The AM Forum

I hope to pick up a 1974 Mk. 2 Atlas (Craftsman branded) metal lathe. 6" diameter chuck. It's only 34" long. I hope it will come in handy once I learn how to use it. It comes with loads of tools, accessories, and speed change gears and the rest, and covers 55 to 2300 RPM. I think it's going to be slow speeds for me until I feel comfortable with it. My brother's a machinist and is going to check it out for me before we drag it home.

Two of the features that I would want to have on my lathe is a quick change gear box on my lead screw for the apron which will make threading much more convenient and a powered cross slide which will make milling on the lathe, with a milling adapter possible. I am not sure what you have for additional tooling but the basics are a 3 and 4 jaw chuck. A set of collets would be very nice to have and so would a face plate. Beyond that a milling adapter and steady rest would be a nice to have. A quick change turret tool post is almost a must if you don't have one already, they are cheap on amazon. Tools that take ceramic inserts are the norm these days rather than grinding your own out of high speed tool steel, they are also cheap on Amazon.

I would not worry about the small bed size since you will not likely be turning any large items but do check out the ways and the cross slide lead screw for excessive wear.

   A lathe is a great addition to a workshop for anyone who builds his own equipment. I've got an old (1950's vintage) Southbend 9", which I've used for many projects. A full-sized vertical milling machine, too. I consider both indispensable.
   One thing to watch out for with older lathes (and your Atlas isn't really old) is excessive wear on the ways. Since the carriage spends most of its time moving over a relatively short portion of the bed, the part within 8" or so of the chuck, the ways become more heavily worn in that area, while the ways closer to the tail-stock remain pristine since the carriage rarely goes there. The end result is that if you tighten up the gibs so that the carriage is secure when it's near the chuck, it will tighten up, possibly to the point where it can't be moved, as you try to move it toward the tail-stock. If you don't ever intend to work with longer stock, it won't be a problem.
Good luck with the Atlas. I've never owned one, but I've always heard good things about them.