Show your "Long C" Craftsman!

[Outlawmws]

and the tape isn't busted!

 

[Gear Wolf]

Ok I will try to get them done this weekend

Many thanks my friend! Anything and everything helps! ^_^

 

[Gear Wolf]

Managed to snag this off of FBMP this week. Nicest one I've ever seen.

No way! That is too cool! ^_^

I had to come back and make a small edit to this post. Come to think of it, as wonderful as that piece is, I find that tape a piece of melancholic nostalgia. During that era, there was great pride in American ingenuity and our culture of being rugged and self reliant. Fifty years of pride...what a feeling that must have been. It is too bad we cannot say the same about things at the 100 year mark. -_-

 

[Gear Wolf]

I feel the same. Though, maybe they're lukewarm because there are fewer of these sets to pass around.

I think my (K) set is wartime. None of the handles are branded. Typical of wartime SK production.

Thank you for posting this!

 

[d42jeep]

I feel the same. Though, maybe they're lukewarm because there are fewer of these sets to pass around.

I think my (K) set is wartime. None of the handles are branded. Typical of wartime SK production.

Nice set! They look slightly pre or very early WW2 to me with the chrome plating. I’ve been finding some sets around that vintage in S-K. Water transfers on the boxes and unmarked extensions and drive tools.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I recently found this BE socket and it turns out to be one that was missing from my partial upside down box set.
-Don

 

[TexTJ209]

Due to some unfortunate travel plans and a seller not willing to hold, this isn't and most likely won't be mine. But, these don't exactly pop up up...ever, so figured it needed posted here for posterity.

Super rare 1940/41ish art deco "Streamlined Lathe Cabinet" underneath a fairly common long C Craftsman/Atlas metal lathe.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Due to some unfortunate travel plans and a seller not willing to hold, this isn't and most likely won't be mine. But, these don't exactly pop up up...ever, so figured it needed posted here for posterity.

Super rare 1940/41ish art deco "Streamlined Lathe Cabinet" underneath a fairly common long C Craftsman/Atlas metal lathe.

Ouch that one hurts. That is amazing and I wish you could get it. Not common at all.

 

[TexTJ209]

Ouch that one hurts. That is amazing and I wish you could get it. Not common at all.

Yep. It happens. Managed to rearrange my plans a bit so I could make it out and the seller is holding for someone else till noon tomorrow. sigh. Gotta love it.

Told her to give them my number if they bought the lathe and I'd buy the stand off them for basically what she had the lathe listed for. So 1/10000 chance. We'll see...lol.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Man. Hope you get that Tex. That artifact deserves to be in a place it's appreciated.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Man. Hope you get that Tex. That artifact deserves to be in a place it's appreciated.

You can say that again! I don’t know if I have ever seen one aside from in a catalog

 

[TexTJ209]

Welp. No go. But she said the buyer was looking specifically for the cabinet, so sounds like it may have found a good home with someone who knows/appreciates what is is. So that's good! Maybe we'll see it pop up on one of the collector groups or forums.

 

[ooba tooba]

Finished the inside of my Craftsman box. Decided to go with old Craftsman blue instead of the original green felt. I posted in another forum, and recognize a few members from here… I thought a few of the contents inside might be of interest in this thread

 

[3baygarage]

Some nice items.

This guy’s far from nice looking, but ok after rust removal. A little 4” adjustable of the 1930’s era, Danielson made. Appears to have been polished chrome head with a non polished handle. Not the greatest example but for a buck and works fine I ain’t complaining.

 

[Outlawmws]

That looks great OT! Very bold Blue! Love that the Long C tools are finding a place!

Does anyone know who made the wood boxes for Sears?

 

[ooba tooba]

That looks great OT! Very bold Blue! Love that the Long C tools are finding a place!

Does anyone know who made the wood boxes for Sears?

Thanks! And yes, Union Tool Co made their wooden boxes

 

[JoCoSawdust]

+1 on Union. Nice work Ooba.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Finished the inside of my Craftsman box. Decided to go with old Craftsman blue instead of the original green felt. I posted in another forum, and recognize a few members from here… I thought a few of the contents inside might be of interest in this thread

At first I was all irritated you used blue because the green is correct but now you explained the blue, I think it is a fantastic idea! I really like it now. Great job!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Decided to go with old Craftsman blue instead of the original green felt

A brilliant idea!

 

[RTM]

That's some different looking material texture, almost looks like denim, what is it?

 

[ooba tooba]

At first I was all irritated you used blue because the green is correct but now you explained the blue, I think it is a fantastic idea! I really like it now. Great job!

Cool! Yeah it’s grown on me

 

[ooba tooba]

That's some different looking material texture, almost looks like denim, what is it?

Actually it is almost silk like. Very nice looking, but probably not very practical for this application. I did have to do extra work with it as well because any cut exposed edges revealed fraying of fine threads. I had to cut it bigger and fold over and glue edges to avoid an amateur appearance. It was the closest color to the old Craftsman blue that was available.

 

[RTM]

Buddy of mine suggested gluing the cloth to a poster or photo board, which allows the edges to be hidden, and much less pain when installing. Trying that on my next one.

 

[ooba tooba]

Buddy of mine suggested gluing the cloth to a poster or photo board, which allows the edges to be hidden, and much less pain when installing. Trying that on my next one.

Good suggestion. I happen to work at a print shop/bindery so I have access to a cutter with a 4’ long blade. I just measured the inside bottoms and sides and made a list. Cut strips of chipboard and sprayed Elmers adhesive on the strips and placed them on the cloth which was spread out upside down on my dining rm table.

 

[danandmelrod]

Hi everyone,
This one is a bit of a head scratcher. I recently purchased this early forties DP 101.03662 for $200 - from a gentleman who said he got it from his neighbors estate. The original owner worked in the aerospace industry in the Long Beach, CA area. We’re I presumed he purchased this DP.

What intrigued me was the use of both Atlas and Craftsman made parts to create this DP. All parts with the exception of the head and pulley cover are clearly made for the Atlas 73 or 74 DP. Every other piece is Atlas made for craftsman. The forward/ reverse was added by the PO.

The uniformity of the caked on grease gives me reason to believe the Craftsman head badge was installed originally instead of the Atlas badge.

Is it plausible that this drill press came out of a Sears store with a craftsman badge on an Atlas head? I believe the pulley cover was put on later as the factory ID designation number does not match the head. Pulley cover is 39 and head is either 93 or 98. Hard to tell because of the F/R switch.

Maybe it’s just my wishful thinking. Reminds me of when I was a kid collecting baseball cards and trying to find those elusive “error cards”. Could this be an “error DP” lol. What do you guys think? Looking forward to this friendly-spirited conversation. At any rate, I’m totally digging this look and will end up keeping it this way once I restore it.

Thanks, Dan.

 

[Cruzan80]

101 machines were Atlas made, for Sears. If you are sayjng the pulley guard was a replacement, not sure what else would be "off" about it.

 

[Outlawmws]

I'd suspect the press was put into wartime (Aircraft?) production and the Atlas guard was swapped there. Keep in mind there was no "Aerospace" until after the war. Airplanes and some rocketry, yes; mostly small assault stuff (Like the "Stalin Organ") with the exception of the V1/V2 rockets Germany used against England.

 

[danandmelrod]

Hi Cruz,

What would be off is the craftsman badge on a Atlas 74 head. It appears to me, that this was done at the Atlas factory. Maybe they ran out of the craftsman style heads and substituted an Atlas head.

Outlaw - good catch. I meant aircraft. I’m sure the owner was implying the wartime Douglass plant as the origin of the DP.

Thanks guys.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Something is off about that drill press Dan. I own a lot (too many) pre-war Craftsman DPs and have studied/researched even more. The Long C logo on the front of the body is a head scratcher to me. They're normally found on the left side as you are using the machine. Yours doesn't look cobbled on there by a previous owner so I'm inclined to think Atlas positioned it there.

There were a lot of weird things done in manufacturing during the war. Unless you see evidence of that logo positioning being a user mod, I'd say you've got a fairly unique machine there with an interesting story that we'll never know.

 

[TexTJ209]

That's definitely an odd duck for sure. Got better pictures of the badge mounting? And try and degrease a small spot, it looks like it might be Craftsman blue under the grime but hard to tell. That is where Atlas mounted the badges on the 74s, but like JoCo said, the Craftsman badge was always on the side of the machine. Wonder if the hole spacing of the two badges is the same?

For everyone's reference: here's what a 101.03662 SHOULD look like. Note the different head casting entirely, not just the pulley cover. (Which you stated just pointing it out for the thread). I can't find any other example of a Craftsman/Atlas drill press on vintage machinery that used the "double swoop" casting of the Model 74.

And model 74s used a different base than the 101.03662, so it's definitely a weird mix of parts, not simply a case of a badge where it doesn't belong or a swapped pulley cover.

 

[Cruzan80]

This all makes more sense. I dont follow the Atlas/CM drill heads close enough, so I saw 101. and thought "Atlas-Made", not looking closely enough at in-house vs contract differences.

 

[Smokeshow69]

That's definitely an odd duck for sure. Got better pictures of the badge mounting? And try and degrease a small spot, it looks like it might be Craftsman blue under the grime but hard to tell. That is where Atlas mounted the badges on the 74s, but like JoCo said, the Craftsman badge was always on the side of the machine. Wonder if the hole spacing of the two badges is the same?

For everyone's reference: here's what a 101.03662 SHOULD look like. Note the different head casting entirely, not just the pulley cover. (Which you stated just pointing it out for the thread). I can't find any other example of a Craftsman/Atlas drill press on vintage machinery that used the "double swoop" casting of the Model 74.

And model 74s used a different base than the 101.03662, so it's definitely a weird mix of parts, not simply a case of a badge where it doesn't belong or a swapped pulley cover.

This machine is so nice! Heck of an example.

 

[TexTJ209]

This machine is so nice! Heck of an example.

Wish it was mine ha, Google provided it to me an older GJ post.

 

[Outlawmws]

Both the Head and base have Craftsman Tags, so I think it was made as a Craftsman for Sears, regardless of positioning. the Atlas cast into the front guard and the riveted on badge placement on the head are the only serious anomalies. Maybe they were out of decals and decided that week to move the head tag...

 

[danandmelrod]

Thanks Joco for your expertise on this subject. I totally love your shop setup. I too have amassed quite the collection of Atlas made DP’s over the years. I hope to display/restore them in my shop/garage in the near future. For now everything is just a mess in the garage.

Thanks Tex, I’ll post some better pics. I also thought the same thing on the hole spacing. I’ll start by degreasing the front to see if that helps solve the mystery. I’m not quite ready to remove the badge.

Also, take a closer look at the pulley cover. Notice that the skf decal is placed front and center there rather than the side of head unit. I have spent hours looking at every Atlas 74 on VM.org and not one has it on the cover. All are side placement. .Weird.

 

[TexTJ209]

Both the Head and base have Craftsman Tags, so I think it was made as a Craftsman for Sears, regardless of positioning. the Atlas cast into the front guard and the riveted on badge placement on the head are the only serious anomalies. Maybe they were out of decals and decided that week to move the head tag...

I think you're missing the biggest anomaly. Ha. The entire head casting is different. All traditional Atlas/Craftsman drill presses have flat bottoms, this has the "swoopy" bottom, which was only an Atlas 63/73/74 thing, never a Craftsman thing.

Atlas did make both style castings simultaneously, so makes you wonder if they didn't have a critical "war effort" order and were maybe a bit short on the Craftsman head castings, so they completed it with 74 style castings instead and made it work.

Does a 74 model pulley cover fit on a standard Atlas/Craftsman? if they're different, that could explain the discrepancy...since a Long C variation of a 74 model pulley cover wouldn't exist.

 

[danandmelrod]

Outlaw, thanks for the vote of confidence. That was my theory from the very beginning.

Tex, I did as you requested and the Atlas cover fits like a glove on the craftsman DP head casting.

I apologize for the mess in the background.

 

[TexTJ209]

Outlaw, thanks for the vote of confidence. That was my theory from the very beginning.

Tex, I did as you requested and the Atlas cover fits like a glove on the craftsman DP head casting.

I apologize for the mess in the background.

Nice! Well at least we can assume that was probably swapped with the different paint number since it works on both styles. Still wonder about the Craftsman 74 casting though, can't find any like it.

 

[danandmelrod]

After some preliminary cleaning with my go to degreaser (goop). I can verify that the paint color is war time grey and is consistent throughout the entire DP.

 

[danandmelrod]

Here is another example of the war time grey. It so happens to be on my other 101.03662 DP. The original paint color is seem underneath the spray bomb grey and SKF decal. In addition, it came with an earlier Atlas base, if I’m correct.