Atlas/Craftsman Serial Numbers and Bearing Dates (if applicable) For Database Entries

[Jan the man]

I hadn't previously noticed it probably because looking back I see that almost all age related questions the past year have been for 12". In the combined machine database (408 entries to date) there are only 74 10" entries, a third of which show no serial numbers. And there is a large jump or blank range in the 10" serial numbers. They meander up to a little over 8000 and then skip to over 17000. Plus we only have three supposed bearing dates, one of which does not track with the other two. Meaning that it is about 13000 smaller than one with almost the same date.

Anyway, anyone with a 10" who doesn't remember for sure entering your machine into the old Yahoo database or giving it to me recently, please send me the model number (which includes bed length), serial number (including any prefix or suffix letters), type (10F, 10D, etc.), and if it has Timken bearings, the bearing dates if you know them. If no bearing dates, then anything that would give the original purchase date (no guesses, please).

ADDENDA: the same comments (where applicable) apply to Atlas mills, shapers, drill presses, and saws.

Thanks, Robert D.

I have Atlas 10F TH42 serial number 048567. It has Timken bearings! It does not have the quick change gear box. I have no idea what year it was made. I would like to know !

 

[Jan the man]

I have an Atlas 10F TH42 serial number 048567. It has Timken bearings! It does not have the quick change gear box. I have no idea what year it was made. It does not have the full covers for the gears, it has the one over the bull gear. I hope this helps. Jan the Man

 

[wa5cab]

Thanks. Your machine was probably made in 1943.

If you ever have some reason to pull the spindle, please record and report the dates that should be found hand engraved on both the left and right bearing cups and cones.

 

[Jan the man]

I will do that, but not to likely.

 

[DiscoDan]

Wa5cab, I picked up something today that may help with dates. I found a box that had SEARS printed on it. Inside was a MOLO dated 1937, an undated threading supplement for the Craftsman lathe and a parts list for a 101.07383 that was dated December 1941. On page 2 (I think) there was mention of a model with a number 101.07403, or something close to that and it was being dated in 1938 or 1939 I think. So my parts list date may help with dates. I am having trouble uploading pics. It keeps telling me they are too big even when I resize them. Will keep trying.

 

[DiscoDan]

My reference to page 2 in my post above refers to page 2 of this thread

 

[DiscoDan]

OK, I found your reference in post #66:

1937 101.07400
1938 101.07401
1939 101.07402
1940 101.07403

I guess the 1941 date on the parts list could mean it was printed at a later date but not sure why they would do that when it appears they changed model numbers at least annually.

So I am curious as to MOLOs....did they print new ones every year? So would the 1937 MOLO be appropriate for a 101.07383 lathe?

 

[craptain]

.

So I am curious as to MOLOs....did they print new ones every year? So would the 1937 MOLO be appropriate for a 101.07383 lathe?

I don't know about every year, but certainly frequently. Basically any copy is useful for any lathe operation. They are not specific to one machine, rather a range of machines, and in fact lathes in general.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[wa5cab]

Dan,

Thanks. If you have a scanner, scan the parts lists at 600 dpi to either a PDF or a TIF and send them to me at wa5cab@cs.com

Here's what we now know or think that we know about dates and/or model numbers of the MOLO and the Craftsman 3/8" bed 12" machines.

The MOLO was first printed in 1937. The First Edition was Exact bound (glue and staples). The front cover looked pretty much the same as all subsequent editions except that it did not have the drawing of an outside micrometer on it. What color the covers were is not known. No copy is currently known to exist.

Probably the following year, it was reprinted, probably with the same contents, but the cover was dark blue, the micrometer was added to the front cover, and they used one piece spiral wire binding. The contents were probably the same, and the copyright page still said Copyright 1937. Probably in 1939, the cover color was changed to black. Between then and 1953, the only change to the copyright page was first the addition and then the deletion of "Price One Dollar". The first 15 editions all said Copyright 1937. In 1954, there were several changes, Coverage of the QCGB was added in Part 7 Threading. The Copyright page began to show an edition number, and the cumulative list of years in which the book was reprinted.

The one-piece spiral wire binding became two-piece and then 3-piece. At some point, probably near the end of WW-II, the binding changed to GBC (white plastic fingers). For more details, see MOLO HistoryRev6.pdf in Downloads. And the companion MOLO To Machine App Rev3.pdf.

On the Craftsman lathe models and dates, there were a total of 14 models of the 3/8" bed 12" produced between 1936 and 1957. Except for the final two, the model number did not define the bed length. If it had, there would have been 38 different model numbers. In 1936 the 12" first appears in the Craftsman Power Tools catalog. There were two models, the 101.07380 with back gears and the 101.07360 without. Both had babbit bearings, 5/8" dia. lead screws, no power cross-feed, and 3/8" face change gears. And both were produced in four different bed lengths. In 1937, the 101.07400 with Timken bearings and full belt guards appeared. The model numbers were incremented with for some reason the Timken model lagging by a year. Various changes were made up until 1939 for the babbit bearing and 1940 for the Timken model. The change gears were changed to the -A rev with 1/2" hub length and 64T maximum number of teeth on the 101.07xx2 models. And in 1940 the 101.07403 added the power cross feed. The babbit models were discontinued around 1945. The 36" and 48" beds were discontinued around 1947. The QCGB came out in about 1952, and for the first time, the model number defined what bed length the machine had. Production of the 3/8" bed models ceased sometime in 1957.

 

[DiscoDan]

Thanks for that info. The MOLO I have looks black to me, has the 3-piece spiral binding and says "Price One Dollar". I don't have a working scanner at home so I will do it later this week when I go into my work office.