Excellent video, and exactly what I searched for. The Atlas 6" lathe M6-20B countershaft hanger assembly bearings needed replacement. The new bronze sleeve bearings were too tight on the new spindle, and I reamed them with a 1/2" end mill to a good fit. I removed and reamed them again after the press made them too tight. Just as yours, the bearings pressed out of alignment. I worked on them with drills and mills and even sand paper until the alignment resolved. An imperfect solution, but I expect yours is also (if still better than mine). To achieve the alignment, the final reaming must have cut the lower bearing slightly off-center, leaving an oval to house the shaft with uneven contact. It would have been interesting to see how much play the final reaming left in the lower bearing. In my case, the spindle wobbles in each bearing separately, but turns smoothly with no play inserted through both. Thanks for reconciling me to this result (although I may get a hand-reamer and do what you did).
I picked up this exact same model lathe about a month ago. I'm new to machining so I'm trying to absorb as much info as I can. I enjoyed watching this video and look forward to upcoming lathe videos.
been looking for a countershaft mount for my champion blower and forge 9L lathe. they are pretty rare, so i may have to end up making one. Videos like this are great to see what works for other lathes of different models. I hope the new bearings have been working for you!
Very educational. Thank you. I have a similar 12 x 36 Craftsman lathe. It has the original two stop aluminum pulley discussed at about 15:30 in your video. The problem on my lathe is that it came to me "fit" with a 1/6 hp motor that has only one pulley. I have a good 1,750 rpm replacement motor but don't know what the appropriate diameters are for the motor pulleys. Mr. Pete has said several times that the threading shaft runs too fast on these lathes. Does anyone know whether that problem can be rectified by the choice of one of the motor pulleys? Recommendations, anyone?
