craftsman "101" metal lathe

[warbird]

http://wichita.craigslist.org/tls/4783391651.html


anybody know anything about these little guys?

is this a decent deal or what is the average pricing for one?

what about this one?

http://wichita.craigslist.org/tls/4807503876.html

i am making rings out of SS316 so i am not hoggign real heavy. lite cuts only. i am space and $$ limited otherwise i would go southbend or an old leblonde.

 

[87jeepwrangler]

i have 2 of them. they are cute little light duty lathes. the price on the 1st one seems relatively reasonable depending on the amount of tooling it comes with and the condition of the ways/tooling. find out of it has any/all change gears, as those can add up $$$, especially if you plan to do any threading.

the 2nd one seems more complete, but is obviously priced a good bit higher. yahoo groups has a pretty good following on those small atlas/craftsman lathes.

for the most part, if you plan to making anything bigger than a couple inches in diameter, these lathes are too small for you. they are fun little toys for small stuff tho.

 

[warbird]

i take 3/4 diameter 316SS and turn it into rings.... i want to use the lathe for the sizing and OD....right now i hand sane and dremel and its just to much time to be able to make any money at selling them...would these lathes (either one) do that for me? i have been a machinist in the aerospace field for 18 years but this has always been on much larger machines

 

[warbird]

i doubt i will use it for anything over 1.5-2.0 inches in Dia. even when i start building my Motorcycle ill be under that Dia.

 

[sleepy127]

They should work for that. The first one is a fair price depending on tooling. The second seems to be high but it does have a lot of tooling. The 3 jaw chuck will come in handy.

 

[rsanter]

First one better be in good shape and have a decent amount of tooling or its a little too much. $350 is a better price for what I see

The second one looks a little rougher and I don't see much tooling so I will put about the same value on it

Bob

 

[warbird]

ya the guy on the first one is supposed to get me more pictures tonight. might be working out a trade where im not out of pocket , just a couple firearms i've been trying to sell anyway. id like the $1000 one but its not in the cards right now financially...most of what it has i can get slowly on the bay anyway. i think the first one would be good to get me started at least and will do what i need for now....as long as everythign is in good working order i will probably go ahead with a trade....any idea what one of these things weighs?

 

[Squashfest81]

They are surprisingly small. I carried mine out of a basement alone and I'm not a big guy. Just the lathe without motor, I'd guess like 75 pounds.
Have a couple pulleys on order and hope to have it up and running this spring.

 

[worknhard]

The first lathe (6” Craftsman/Atlas) is a very light-duty lathe and doesn’t do well cutting alloy and high carbon steels – you’ll need to take very light cuts. It’s best for plastic, aluminum, or brass. Also, it has the early version headstock that uses plain bearings, not the roller bearings found on the later models. That said, depending on the tooling that comes with it and the operating condition of the lathe, the price is not too far off… perhaps a little on the high side (because of the less desirable headstock).

I personally think you will be much happier with the larger lathe. It has some pretty nice tooling and although the price is twice the smaller lathe I suspect you can negotiate it down 10-20%.

 

[Maui]

I have a 10" Atlas lathe that I am considering selling if you are interested. It will easily do the work that you have in mind but it is not light. My guess is that it weighs in the neighborhood of 250 to 300 lbs. I can provide some photos later on tonight. Let me know.

Maui

 

[warbird]

Maui. im sure you will want more than i can spare at this moment in time. unfortunatly down to single income family of 5 right now...in fact the lathe is to try and supplement my income with some art stuff i do on the side. thank you for the offer though

 

[warbird]

hey Worknhard....all the stuff ive been able to find makes it like the one in the add is the later model headstock with the tapered bearings. but admitedly i am a little underknowledged on these smaller lathes. could you point me to a resource? i have the guy gonna send me pics of the date plate tonight after work....trust me if i had the money i would for sure go with the larger lathe as it is a better deal i think and its even closer to my house

 

[worknhard]

hey Worknhard....all the stuff ive been able to find makes it like the one in the add is the later model headstock with the tapered bearings. but admitedly i am a little underknowledged on these smaller lathes. could you point me to a resource? ....

Here's a good general info source for many different make/model lathes: http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas6inch/

Here's a picture from a Sears Catalog showing the early model 6" lathe... note the spindle bearing caps for the bronze bearings. The later roller bearing model doesn't have the caps. Compare this picture to the lathe on CL
http://www.janellestudio.com/metal/craftsman_6_inch_lathe.jpg

More reading on the Atlas/Craftsman 6" lathe... probably more than you want : http://www.janellestudio.com/metal/atlas_618_gems.txt

I fully understand your situation re. funds for buying a lathe, but seriously, the 12" with all the tooling is a much better deal especially if you can get it for less. You never know... he may knock a few hundred off.

 

[warbird]

well i went and looked at the 2nd one last night it's not a 12x24 not sure where he got those measurements. its a 101.07xxx model. and he wont budge on $1000 so i am gonna go look at the other one tonight. guy sent me an pic of the model number tag 101.07301

 

[warbird]

maui i appreciate the offer but i am sure you are outside my price range....startign to think ill just hold off and wait to get a lathe for awhile

 

[worknhard]

...guy sent me an pic of the model number tag 101.07301

Yes, thats the version with plain bronze bearings in the headstock. From an operational standpoint, I wouldn't let that bother you... use it as a negotiating point since most people seem to favor the newer roller bearing version. If the setup is well tooled, his asking price isn't far off. Good luck.

 

[Maui]

Warbird, no problem. The price I would ask is pretty much in between the asking prices of the two lathes that you are considering buying. Unfortunately I live in upstate New York, so you couldn't simply drive here to pick it up. It would have to be crated and shipped. I suspect the shipping charges by freight would be in the neighborhood of $150.00. But it could be less - since I haven't checked I don't know. I hope that you end up with a lathe that works for you. One thing that you should look at and pay particular atte tion to on the Craftsman is the condition of the spindle. Craftsman did not harden them. So they are soft and prone to bending. They often become pdrmanently bent when users try to take too deep of a cut. Finding replacement spindles for these lathes is not cheap or easy.

Best,

Maui

 

[Maui]

Warbird, what lathe did you end up getting?