they were all capable machines in every respect. Many people think that their Craftsman series lathe was made by Atlas. Maybe that should say, another lathe is often confused with the Atlas. The Atlas seems to be often confused with another lathe.
If someone likes them, or gets some useful info out of them, well, good enough. I spend most of my time in the shop, and doing all these Taig, Atlas, and Craftsman lathe pages is just an aside to machine work. There are only a few to start with, but I have quite a few other pages in the works. A2Z quick change tool post.Atlas Pages project links at the bottom This page will have some projects for the 6" Atlas lathe. I need to pick up a few more gears for threading but the damn things are pricey. I made a micrometer carriage stop out of an old micrometer and some aluminum that I had kicking around the shop. They were Craftsman blue so I painted them gray. I found a NOS steady rest and follow rest on Ebay for a great price. I needed to make a spindle sleeve for a DP that I am restoring so I needed to pick up a steady rest for the lathe. I have been using this little lathe quite a bit since I got it and so far I am pretty impressed with it. It should work fine for what I need it for. I was worried about the lathe feeling like a little toy compared to my South Bend but overall I am very happy with the lathe. The Atlas is pretty much the same machine as the Craftsman and takes the same accessories. They come up on Ebay but they are pricey. Looking for a steady rest and follow rest for it it anyone has one they want to get rid of.
It will work for now until I can find a nice vintage one. The light is a 2 dollar light I got from the local thrift shop.
The center section with the drawers slides out of the stand so I can still access the nuts and bolts used to mount the lathe and motor. I added some drawers and mounted the lathe to it this weekend. The lathe is in great original condition and came with a 3 jaw chuck, lantern style tool post holder, and a very nice tool post grinder that is probably worth several times what I paid for the lathe. It took me about a week to start having lathe withdrawals so I posted a WTB ad on the local classifieds and got several calls. One of them to go was my beautiful Heavy 10 South Bend lathe. I recently ran into some financial trouble and had to sell a couple of my machines to make a few house payments.