Unusual Craftsman Lathe

[Provincial]

I noticed a Craftsman 12x36 metal lathe on CL that has no quick change gearbox for the lead screw. This is a later model lathe and it would be unusual for it to have change gears.

I wonder if it was special ordered for a specific task?

 

[HanShotFirst]

Looks like an Atlas 3000 series 12" lathe without the QCGB...nice lathes. The 3000 series were made from 1958 until Atlas closed up in 1981. Like all the rest of Atlas machines, they are very well made lathes that will last forever. Atlas lathes were denigrated by many as being "cheap" lathes because they made use of Zamak gears; which many wrongly called "pot-metal". Well here we are more than a 1/2 century later and all those "cheap" Atlas lathes are still going strong, Zamak gears and all.

I have two 10" Atlas lathes and I have ZERO complaints; they're solid machines. That late in the game most of the Atlas lathes did come with the QCGB but clearly there were some change gear machines still sold.

Does it have the change gears? If not, surf ebay for the gears and appropriate tooling for your machine.

Check out this web site for information on the old Atlas machinery...it's a fantastic web site; you'll enjoy it.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/page4.html

 

[Cruzan80]

The QCGB was an option back then. So either it was purchased without, or someone realized how much they go for on eBay and split it up. If you provide a model no, we should be able to pull up the original ad.

 

[nine4gmc]

Just the base model.

 

[pstemari]

... Atlas lathes were denigrated by many as being "cheap" lathes because they made use of Zamak gears; which many wrongly called "pot-metal". Well here we are more than a 1/2 century later and all those "cheap" Atlas lathes are still going strong, Zamak gears and all. ...

Zamak gears are the least of the problems with the Atlas lathes. They're about as rigid as an overcooked noodle and chatter like a naked chipmunk in Antarctica. They can get ok results in aluminum, but even free-machining steel is a **** shoot.

Selling my 12" and buying a new production Taiwanese lathe was the biggest reducer of frustration I've had in years.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[CNGsaves]

How much . . . . was the guy wanting for the Craftsman lathe ???

 

[Provincial]

$1,000.00.

https://corvallis.craigslist.org/tls/6100019632.html