Lathe bed to cabinet fasteners?

[Shotgun]

If it was really better without the rubber washers would the manufacturer really spend the money to add them to the package?

Yes. Because the manufacturer isn't building for "better". He is building for "perceived better". I'm not saying it is so in this case, but this machine was built for home shops, where noise would be a concern and they wouldn't sell many if word got around that wives were being upset over a lathe that shook the whole house.

My worry would be that the rubber would dry out, expand and contract with temperature and time changes.

 

[wa5cab]

That is partially true in that the hobby market had certainly increased after WW-II, But at the time that these lathes were designed, the hobby market was still a long way from where it is today. It is unlikely in the mid-fifties and sixties that much if any thought was given to pleasing the other non-using spouse. In the 1970's, Sears starting calling them "Commercial". A large part of the Atlas and Sears markets were small shops or companies. The last machine in the line was discontinued in early 1981 simply because neither Sears nor Atlas (Clausing) could compete price-wise with the cheap Chinese-made equipment being sold by companies like Enco and Wholsale Tool.