Atlas/Craftsman 12x36" lathe...questions

OK, now the really dumb question about model numbers. My machine is a 101.27440. It looks identical to the machine in this post. The author presents two different part numbers, 101.0743 and 101.20140. ?What is the difference here, why so many numbers for what looks more or less the same? I'm confused, I think...
 
I have a similar lathe and am going thru a similar process. I pulled the gears and bearings off to clean them. Mine had gunk that needed to be manually cleaned off and this was much easier to do with the parts off the machine. I used a wood paint stick and shaped the end to fit between the gears. Also, if you pull the spindle off, you can see dates on the bearings which will tell you when your lathe was made (as long as they are the original ones). I had grease and gunk in various places that I would not have found had I not disassembled the machine.

I used a combination of Simple Green (it can take paint off!) and kerosene (bought some at Home Depot or Lowes) for solvents. I set up a box fan to blow away the fumes while I worked in my garage with the main door open.

Take picture before so you can re-assemble it correctly, and/or have the parts diagrams handy. I printed mine out and used magnets to post them up by my work space.

I have an extra tail stock that might fit if you can't get yours un-stuck. PM me and we can figure something out.
 
Bill,

The 101.07403 is a Change Gear lathe (no QCGB). Up until circa 1947, it came in four different bed lengths, 36", 42", 48" and 54", corresponding to distance between centers of 18", 24", 30" and 36". These had four different Catalog Numbers but only the one Model Number. After 1947, Atlas quit making the 36" and 48" beds.

The 101.27430 (12 x 24) and 101.27440 (12 x 36) were a 101.07403 of the correct bed length with the left lead screw bearing removed, the QCGB added, the Tumbler compound gear (10-101-16A) replaced by a 1546, and the only change gears supplied being the three installed on the lathe (40T & 2 x 48T). Those are the only differences.
 
Thanks!

I bit the bullet and went ahead and ordered a replacement tailstock off eBay. By the time I replace the ram/quill, rear wheel, etc, I would have just about the same amount in it as the replacement....which doesn't need any work. Now, I just need to pick up a live/dead center, drill chuck, and a quick style tool holder.
 
Jason,

The instructions that Jeff referred to are those for pulling the spindle out of the headstock. When you have removed the spindle from the headstock, you will have removed all of the parts from the spindle except for the large spindle bearing cone (spindle head bearing cone). I am pretty sure that removing that cone from the spindle will be potentially destructive to the bearing, as you will be pulling on the rollers and cage if you do it. I don't think that the bearing cone inner race big end is much larger than the flange on the spindle. So my recommendation would be to only pull the cone if you intended to replace it. Done correctly (for example, as Jeff did it), no damage should be done to anything else.
 
Bill,

I forgot to add that the model number 101.20140 is the model number of the QCGB add-on kit. It will not appear on the GB on a 101.27430 or 101.27440 because it is already a part of those machines. FYI, the 101.20140 could be retrofitted to any of the 3/8" bed 12" machines, all the way back to the 101.07360.
 
The more I think about it, the more I believe I will just clean everything up as best I can with the gears in place...no sense in potentially damaging anything unnecessarily. First thing I need to source is some SAE 20 non-detergent oil, as well as a modern equivalent to Keystone No 122 grease.... not sure either are sold locally.

I've also been looking at the different quick change tool post holders, are the generic imported models pretty much all the same?
 
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