# Just Dragged Home A Craftsman Late Model 12".



## 38Bill (Sep 20, 2015)

No photos yet, I want to dust it off a little first. I just  picked up a nice, post 1967 101.28910 12" X 36" (54" bed) lathe today. The paint should clean up almost like new so it won't get painted. Just some cleaning and dusting and it should be good to go. The lathe came with some nice accessories. 2) three jaw chucks, a four jaw chuck, an interesting three jaw Bison live center chuck, taper attachment, steady rest, follow rest, milling attachment, brand new boring bar set, QCTP and tool holders, Jacobs head stock chuck  and a bunch of other smaller misc stuff. The owner was down sizing to a mini lathe so he had no use for any of the larger tooling he had. Can't wait to get it set up in the shop.


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## thomas s (Sep 20, 2015)

Good luck with your new lathe don't forget to post some pictures.


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## kd4gij (Sep 20, 2015)

But before and after pic's are good.


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## wa5cab (Sep 20, 2015)

Nice find.  Right place at the right time!


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## 38Bill (Sep 20, 2015)

Don't need any after photos as I won't be doing much to it. I couldn't wait until tomorrow so I spent some time out in the shop after dinner. This is what it looks like after I wiped off the dirt. Only needs a bench and a quick inspection and it should be good to go.


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## wa5cab (Sep 21, 2015)

Don't skimp on the support bench.  If all wood construction, 4x4 legs well braced and 1-1/2" bench top.  Level the bench and bolt it to the floor.  Paint the top at least, two coats, and let dry for a week before putting the lathe on it.  If you can find and afford a drip pan, now is the time to install it.  Then precision level the bed.


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## Charles Spencer (Sep 21, 2015)

That's a pretty machine.


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## Tony Wells (Sep 21, 2015)

When I need something of size that is 1 1/2" thick, I laminate 2 pieces of good quality plywood (B-C). I use liquid nails, smeared evenly and quite a few screws *from what will be the bottom*, careful that they are long enough but not too long so as not to penetrate completely the top sheet. I do this while the sheets are on a smooth slab of concrete. Never been disappointed in the rigidity or stability of the finished product. 

Maybe even better would be to use some Sturdi-Floor if you can get it in your area. It's a bit thicker than you can get standard plywood. If you don't think 2 pieces of 3/4 will be enough, put another piece on.

A long time back, there was a place here that build modular crew housing units for the oilfield, and had a plywood press. A buddy worked there and made up a piece of 2 1/2" thick ply for a shooting bench. Marvelously tough and rigid, but terribly heavy for a portable.


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## brino (Sep 22, 2015)

Wow Bill, that looks like new!

That's a very hefty chuck in the tailstock.
Nice machine, great find, congrats!

-brino


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## Silverbullet (Sep 22, 2015)

Someone was hiding that , you done good .


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## 38Bill (Sep 22, 2015)

Anybody know what paint matches or is close to the color of these newer Craftsman machines? Its gray with a slightly greenish tint. I just want to paint the rests and the milling attachment but it would be nice to match the lathe.


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## wa5cab (Sep 23, 2015)

As best I can recall from 30+ years ago, the original color was a pretty close match to Rustoleum Machinery Gray.  The green tint comes with age and probably exposure to UV from fluorescent lighting and maybe exposure to oil.  So if you want to match the current color, you will have to have the paint custom mixed.  And no guarantee that it will still match a quarter century from now.  My steady rest and tool post grinder purchased new with the 3996 and seldom used are not quite as green as the lathe.  And my follow rest purchased about a year and a half ago is slightly less so.


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## Dranreb (Sep 23, 2015)

Very nice, I think we'd all like to snag one as nice just once!


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## 38Bill (Oct 13, 2015)

Finally got the bench built and the lathe mounted and leveled. The bench is 4"X4" fir with a double layer of 3/4" (11 ply) plywood. The plywood used for the top came prefinished with a triple coat epoxy finish that should hold up to all the oil and chips. I also have aluminium plates under the lathe mounting pads. I kept the shelf that I had built for my old lathe to hold tooling. Now I just need to mount the Y axis DRO. I had it mounted to the 10" using the follow rest holes that were on the back of the cross feed. Unfortunately the newer 12" doesn't have these holes so I may have to drill and tap it.


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## wa5cab (Oct 14, 2015)

Nice!.  Except that mine is an Atlas and a cabinet model, it looks about like mine did about a month after I bought it.


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