The crate and packing prevent us from seeing the ID badge, but I can see enough thru gaps in the crate to recognize it as a 10F without QCGB, but equipped with a vintage-looking cylindrical reversing switch. It has been there, untouched, for at least several decades.
Has anyone out there ever seen an Atlas 10F in its original packing/shipping crate? Perhaps a more pertinent question: Would you be able to recognize such packing from a photo or description? Does a of a copy of MOLO identified as from the “twentieth printing” give useful evidence as to the likely vintage of the lathe it accompanies? The lathe in question is sitting in a garage in a sturdy wooden crate. Both in the Atlas ones and I think only on the positioner in the Sears ones.įrom: On Behalf Of Kurt Bjorling Sent: Sunday, Octo14:32 To: Subject: Atlas lathe - original crate/packing questions You will find them both ways in some of the later catalogs. I have two of the square tables, one by itself and one with the additional X-Y positioner. Hopefully, that will turn out to be why the cross-slide pintle appears black and rough. However, as it ages, it gets darker and also it tends to collect dust on the outer surface. And it has to be pretty thick before it becomes opaque. Cosmoline when new is brown or caramel colored. Also, although no one has ever said, the factory may have painted it with Cosmoline. I have never seen one in the original crate but a few years ago, someone was trying to sell a still-in-the crate 12” (I don’t recall whether badged Atlas or Sears) and his comments about the crate led me to believe that the crate looked like the photo. There is a photo of a crated lathe near the front of all of the MOLO’s. However, had someone called up in 1961 and specifically asked for a 10F, I suspect that Atlas would probably have built it for them from parts on hand, Or maybe more likely there could have been some complete 10F’s still on hand. However, the production of the 10F ceased and was replaced by the 1/2” bed 12” machines sometime in 1957. The Twentieth Edition was printed in 1961. in Evanston (Chicago area)įirst, on the Copyright page it will have said “Twentieth Edition”, not “Twentieth Printing”. Next step will, I guess, be listing on local Craigslist, and/or selling off the accessories on eBay.
Any information or advice about how to better determine what we’ve got and how promising it’s condition is welcome! As with the Craftsman-badged Atlas 618 mentioned a couple weeks ago, the owners are more interested I seeing this thing gone than in making a buck on it, so. We have a ways to go yet to find out whether that’s to be the case. My hope is that this turns out to be a good find for somebody who will give it a good home. Whatever it’s condition, I have no need of this machine, and certainly no need/room for a restoration project. The milling attachment and a square X/Y table that were packed in the same location, and which according to the owner of the house have been there, if not since 1966, at least for the last several decades, are in very good condition - minor to moderate corrosion and all moving parts able to work, altho’ the action is of course very gummy. Whatever the reason, the markings on the compass are invisible, and the “Pintle” and the whole circular area surrounding it are dark and dull rather then shiny and steel-colored. It’s either very corroded, or perhaps it’s got a protective coating(?).
The top of the cross slide is also visible thru a gaps in the crate.
Two more bits of evidence about what were likely to find here: 1. I will have the opportunity to explore further soon. We may have here a nicely preserved rescue project, or maybe it’s just a hopeless rusty relic. The newspaper wrapped around some of these items is dated 1966. but these are clearly NOT original packing - some of the items on these additional crates are non-Atlas and/or non-lathe-specific. Further smaller wooden crates piled on top contain assorted accessories, including a milling attachment, 4-jaw chuck.