Any Idea what size this may be?

If you mean the lathe, it looks to be a Craftsman 10" x 24". The Atlas flat way lathes are ok for getting your feet wet but if you want to do any serious machining, you should hold out for something more rigid with V ways. Also make sure that whatever you buy includes as much tooling as possible.

Tom
 
Vince,

Yes, that's a Craftsman basically identical to my old Atlas TH42. It's 10" swing and 42" way length (end to end including headstock) with an effective distance between centers of 27". They tend to be vibration magnets due to the pulley and gravity tension motor mechanism and need a very heavy bench to dampen vibration. The machine weighs about 250+ pounds. They do not have V-groove ways nor are the ways hardened and they tend to get bow-wear very badly 6-10" from the headstock. All the gears are made of Zamak (sp?) and wear-out quickly. The compound is weak.

I spent way too much time making mine cut well and ended-up being limited to use on aluminum and very soft steel.

In my opinion of the kind of work you're capable of doing, keep looking as that would only be a temporary lathe for you -one that will cost time and money between the time you get it and sell it.

See your Private Messages...

Ray



Vince_O said:
This is coming up for auction not too far away from the house. Im wanting to get a bigger machine, looks like a 12 inch would be what I really need. Any idea what this is and could someone tell me about it.

Thanks Vince

http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photopanel.cgi?listingid=1792512&category=0&zip=29671&kwd=lathe
Click to expand...
 
Folks either love Atlas/Craftsman lathes or dismiss every last one as junk with a wave of the hand. Rarely is there a lot of middle of the road you will hear about an Atlas/Craftsman lathe. I have a 12" Craftsman myself. I will concede it is not as heavy a machine as a Logan, South Bend or Sheldon I do not think them as bad a machine as previous posters have made them out to be. An operator that takes into account the fact that the Atlas/Craftsman is not as heavy as many other machines and works within the limits of the machine can and will do just fine with the machine. Personally, I would say if you could get into the machine for the right money it would be worth consideration. We are all entitled to our opinions and that is mine.
 
That is a 12" Craftsman. You can tell by the height of the top slide. The older 10" lathes are almost flat from frt to back.
Pierre
 
So was I the only one that noticed the 32 Ford rolling frame? That should fetch a lotta $ if the right people show up. I was amazed it was not even mentioned in the sale description! :nuts:
 
That is definitly a 12" Atlas, Looks to have a pretty good bunch of tooling with it. Should be worth up to about $800.00 A good deal if you can get it for that or less.
I have 3 Atlas lathes in my shop and wouldn't trade them for any other machine. They are capable of precision work if you are an experienced operator.
If you get this ohne I predcict you will be happy with it.
 
The photo is gone so I can't see what the machine was. But I will correct one statement from earlier in the thread. Zamak gears do not "wear out quickly". Unless the operator never lubricates them properly. Which will wear out steel gears just as quickly. Same comments apply to bed wear, which V-beds are just as susceptable to as flat beds. A worn-out lathe is a worn-out lathe, regardless of who made it.

Robert D.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top