# 618 New To Me



## westsailpat (Feb 18, 2016)

This was given to me by a friend that was letting me work in his hot rod shop , I was making a part on his vintage Logan 10 x something , and I kept looking at this little baby sitting on the side .And he said "you want that thing ?" I didn't know what to say , but I do remember saying yes . It was all set up and sitting on a cart w/ wheels , but I didn't have room for the cart so we took it apart and he kept the cart . My work space is very small so I have to be creative . Anyhow it was sold under the Craftsman banner # is 101.07301 .


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## Steve Shannon (Feb 18, 2016)

Cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## David VanNorman (Feb 19, 2016)

Nice little lathe.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 19, 2016)

sweet! welcome to the club  JimDawson on here gave me one he found, which I stripped and repainted, then gave to a cousin after I found a nice 618 for a good price. I like mine a lot, it's a surprisingly capable lathe for its size.


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## FOMOGO (Feb 19, 2016)

Looks like you found the perfect spot. Mike


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## westsailpat (Feb 19, 2016)

Hi guys , and thanks for the kind words . Yes that would be a nice spot but it's basically my only spot . I would really love to get a pair of the original cast iron legs , then I could set it up next to the bench it's sitting on now .


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## brino (Feb 19, 2016)

Welcome to the site!

That's a nice lathe, congratulations.

Here's a manual for it:
http://hobby-machinist.com/resources/craftsman-lathe-6-101-07301-pdf.1510/

You might be able to find some other documentation here:
http://hobby-machinist.com/resources/categories/atlas-craftsman-aa.37/

-brino


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## westsailpat (Feb 19, 2016)

Thanks for the link brino , but for some reason I get a log in error when I click on it . I did however get a manual off the bay  , it's basically just nomenclature and it doesn't show the counter shaft that I have . I have this one .


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## westsailpat (Feb 19, 2016)

I think this is a older model ? And seems to be missing the lever  shaft . If any of you have this one , could you show me a pic ? Also it wasn't really set up right as there is only one pulley on the motor and four on the counter shaft . My manual shows two on the motor and two on the counter shaft .  Thanks .


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 19, 2016)

that's a non-standard countershaft from what I can tell, but that really doesn't matter. Not quite sure where the eccentric is, but there should be a shaft with a couple of eccentric spots on it that are used to tension the countershaft to spindle belt (the motor to countershaft belt looks like it is tensioned by motor weight). That shaft has a lever on the end and a couple of screws in the top pivoting part that ride on the eccentrics. With the lever one way, the  screws rest on the narrow part of the eccentric, so the belt is loose. Move the lever the other way and the screws rise up onto the wider part of the eccentric, tensioning the belt. If it's not there it won't be that hard to make, you could do it with an angle grinder if you had to, to get it up and running.


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## westsailpat (Feb 19, 2016)

Thanks Matt , yes non standard for sure , however if you google Atlas 618 a few machines have my counter shaft set up . My guess is it's really old as I just discovered my machine has a bushing spindle . I will play around with it and get this counter shaft to work for now .
This is not mine http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=14848


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 19, 2016)

how about that? Robert would know for sure, or it might be countershaft off a similar sized lathe. Those bronze bushed lathes can do lovely work, arguably better surface finish than roller bearing lathes, just can't go quite as fast.


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## pebbleworm (Feb 19, 2016)

That is the Craftsman version of the countershaft, and earlier Craftsman  6" lathes had bushings instead of the roller bearings on an Atlas.  They are both nice machines.  There's a picture of a Craftsman countershaft at:
http://www.homeshopsupply.com/upgrades.html
Scroll down a bit.


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## itsme_Bernie (Feb 19, 2016)

Congrats Pat!  
  My second machine was an Atlas 618 (15 years ago) that someone gave to me.  Not nearly as pretty as yours when I got it, but it polished up wonderfully.  You will love it.  You can do some real work with that.  Really nice span of speeds for slow turning and high rpm small diameter stock turning. 
  And you even have the milling attachment!  

Bernie


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## Ulma Doctor (Feb 19, 2016)

it even came with the milling attachment!
very cool!


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## westsailpat (Feb 19, 2016)

Matt , yes spin spd . down . I'm not working for $ anymore .
pebbleworm , thanks for that link . They have nice stuff at very friendly $ .
Bernie , DR . , yes milling att . that will be fun .

I spent the day messing around with the little thing , all good fun . Took apart the head stock and the back gear , piece o' cake .
I 'm now trying to work up something clever with the counter shaft /motor , and a proper mount for the whole set up .
Thanks guys !
PS here is a nice link    http://www.lathes.co.uk/craftsman6inchmk1/


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## wa5cab (Feb 20, 2016)

Pat,

As nearly as I have been able to figure out, over it's production life the Atlas 619 (with 1"-10 spindle nose threads and Timken roller bearings) came with three different countershaft assemblies.  The first one, apparently only made a couple of years, was sorta similar to the one on the early (up to 1957) Craftsman 12".  The bracket mounted to either the rear of the bed or to the left leg (I have never come across a rear view photo of the original version).  The part with the pulleys (that moves to tension the belts) was, judging by later known part numbers, the same as on the two later models.  The "A" revision bracket (which you have) is short and mounts to the bench behind the actual lathe, with the countershaft hanger assembly standing up above it.  This was used on the 618 for a while and was used on the 101.07301 throughout its production life.  The "B" revision bracket was taller, with the same hanger assembly hanging down.

In all three cases, the motor pulley is a small 2-step one.  The only changes ever made to this pulley were the change from 1/2" to 5/8" bore and later from Zamak to aluminum.  The hanger assembly is apparently the same in all three cases and should have a 4-step cone pulley between the hanger legs which is externally identical to the spindle cone pulley.  The large pulley hanging on one end of the actual countershaft spindle is 2-step (outside diameters 7.5" and 9.0").  All of the catalog photos show this pulley as hanging on the left end of the countershaft spindle, and the motor behind the countershaft bracket.  A lot of owner photos show the large pulley on the right end of the spindle and some show the motor between the bracket and the lathe.

One other point about which there is a lot of Internet disinformation is that only the 101.07301 had the 1"-8 spindle nose threads.  The 618 and later 101.21400 always had 1"-10.


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## brino (Feb 20, 2016)

westsailpat said:


> Thanks for the link brino , but for some reason I get a log in error when I click on it . I did however get a manual off the bay



yeah....there is likely a minimum post count you need to reach for some sections of this site......I keep forgetting about that.....
At least you have a manual...
-brino


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## westsailpat (Feb 20, 2016)

wa5cab , thanks for taking the time to type all that . I was wondering about the dia's on the motor pulley , the bay manual is a repop  and for a bearing spindle .  thanks guys .


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## utterstan (Feb 20, 2016)

for free wow nice score. must be a very good friend.*-


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## westsailpat (Feb 20, 2016)

Yes UT , good friend . But more like right place right time , he pretty much just wanted to get rid of it .


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## utterstan (Feb 21, 2016)

wow that's great


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## westsailpat (Jun 20, 2016)

Here is the next phase . I got the metal stand at Harbor Freight , it's for their wood lathe and was a foot to long . It was cheap , and all I had to do was shorten up the bottom rails and bolt it together . Next job was the table top I got a piece of panel grade 3/4 Oak ply , I cut two planks for the top and glued them together then I squared it up and put on a edge of 1x2 solid Oak  . Before starting this I had visions of it turning out stain grade but because I only have a skill saw it turned out paint grade haha . I'm happy with it though as the black lacquer turned out nice . I mounted the lathe and came up with the motor mount set up , I'ts temporary right now but I think it is going to be ok .  Quickly It became obvious the old motor is not up for the job but I did get it running and made a few test cuts in some aluminum . It is amazing the finish it was producing . The next phase will be a new motor and the correct pulleys . Any how here she is .


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