# Craftsman Atlas 101.27440 lathe restoration



## vcpatel1122 (Apr 9, 2018)

Hi all. I’m new to this site. I just recently sold my Craftsman Atlas 618 lathe and bought a 12” Craftsman Atlas for the same price. 

Here is the old 618. I bought it restored. 






The replacement.






I have uploaded all the images from the beginning from disassemble. Most pictures on the album have a description. 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/veepsgarage/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1925763394401447


Please let me know if the link to the pictures doesn’t work. So far I’ve disassembled the lathe and have started degreasing. It’s in very good shape but I do have to paint the tailstock and a few items. I will try to match the paint so I can just scuff up and hopefully brush on new paint on the parts that have paint chipped.

Thanks for following along.


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## chips&more (Apr 9, 2018)

Hi and welcome to the HM. Excellent job and pics too!...Dave


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## vcpatel1122 (Apr 9, 2018)

I’ll post some pics directly on here as well. 

Here is a rear shot of the lathe on the stand from the sale ad.





Front left 





Here are the cleaned up lathe legs. Took lots of stripper and wire wheeling.
The legs are not atlas but haven’t been able to source their origin yet.






I’m not in love with the way it looked on the stand. The stand would also make the lathe stick off the wall of my garage an extra 4” because the footing extends all the way around the perimeter and is about 6” higher than the floor. I have a small 2 car garage shop with a project vehicle in it as well so space is always at a premium. 

I might either put it on a cabinet with this butcher block top or use the butcher block top on the legs. It’s just not hardwood. It’s a craftsman workbench top which is probably pine so I will have to just put steel plates under the base, which isn’t a big issue. I can also just cut the current bench down at the top to get a proper height. It’s too too high right now.


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## vcpatel1122 (Apr 9, 2018)

chips&more said:


> Hi and welcome to the HM. Excellent job and pics too!...Dave



Thanks


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## markba633csi (Apr 9, 2018)

Very nice- you got the taper attachment too, a hard to find piece
Mark


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## kopeck (Apr 9, 2018)

Looking good!


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## vcpatel1122 (Apr 9, 2018)

markba633csi said:


> Very nice- you got the taper attachment too, a hard to find piece
> Mark



It came with the taper, turret, and milling attachment,
steady rest, fellow rest, 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks, and a ton of tooling. I didn’t expect any accessories and then there was a shopping cart full of them when I went to pick up the lathe.



kopeck said:


> Looking good!



Thanks


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## markba633csi (Apr 10, 2018)

I too just bought a Craftsman 12x36 and had the exact opposite experience: I was hoping for accessories but only got 2 chucks (one's a Bison) It's OK
though cause the machine itself is in excellent condition! 
Mark
ps I actually did get some extras: a big tray full of tool bits, some Armstrong holders, some large taper-shank drills, a thread pitch gage, two motors, and two tailstock chucks.
so I did OK I think


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## Bi11Hudson (Apr 14, 2018)

Just a hello as much as anything. 

I acquired a 101.27440 a few years ago. None of the goodies like you got. Had to do a little horse-trading, like a new (but much less capable or accurate HF) machine in exchange. But those guys were happy, and I was ecstatic, to say the least. It came out of a cotton mill in S. Carolina and was well worn but also well taken care of. Probably the well worn part came from the welding shop where I found it. The biggest issue was that its' predecessor also had a 1-1/2X8 spindle so everything just sorta moved over. Convenient for me......

I had to build a stand, all I got was the machine. I am very tall,  6' 3" (less the compression of age) What I started with was a 4X4 heavy wall steel box tube below the machine. Then a chip pan below that and then the homemade legs. The advantage of the box tube between the machine and the chip pan is that the chip pan can run all the way beyond the gears by a couple of inches. And the same or better clearance below. A 4X6 would have been better, the advantage of 20/20 hindsight........ I don't remember the height specifically, it is comfortable for *-me-*, standing or sitting on a stool.

I do mostly small work, model building &c. Only rarely full size work. For example, there is a UniMat 3 jaw chuck a little under 3",on a threaded (M12X1) stub MT3, that closes down to so small I can only see a pinprick of light through it. A 12" machine seems a little overkill for what I do, but I love the feel of the old iron running.

I changed the motor over. A Baldor 1ph 1/2HP 240V Farm Duty motor and a single step pulley. I'll have to change the motor mounting to use the higher speeds. If I ever do...... A reversing (drum) switch is mounted below the QC box on the bottom left. Again, at a convenient location for a "knuckle dragger" such as I. The chuck(s) can be pinned so reverse running isn't an issue. 

The best of luck with the rebuild that follows.......
Bill Hudson​


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