I got a great deal on this old Craftsman metal lathe in a garage sale yesterday, along with hundreds of pounds of old machinist tools that went with it. I found a big set of gears for it in one of the boxes. It has a four jaw chuck and I'm hoping there's a three jaw chuck in one of the boxes. Anybody recognize this model of lathe and know roughly how old it is? Is it worth fixing up? It seems pretty solid and everything seems like it works okay except for a couple of broken off spinners on the knobs. I'm used to working with bigger lathes at work sometimes, but this thing could be fun to play with at home. Is there a site to search for info on old Craftsman lathes? I searched around and couldn't find much. Thanks!
I think that the Atlas lathe is the same lathe. Check Yahoo groups, there should be a group there of people with those types of lathes. Do a couple of Google searches on Craftsman and/or Atlas lathes. Fix it up and use it, you'll wonder why you didn't have one before.
Is there a model number on the lathe? Here is a link to one of the Yahoo groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atlas618lathe/?tab=s
What you have is a Craftsman model 101, 6" metal turning lathe. this late was built by the Atlas machine tool company. Clausing bought Atlas and you can still buy parts for this lathe from Clausing. There are always a lot of parts and peices for these lathes on Ebay. I have owned one of these lathes for 25 years and have used it to make numerous small parts. It is a very good machine. Looks like you made a good score.
even though it's kinda small , it will still make a lot of useful parts. i used to have one before i bought my 10" Logan. yes , you will need a three jaw chuck...and a drill chuck for the tail stock
Thanks guys! I'll check the model number out tonight, and I'll check out those sites you mentioned. Yeah, it's pretty tiny, might be fun to make some knobs, spacers, bushings or small stuff like that on it when I need to. I guess I can cut threads on it too if I figure out how all the gearing works. When you swing that side cover open, there's a maze of about a dozen gears in there. It came with literally hundreds of different custom ground cutting tools for cutting o-ring grooves and stuff like that. It will definitely come in handy someday once I get it running again safely. I'm going to start by replacing the old cracked up 2-wire power cord with a grounded one.
I've got the same lathe, got it for free from a friend about 15 years ago. He thinks his dad bought it in the 60's. A part on the tool post was broken, and I had the instruction manual with a parts diagram, so I called Sears with the part number. They had it in stock.
I saw a little plaque on the backside of the lathe in one of the pictures and I zoomed in and found the model number: 101.07301 So that should help me narrow down when it was made and who manufactured it (Atlas maybe?) Yeah, I will definitely need the drill attachment for the tailstock and a 3 jaw chuck, but hopefully those parts are buried in the boxes of stuff that came with it. Thanks!
Get on ebay and look under Atlas or Craftsman lathe and get the manual that Atlas put out . You can either get a genuine paper one or one on a CD. That will give you all the gear setups for threading. Then if you like playing with it start looking for a 12X36 lathe with a quick change gearbox ,that's threading made easy!!
I spent almost a whole day cleaning up the lathe, and making lots of adjustments and fixing little things on it. Everything seemed pretty good, so I faced off a big hunk of 2-1/2" aluminum rod that had been cut rough with a saw, and it did a pretty nice job. It's a pretty small little lathe, but it does a pretty nice job. I just need to make a better base for it than the plywood one it's bolted to now. I found out it's the older style made for Craftsman by Atlas, probably in the early '50s. It has a 1"-8 threaded spindle and babbitt bearings, but after messing with it for a while I got it to run with only .001" of up and down slop in the spindle. Not bad for a machine that's over 50 years old. I think I'll keep it! Thanks for the info and leads everybody.
I have the Atlas version of that lathe, called the 618 (6" swing, 18" bed), tapered roller head bearings instead of bushings. Here's some links to sites that sell parts. I bought the CD from Quarterbore and it includes some of the Craftsman stuff too. http://www.bowermachineandtool.com/bower_machine/Atlas_6.html http://www.quarterbore.com/store/cd/atlaslathemanual.htm
Call clausing, there is a service center dedicated to ancient stuff and you'll be suprised at what's available. Everything from photocopys of owners manuals to roller bearings. It ain't cheap though.
Here's a link to the Home Machinest site... They have a lot of info and help... http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/ Mike
i scored one of these at the dublin Nh old engine show swapmeet a few years back for $125 came with a box , of gears and such , there is a guy on ebay who has owners manuals ( copies ) and parts and other cool stuff for these old lathes , i bought several things from him he treated me good ,
Before you think about buying anything from ebay, contact Clausing. You will be surprised how inexpensive some items are. Of course other parts you may want to get off ebay once you see the price, just be carefull when ebay doesn't give a detailed condition description. http://www.atlas-press.com/service.htm http://www.lathes.co.uk/craftsman/index.html
i had one exactly like that for a few years. i had to upgrade to a larger jet. i had another craftsman/ atlas too. can't remember the model, it didn't have the flat ways though. play with it for a while and you might want a bigger one. they sell pretty well on ebay, or did when i sold several a few years back.
Atlas lathes were cheeper made that some of the other ones in the same era such as South Bend etc. If yours is in good shape and you do not work it too hard it shoud hold up just fine take it slow and make shallow cuts.