What should I do with this lathe? Any ideas? 

Yup. I'm a sucker for a project but this one I may just pass on. Good news it was free.

Yea I've done the same on an antique jointer recently. It came out mint when done. Took some time but couldn't ask for a better result. What I mainly want to blast is the machine as a whole, paint included. I want the whole lathe stripped to bare metal then start from there. On the ways I may use that method but I'm working toward the assumption the ways will need to be re-machined. If I find otherwise I will be one happy camper!!

Atlas lathes are keepers for home shops because they are mechanically very simple and can be reconditioned rather easily. Some people complain they are lightly built but as you can see, you can move around the bed without lifting equipment. Same for the flat bed, it can be reground easily. Look out for ZAMAK parts (pulley, tailstock locks, etc) they probably corroded already. Cast iron preserves its shape under the worst conditions; there is a pillar in India with 3000 or so years already on it.

RU-vid hates me and hated my original music. I had to put that over or delete it. Kind of a joke.

Ok I'll post a few shots of some of the things. One thing I got was a huge collection of antique french files. Really fine ones. I hope they come clean. I found a hand full of Starrett fine gauges. All shot. Shame. I cleaned one Starrett square thus far but has some rust pits. Makes me want to cry. AHHHHH I also found the guys WWII infantry rifle hidden in a wall, but gave it to his family to keep.

It's fine. It runs and spins fine. All original. The only thing missing is the gear set is shot. A lot of surface rust.

Started restoring it.. Watch the videos... watch?v=TLf0gsr9zhM

Just ordered a cheapo blast cabinet from China freight with a 25% coupon. I have a small blaster for small things and touch ups but this will require more and make a huge mess. should be fun. Leaning toward making it CNC. I have all the parts laying around for it.

But then again ... Maybe use some parts for something. I have no idea what. I have 3 chucks and endless attachments for it.

From what I can see in the video it is dirty and rusty but nothing a good cleaning couldn't fix. The change gears might even work if you clean them up. They mostly just look discolored to me. Whoever says scrap it probably has no use for a lathe.

Last year I got a table saw and it had some bright orange rust on it, other than that it was in great shape though. I decided that the method I would use to clean it should be as delicate as possible. I settled on a lubricated (lube was a combo of PB Blaster, mineral oil, and solvent) rub down using 3M Scotchbrite pads. It was messy, and laborious but the results were fantastic. Sandblasting would not be my first choice of method. Perhaps with the right media it would be OK though?

You can refer to catalog to fix the problems you have and replace with new parts for the useless one. If you don't have a catalog you can check out the internet...

I'd clean it up and use it. You might need to get or make some new change gears but the lathe itself looks like it's only got some surface rust.

donate it to the I.E.D Scrap Horder for repair or re purposing

send to me .... i love to have one of this

why the obnoxious noise?

How is the engine?

i want to buy it 100 $

Go to owwm.com they have people that can tell you how to get working like new

I can use a lathe in my shop, I'm a woodworker hobbyist let me know. Don't sell it as scrap please.

Sell it at the scrap yard. Lol

eBay

yea start making guns and such

Junk - sorry