A lathe finally! Craftsman 12x36 101.27440

[jfcayron]

Here she is! I have long been waiting for a lathe.
And it will continue for a while :lmao:

All the grease is literally frozen, most parts have a really sticky motion.


Other than that, the ways are nice, and all the parts are there.


What makes it a good deal is that it came with 3 chucks, a steady rest, all sorts of tool holders and bits, 4 faceplates, 3 Jacobs chucks
(and an unidentified small one on a threaded shank - anyone has seen it before?)



Curious also, in the box I found 3 snap thread gauges. :thinking:


Now the bad news: anic: a pair of broken teeth on the sliding gear and a nasty chip in the pulley. I believe they are zamak and therefore non-weldable. I see a purchase of parts in my future.:bitingnails::scared:



I will keep you posted as the renovation starts and progresses.

 

[jumps4]

thats well worth fixing
can i ask what you gave for the lathe
steve

 

[Tom Griffin]

Nice find Jeff.

The tooling makes whatever you paid for it a good deal. It would likely cost more than the lathe to buy all of it separately.

That gear can be repaired by dovetailing some material (aluminum would be a good choice) into the damaged area and re-cutting the teeth. There is also solder available that is compatible with zinc. You could build up the area with that and re-cut the teeth. Might be more trouble than it's worth though since the gears are probably readily available. Check with Plaza Machinery.

The chipped pulley won't hurt a thing.

Tom

 

[jfcayron]

Steve,

I paid $500 for the bunch. I think it is very honest.
In fact the lathe per se would be useable, but no power-feed or threading. So I will go for a complete tear-down and restoration right away.

Tom,

Thanks for the technical info.
I was knocked off my feet to see that people ask from $225 to $400 for a pair of cast iron legs like the ones that came with it.:shocked:
As for the solder, I saw some info on the web, but it sounded quite messy. Do you have or know of any experience with it?

 

[Tom Griffin]

Steve,


Tom,

Thanks for the technical info.
I was knocked off my feet to see that people ask from $225 to $400 for a pair of cast iron legs like the ones that came with it.:shocked:
As for the solder, I saw some info on the web, but it sounded quite messy. Do you have or know of any experience with it?

Jeff,

Harris makes low temperature solders (400F) and their "Stay-Clean" fluxes. Soldering Diecast is a little tricky though because the melting point of the solder is close to the melting point of the zinc diecast. If you are good with a torch it'll work fine, otherwise you may want to explore other options.

Tom

 

[jumps4]

at 500 dollars for the lathe thats a deal
i would say the gear is a standard size or a find for ebay
tell me how many teeth it has the outer diameter and the shaft size i will try to tell you the pitch and maybe where to get one.
steve

 

[jfcayron]

Tom,

Thanks, I will explore. I am not bad with a torch, I might give it a try.

Steve,

I am not home now, but it is a 40-tooth gear that is used in many Atlas models. I think the chances of finding one are pretty good.
I'll post full info when I have it.

And I forgot to mention, the owner had begun to take it apart because is was sticky. This is the state I got it in.
Not a bad deal, I could see the state of the apron parts.

 

[pdentrem]

All the gears are available either new or used, as for the pulley, I ran mine for years with all 4 spokes broken and simply used JB Weld to hold it all together. Good price and as it is all apart now is the time to service it, as you have mentioned.

 

[xalky]

Poke around on ebay for that gear. I think you'll be able to find one. There are a few vendors on there that seem to specialize in parting out old atlas and south bend lathes.

 

[SamIAm]

Nice score, Im sure you find time to get it back to producing parts in no time!
looking forward to seeing those resto pics too.
Sam