Early craftsman 618 identification.

If you don't want the HSS, send them to me, I'll use them.
 
OK. It is a 6x18 but not a 618. All of the 618's had Timken bearings on the spindle. Yours has bronze bushings. So it is, as phubbman wrote, a Craftsman 101.07301 made by Atlas for Sears from 1939 until mid 1957.
 
phubbman said:
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It has bronze bushings for head stock bearings - easily replaceable, but will wear out, and best run at lower speeds than the Timken tapered roller bearing head stocks that came later. ...
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Actually, the Atlas 618 first appeared about a year before the Craftsman 101.07300 and two years before the 101.07301. The 618 had the same part number Timken bearings and the same 1"-10 spindle nose threads throughout its production life. As did the 101.21400 that replaced the 101.07301 about mid-1957.
 
Thanks all found the plate in the middle of the back of the carriage way. The carrage was parked right over it so I missed it the first few looks. 101.07301. When did they start putting serial numbers on them?
 
OK. That now makes sense. All of the early Atlas-built lathes had the nameplate attached to the bed more or less in the center (top to bottom and left to right) of the rear of the bed. Found on the nameplate would be the model number and the logo (Atlas or one of the Craftsman). The serial number was stamped into the top of the front way near the right (tailstock) end, along with sometimes various prefix and/or suffix letters. The stamping was in the narrow strip between the area where the tailstock ran and that where the carriage ran. There were no leading zeros. Those were added to various lists including the Database in order to make the lists sort in serial number order.

Circa 1942 or possibly 1941, the nameplate mounting location was changed to the right end of the bed and the serial number was added to the nameplate. There may have been an overlap period during which the serial number appeared in both locations, or didn't appear on the nameplate. But if so, it hasn't actually been reported.

When you find the serial number, please report it. Along with any prefix or suffix letters.
 
wa5cab said:
OK. That now makes sense. All of the early Atlas-built lathes had the nameplate attached to the bed more or less in the center (top to bottom and left to right) of the rear of the bed. Found on the nameplate would be the model number and the logo (Atlas or one of the Craftsman). The serial number was stamped into the top of the front way near the right (tailstock) end, along with sometimes various prefix and/or suffix letters. The stamping was in the narrow strip between the area where the tailstock ran and that where the carriage ran. There were no leading zeros. Those were added to various lists including the Database in order to make the lists sort in serial number order.

Circa 1942 or possibly 1941, the nameplate mounting location was changed to the right end of the bed and the serial number was added to the nameplate. There may have been an overlap period during which the serial number appeared in both locations, or didn't appear on the nameplate. But if so, it hasn't actually been reported.

When you find the serial number, please report it. Along with any prefix or suffix letters.
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Can you take a pic of where the SN would be or circle where it would be on one of the pics I posted?
 
Well, if the serial numbers and the model numbers on the 101.07301 were located in the same location as were those on the Atlas 10" and Craftsman 12", then the serial number would be visible on the left-hand (front) way in your first photo. But although the way has shavings scattered on it, I think that the serial number would still be visible.

The third photograph now visible in the thread, which was added by @LF_WS and which serial number I added to ATLASDB in 2018, I had calculated as being made in March of 1954. It shows the name plate and a separate serial number plate both still mounted to the rear of the bed. So my assumption that the 101.07301 was done the same way as the 10" and 12" is obviously wrong. Using the third photo for scale and approximate location, see whether or not you can locate the two mounting holes for a second serial number plate below the one that you found.

I just looked through all of the entries in the database for the 101.07301 and none of them say anything about location of the nameplate or of the serial number.
 
Well there is the plate. My carrage was parked right over it so I missed it the first few looks. No room for a SN plate there and there doesn't seem to be one anywhere else nearby. Anyone else with a late 30s or early 40s 618 have a SN location that they can take a pic of?
 

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OK. The first thing that you should do is to get out of the habit of referring to your lathe as a "618". It is a 101.07301. And it is not even the Craftsman equivalent of a 618. That is the 18 years later 101.21400. So enough on that.

There is still the mystery of where the serial number is, was or should have been on your machine. Your nameplate is the same as the one shown in the photo attached to Post #9 but it is mounted lower than that one was. I don't really think that there is much chance of it but if the lathe were mine and there is really no sign of it being stamped in the standard 10" and 12" location , I would next remove the nameplate and look under it. I wouldn't actually expect to find it there, but it can't be ruled out other than by looking. Following that, I would make a careful inspection of the bed with a good light and glass for the two holes that could have attached the serial number plate. If there, they are probably filled in with paint.
 
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