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Craftsman 12X36 101.28990
- Thread starter CBR74
- Start date
I went to look at the 12X36 today and it was not good news. The 1/2 horse motor could not turn the pulleys when set for high speed. Is 1/2 horse even enough motor for this big a lathe? That was not the deal breaker though. The ways are so worn near the headstock that the carriage clamp bolt does nothing. It does not start to drag on the bed until about mid way and does not actually lock until about the 24" mark. The ways at the headstock measure .48" and .49" at the tail stock. That's ten thousandths worth of wear.
:yikes:
The tooling was nothing to write home about. The 3 jaw chuck was OK, the 4 jaw was rusty but a hefty 8" in diameter. There was a knurling tool (bonus), but most else was just drill bits and a couple Jacob's chucks.
Bring on the pics:
:yikes:
The tooling was nothing to write home about. The 3 jaw chuck was OK, the 4 jaw was rusty but a hefty 8" in diameter. There was a knurling tool (bonus), but most else was just drill bits and a couple Jacob's chucks.
Bring on the pics:
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2013
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Daaaaaaamn!!! now that's worn out (place explicit pun here) isn't that closer to 20 thou when measured at .480?? sposed to be .50. another thing to check is way width, mine, when I adjust the carriage gib at the headstock it takes more effort near the middle and tailstock end to move the carriage. oil people, use that earl. now, my chip pan with all the chips is more like a slurry of metal shavings lol. and yes 1/2hp is enough, mine has a Chinese 1/2hp motor and can take .050 thou cuts in 4140 with no problem. at about 600rpm, however, I may be wrong but if the start capacitor is failing on the motor it might not want to start with increased load of high gear. when I had my motor wired 120 it would click click while the motor spooled up. now at 220v it spins up to rpm better.
EDIT
I just realized in your pic, next to the back gears lever it has H and L, if put into L the pin must be pulled in the bull gear, when in H the pin must be pushed in, otherwise the spindle wont turn, my turns but you cant cut with it, more of a friction turn. that may be why it wont turn when you say it wont turn in high, also the H and L are backwards, lever up pin engaged, is "High"
EDIT
I just realized in your pic, next to the back gears lever it has H and L, if put into L the pin must be pulled in the bull gear, when in H the pin must be pushed in, otherwise the spindle wont turn, my turns but you cant cut with it, more of a friction turn. that may be why it wont turn when you say it wont turn in high, also the H and L are backwards, lever up pin engaged, is "High"
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Ron,
The original bed thickness is 0.5000. Mine (bought new in 1981) is 0.499 +/- up near the headstock. Yes, as Chevy says, 1/2 HP is generally adequate. I have a 3/4 HP on mine but that is the maximum recommended.
Chevy,
If, with the bull gear pin pulled out, your spindle comes up to speed no load but with a chuck on it, or nearly so, you probably need to oil the bushings in the spindle pulley. With the pin pulled and the belts slackened, it should be easy to turn the spindle.
Robert D.
The original bed thickness is 0.5000. Mine (bought new in 1981) is 0.499 +/- up near the headstock. Yes, as Chevy says, 1/2 HP is generally adequate. I have a 3/4 HP on mine but that is the maximum recommended.
Chevy,
If, with the bull gear pin pulled out, your spindle comes up to speed no load but with a chuck on it, or nearly so, you probably need to oil the bushings in the spindle pulley. With the pin pulled and the belts slackened, it should be easy to turn the spindle.
Robert D.
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My spindle turns nice and free. However the PO or owners mistaken the bushing oil plug for a set screw. When I changed belts this year I had to file the burrs. I had to drive the spindle out but the bushings were ok. I have a picture of my spindle out and it's not great. You can tell it was neglected during oiling procedures. The old man I got it from "restored" it. New bearings. New paint. He said it didn't need bearings but replaced em anyway. Gone is the chance to date my lathe. No tags. No nothing. 
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Chevy,
Here's a couple pictures of my setup. Luckily I did get it operational because I had a customer who has 8. 54" stainless tubes he wants a relief cut in for a bushing.
Did the first one today and it worked out great. Have the other 7 tomorrow then the bushings.
Here's a couple pictures of my setup. Luckily I did get it operational because I had a customer who has 8. 54" stainless tubes he wants a relief cut in for a bushing.
Did the first one today and it worked out great. Have the other 7 tomorrow then the bushings.
- Joined
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Chevy,
Too bad about the missing nameplate. Unfortunately, Atlas quit stamping the serial numbers into the beds sometime in the early 1950's.
On the spindle pulley oil screw, you've already fixed the spindle. If you haven't already found a solution to stopping the oil plug (set screw), simplest solution that doesn't require pulling the spindle again is to find a nylon patch 1/4"-20 socket head set screw and drill a hole through it. Then run it into the hole just deep enough that the plug screw has room enough to get below the start of the tapped hole.
Robert D.
Too bad about the missing nameplate. Unfortunately, Atlas quit stamping the serial numbers into the beds sometime in the early 1950's.
On the spindle pulley oil screw, you've already fixed the spindle. If you haven't already found a solution to stopping the oil plug (set screw), simplest solution that doesn't require pulling the spindle again is to find a nylon patch 1/4"-20 socket head set screw and drill a hole through it. Then run it into the hole just deep enough that the plug screw has room enough to get below the start of the tapped hole.
Robert D.
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Chevy,
Yes, I did do it. Works great! Need to find or make a chip pan for it. Makes a big mess on the floor.
Few pictures of the joints. I bought a 10' length of acme threaded rod and machined both ends so it would fit. Darn thing had a real bad bend that was a real pain to straighten.
I fastened the two beds together with 1/4" X 1" plate to hold the beds together which I had to shim. Underneath I put a piece of angle iron with a couple bolts to level the top of the beds. Mounted a long bar to the cross slide of the original lathe, mounted an indicator on the end and indicated the new bed. Got it to within a couple thousands both ways.
Used some turn buckles and anchored both lathes to the wall of my shop.
i used this setup last week to machine some long shafts and worked great. Got the job done and now just waiting for payment. Somehow I think the pictures are sideways. Sorry about that. I'm having a terrible time posting photos.
Yes, I did do it. Works great! Need to find or make a chip pan for it. Makes a big mess on the floor.
Few pictures of the joints. I bought a 10' length of acme threaded rod and machined both ends so it would fit. Darn thing had a real bad bend that was a real pain to straighten.
I fastened the two beds together with 1/4" X 1" plate to hold the beds together which I had to shim. Underneath I put a piece of angle iron with a couple bolts to level the top of the beds. Mounted a long bar to the cross slide of the original lathe, mounted an indicator on the end and indicated the new bed. Got it to within a couple thousands both ways.
Used some turn buckles and anchored both lathes to the wall of my shop.
i used this setup last week to machine some long shafts and worked great. Got the job done and now just waiting for payment. Somehow I think the pictures are sideways. Sorry about that. I'm having a terrible time posting photos.