my lathe, what to do

[tlevan03]

We recently moved back to the east coast and got moved into our house a few months ago. My lathe was just pushed into the house garage still wrapped up from the move until the shop got built. Yesterday i moved it into the new building and unwrapped it. At first I noticed a few knobs broken off, I wasn't too upset over that because it was fixable. Then all I noticed the cracks, they must have dropped it during some process of the move. It pretty bad, all the way through the bed. I think i know the answer to the question but need to hear it from others, is it fixable? if it is, is it even worth it? I would think it could be welded with nickel rod and the ways machined flat but would it ever be the same? I guess worst case scenario is that I can part it out to help someone get there's up and going. We will be filing a claim with the movers to get some amount of compensation. Ive had this lathe a long time and am having a hard time coming to terms with this.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Damn!

 

[cvairwerks]

You now have a 300 pound paperweight. The insurance company owns it now. Don't settle for anything less than replacement value.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I am afraid that one is done for. It took a hell of an impact to do that.

 

[bwringer]

How... how does that even happen? Did they go out of their way to throw it off a cliff a few times or something?

Best of luck with a claim against the movers. It's going to be an uphill battle. Read the contract very carefully first, and I hope you have significant documentation of the lathe's condition before the move.

 

[Old Man Roger]

How... how does that even happen? Did they go out of their way to throw it off a cliff a few times or something?

That’s a heavy chunk of cast iron, doesn’t take a far drop to do a lot of damage. And I agree with you on the claim. From my own experience it would take a court claim to get anything out of a moving company.

 

[682bear]

The good news... if you can call it that... is that there is a decent market for parts for those lathes.

I'd be extremely upset about that...

-Bear

 

[BigMike782]

Very sorry to see that your equipment was handled carelessly.
Being the former owner of a flat way lathe, contact the insurance company about a settlement and start the search for a lathe.
I would not spend 10 minutes trying to fix that damage.

 

[tlevan03]

How... how does that even happen? Did they go out of their way to throw it off a cliff a few times or something?

Best of luck with a claim against the movers. It's going to be an uphill battle. Read the contract very carefully first, and I hope you have significant documentation of the lathe's condition before the move.

With the move back here our stuff got passed around for various reasons, our house was months behind so everything was in storage. We had to go to CA in 2022 (military) and the guy that moved us out there didn't break one thing. I have plenty of videos/pics of it being used right before we headed back east.

 

[tlevan03]

The good news... if you can call it that... is that there is a decent market for parts for those lathes.

I'd be extremely upset about that...

-Bearo

For what it is, i would be happy to part it out so some folks can get parts they are missing. Maybe ill use the bed to make a nice lamp

 

[LXCam]

That *****.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Could you possibly shorten the bed?

 

[DaveAndStuff]

Did you crate it or just wrap it?

 

[The Cobbler]

That's sad for sure.
It's a parts machine now , in my opinion it is not repairable to hold any type of accuracy anyway .
It sounds like it's been sitting for a while since the move, that may not be in your favour either

 

[y'sguy]

How unfortunate! Best of luck with the inurance request. Just a shame.

 

[senlow]

Since the ways are broken, that lathe is scrap.

 

[rsanter]

Sorry to say thats a parts machine now.

i would look for another one of the same model, one that perhaps needs a bit of work and combine the two
another unfortunate thing is that many people part those machines out ans they are worth more in parts than for the machine . but it’s the small parts that sell, not so much the bigger parts. You may be able to but the bed and some other stuff for not that much money

 

[larry4406]

What model number is the Craftsman lathe. From there, its a parts search for a replacement parts from parted out machines. Or yours adds to the parts pool.

 

[RoninB4]

-It could be welded and it wouldn't be worth the effort to do so as it will never hold accuracy now. Something heavy was dropped on this to break the cross handle AND the bed in two places. Very sorry to see this happen to you.

 

[gte718p]

I'm with the crowd; it's a paper weight.....

Unless you have a machine building fetish. It is metal everything is repairable with enough effort. It would be ton of work to weld it, get everything realigned and running true. The time and expense would be way more than buying a new one. It would however be a fun and educational experience. You can also customize it to make it yours. You also get to save a cool old tool. I'm biased as I like working on tools. Building or restoring a tool is more fun than using it. I admit it would not be a rational decision.

 

[esben57]

I'm going back to 1999 and working in Steelworks maintenance. Huge machine shop with some huge machines, one being a German MFD lathe. It ran 24/7, CNC, face plate diameter must have been 8 feet. Very good machine with plenty of high value work for it. Think Saddam's supergun oil pipe went on it.
The bed was in sections, total length perhaps 40 feet maybe more.
Disaster struck on one shift where a work piece dropped on the bed destroying one section. The remedy was take out sections lose the broken bit and reset the others, obviously shortening the bed.
That was going to be a task. I was made redundant at the same time.

 

[DocsMachine]

I say this as a guy with considerable experience resurrecting machines that others would have thrown away: It's dead, Jim.

Part it out and put the money towards some other lathe.

Doc.

 

[txvwnut]

You either part it out or find another one like yours(just not damaged like yours) buy it and take the best parts of both and make a new lathe.

 

[cowades206]

I'm with the crowd; it's a paper weight.....

Unless you have a machine building fetish. It is metal everything is repairable with enough effort. It would be ton of work to weld it, get everything realigned and running true. The time and expense would be way more than buying a new one. It would however be a fun and educational experience. You can also customize it to make it yours. You also get to save a cool old tool. I'm biased as I like working on tools. Building or restoring a tool is more fun than using it. I admit it would not be a rational decision.

From someone who owns one of these things, I'm with gte718p. If fixing it would bring a smile to your face, you have a difficult project close at hand. If you just want a working lathe, these are too common to put that much work into. If this happened to mine, I might take the opportunity to upgrade.
When I saw your pictures I felt like my dog had just died. Rats!

 

[Old Man Roger]

When I saw your pictures I felt like my dog had just died. Rats!

It’s weird but I have an odd attachment to my antique lathe too. I’ve moved at least twice since the last time I’ve used it, but I still cherish it, and it’s setup in the garage just in case.lol

 

[Ike Carlson]

That’s a bummer. They must have flopped it over hard. People drive me nuts. I doubt you will get far with the movers, but it’s worth a shot.

I would not trust movers with my stuff. Just not worth the risk. Not saying they are all bad, but you don’t know until it’s too late.

Hope you come out on top.

 

[Lwel9226]

I have a Craftsman Lathe that is a basket case.... but as far as I know the frame/bed is OK....
I would give it to you for the price of shipping.... But crating and shipping from Oregon to Virginia would probably be VERRY scary....
If you are interested let me know and I will get the model nos..... Good luck with whatever you do with it....

LynnW

 

[Ike Carlson]

I have a Craftsman Lathe that is a basket case.... but as far as I know the frame/bed is OK....
I would give it to you for the price of shipping.... But crating and shipping from Oregon to Virginia would probably be VERRY scary....
If you are interested let me know and I will get the model nos..... Good luck with whatever you do with it....

LynnW

That is an awesome offer! Maybe there is a way to leap frog it across the country with members? I have seen things like that before, where members take turns delivering something from one to the next until it makes it to the destination.

 

[Ultradog MN]

If it were mine, I would surely go after the movers. Try to get what you can out of them.
On the other hand... and no offense meant by this:
It was a cheap machine to begin with.
Small, underpowered. Change gears instead of a qcgb, etc.
Like a 1974 Chevy Vega.
Forget fixing it. The bed can Never be made good again. Sell off what parts you can. Scrap the rest.
A guy takes some hits in life. Like having your car crunched in a parking lot and you see it after the perp is long gone.
We've all been there. You just have to move on.

 

[DaveAndStuff]

If it were mine, I would surely go after the movers. Try to get what you can out of them.
On the other hand... and no offense meant by this:
It was a cheap machine to begin with.
Small, underpowered. Change gears instead of a qcgb, etc.
Like a 1974 Chevy Vega.
Forget fixing it. The bed can Never be made good again. Sell off what parts you can. Scrap the rest.
A guy takes some hits in life. We've all been there and we had to move on.

Unless it was crated, I doubt he has a claim.

 

[cgrutt]

Damn I don't know what I'd be more upset about that they broke it or didn't say anything about it. People around here would know better than me but that looks like a total loss. Sorry about that good luck with moving company.

 

[Ike Carlson]

If it were mine, I would surely go after the movers. Try to get what you can out of them.
On the other hand... and no offense meant by this:
It was a cheap machine to begin with.
Small, underpowered. Change gears instead of a qcgb, etc.
Like a 1974 Chevy Vega.
Forget fixing it. The bed can Never be made good again. Sell off what parts you can. Scrap the rest.
A guy takes some hits in life. Like having your car crunched in a parking lot and you see it after the perp is long gone.
We've all been there. You just have to move on.

If that 74 Vega was your only form of transportation, and somebody totaled it, I bet you’d be pretty upset.

Just because it was a cheaper lathe does not make it ok. I don’t understand the hate for change gears. The work. I am sure it was a reliable lathe that met his needs, and someone destroyed it. They have a responsibility to replace it. If a suit was filed, they would likely try to settle outside of court. Crated or not, they destroyed property. I don’t think a crate would have helped much when it snapped in half.

 

[Ultradog MN]

If that 74 Vega was your only form of transportation, and somebody totaled it, I bet you’d be pretty upset.

Just because it was a cheaper lathe does not make it ok. I don’t understand the hate for change gears. The work. I am sure it was a reliable lathe that met his needs, and someone destroyed it. They have a responsibility to replace it. If a suit was filed, they would likely try to settle outside of court. Crated or not, they destroyed property. I don’t think a crate would have helped much when it snapped in half.

I agree with you. I said I would go after the shippers for damages. I might not retain an attorney over the matter - That could cost far more than than the value of the lathe. That's why I compared it to getting your car bumped in a parking lot with no witnesses. You sometimes take a hit and have little or no recourse.
I hope he gets this settled to his satisfaction tho and would appreciate a follow-up on it.
Lastly, if he decides to replace the lathe, I recommend he get one with quick change gear box.
It's a nice step up from change gears -
Like going from a Chevy Vega to a Volvo 122 Amazon.

 

[tlevan03]

I have a Craftsman Lathe that is a basket case.... but as far as I know the frame/bed is OK....
I would give it to you for the price of shipping.... But crating and shipping from Oregon to Virginia would probably be VERRY scary....
If you are interested let me know and I will get the model nos..... Good luck with whatever you do with it....

LynnW

Thank you. I think I am leaning towards just moving on from this one. There's plenty of used lathes around here or I may just get a new grizzly.

 

[tlevan03]

Unless it was crated, I doubt he has a claim.

It wasn't crated, I fought the movers on it. I should have crated it myself. The move from VA to CA in 2022 went beyond smooth. All of our stuff stayed in one truck. The move back here was a different story, I don't know how many transfer stations everything went to. I should have had the guy that hauled the motorcycles take the lathe as well. Live and learn.

 

[jon72vega]

If it were mine, I would surely go after the movers. Try to get what you can out of them.
On the other hand... and no offense meant by this:
It was a cheap machine to begin with.
Small, underpowered. Change gears instead of a qcgb, etc.
Like a 1974 Chevy Vega.
Forget fixing it. The bed can Never be made good again. Sell off what parts you can. Scrap the rest.
A guy takes some hits in life. Like having your car crunched in a parking lot and you see it after the perp is long gone.
We've all been there. You just have to move on.

If that 74 Vega was your only form of transportation, and somebody totaled it, I bet you’d be pretty upset.

Just because it was a cheaper lathe does not make it ok. I don’t understand the hate for change gears. The work. I am sure it was a reliable lathe that met his needs, and someone destroyed it. They have a responsibility to replace it. If a suit was filed, they would likely try to settle outside of court. Crated or not, they destroyed property. I don’t think a crate would have helped much when it snapped in half.

I agree with you. I said I would go after the shippers for damages. I might not retain an attorney over the matter - That could cost far more than than the value of the lathe. That's why I compared it to getting your car bumped in a parking lot with no witnesses. You sometimes take a hit and have little or no recourse.
I hope he gets this settled to his satisfaction tho and would appreciate a follow-up on it.
Lastly, if he decides to replace the lathe, I recommend he get one with quick change gear box.
It's a nice step up from change gears -
Like going from a Chevy Vega to a Volvo 122 Amazon.

LOL, I resemble that remark.
Cleaned up 10-25-25 by jon72vega, on Flickr

 

[Ultradog MN]

LOL, I resemble that remark.
Cleaned up 10-25-25 by jon72vega, on Flickr

Very cool.
My dad bought one of those new in 1975.
I was the driver on a round trip to a funeral in it with 4 of us (adults) in the car - about a 300 mile round trip. Wasn't my favorite trip.
It had engine problems, a couple of recalls, etc and after a year or so he traded it in... on an AMC Pacer
Thinking back about those 2 cars I will back off a little here and show some respect for the Craftsman lathes.

 

[Cruzan80]

It wasn't crated, I fought the movers on it. I should have crated it myself

Just to clarify, you wanted it crated and they did not, or they wanted to crate it and you said no to them building a crate for it?

 

[nadogail]

Your lathe has become an expensive boat anchor.

 

[DaveAndStuff]

Just to clarify, you wanted it crated and they did not, or they wanted to crate it and you said no to them building a crate for it?

That makes big difference