lathe for sale; thoughts?

[ARC-170]

That lathe has not been used in a long time. There is no grease/oil on any of the gears. I would not run it for more than a minute or two without oiling the bearings. It does look to be in decent condition. If the paint is original it has not been used much due to a lack of what I would call worn spots in the paint. For $400 I would be there in a heartbeat and be standing first inline to look at it. Call the guy up and see if you can be the first to look it tomorrow morning. Not worth haggling on the price unless you find something really wrong with it when you look at it.

I blew up the picture and there appears to be a pull out nob on the cross slide.

This does seem like a good deal, but only if it has the 10 change gears that it needs. Are those hard to find/expensive? I think Clausing made this lathe, so do they have the parts for something this old?

I can't get there until later in the morning, but I emailed the seller to tell him that. It's not far; about 30 minutes away.

 

[ARC-170]

BTW, anyone know what this weighs? Can two people load it in a truck from a table about the same height as the tailgate on a full-size truck? I couldn't easily find any weight info online.

 

[mickri]

IMHO it is a good deal even without a complete set of change gears. Complete sets of change gears are always for sale on Ebay from just over $100 and up. You may not need a complete set depending on what threads you plan to cut.

When I got my 12x36 I took everything off that I could. I did not remove the headstock or the QCGB from the bed. I loaded everything by myself into the back of my pickup except for the bed/headstock and the stand which the seller helped me move and load into my truck. I loaded the stand in last because I wanted it to come our first. When I got home I unloaded everything by myself. It would have been better and easier if I had some help unloading. But I got it done. You should be fine with a helper.

 

[ARC-170]

IMHO it is a good deal even without a complete set of change gears. Complete sets of change gears are always for sale on Ebay from just over $100 and up. You may not need a complete set depending on what threads you plan to cut.

When I got my 12x36 I took everything off that I could. I did not remove the headstock or the QCGB from the bed. I loaded everything by myself into the back of my pickup except for the bed/headstock and the stand which the seller helped me move and load into my truck. I loaded the stand in last because I wanted it to come our first. When I got home I unloaded everything by myself. It would have been better and easier if I had some help unloading. But I got it done. You should be fine with a helper.

Do you have this particular lathe or a similar one?

 

[ARC-170]

Just saw this one:
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/d/select-engine-lathe-8-in/6740036780.html
It's a longer drive.

 

[wa5cab]

To clarify, when one speaks of speed in reference to a lathe, milling machine or drill press, one is or should be referring to spindle or quill RPM. The majority of 12 inch swing and smaller lathes ever built are belt driven and to change speeds, you either move the belt to the pulley set(s) that give the desired or on a few usually more expensive machines, you turn a knob or a handwheel which adjusts the pitch diameter of two pulleys. Larger and more expensive machines are usually equipped with a gear box and you change speeds by selecting a different gear ratio.

However the spindle speed is adjusted, most lathes built since about 1930 have an arrangement of change gears driven off of the spindle which in a variety of ways drives the carriage so that you can turn or thread workpieces. How fast the carriage moves is determined by the gear ratio and how fast the spindle is turning. If the change gears are temporarily mounted on a bracket usually on the left end of the headstock, you have a Change Gear machine. To use it, the operator would install the gears necessary to drive the carriage a few thousandths to a few ten-thousandths of an inch for each revolution of the spindle and then machine the part except for any threads. Then, if the part had any threads, the operator would reconfigure the change gears such that the carriage would move forward one thread pitch for each revolution of the spindle. He would also usually slow down the speed of the machine by changing the belt or gear ratio . How much he would slow it down would depend upon the thread pitch and how good his reflexes are. For the record, the number of gears in the standard change gear set for an Atlas or Atlas-Craftsman 9", 10" or 12" machine is 15. The 6" up through mid 1972 had 14 and after that 13. This includes any gears installed on the change gear bracket (AKA Banjo). This does not include the spindle gear, four back gears, any gears associated with the machine's FWD-OFF-REV function, or any gears in the apron (the front of the carriage). All of these latter gears should always be installed on the machine.

Somewhat more expensive machines have the majority of the change gears installed in what's commonly called a Quick Change Gear Box (QCGB for short). The QCGB is adjusted by moving one, two or three levers (without getting your hands greasy) whose position for various feeds or thread pitches is usually shown on a chart attached to the box. To mechanically couple the spindle to the QCGB, most machines will still have a banjo with a few change gears on it. As there is a practical limit to the number of ratios that can be stuffed into a QCGB, most machines will come with instructions of how to set up the machine to cut uncommon thread pitches by changing the default gear set on the banjo and properly adjusting the QCGB. One common reason is to cut metric threads on an Imperial machine.

 

[mickri]

I have a craftsman 12x36 model number 101.28910 which is 36 inches between centers and a newer model but is essentially the same lathe with a 6 inch longer bed than the $400 lathe that you posted above. My lathe would be slightly heavier but not much.

The lathe in your post #25 is a smaller lathe and according to the description the tailstock is damaged and missing parts. No idea if parts are available. It also does not have the same range of spindle speeds as the craftsman 12 inch lathes. My craftsman will go down to 28 rpm whereas this lathe only goes down to 90 rpm. The top speed on the craftsman is also higher. With the correct gears you can also cut the common metric threads on the craftsman 12 inch. Don't know if you can do that on this lathe. My worry would be parts availability and you have a lathe that needs immediate repair. I would pass.

 

[wa5cab]

Parts situation is probably better on the Atlas and Craftsman lathes than on any other badge. First, they probably hold the record for number of machines produced. Second, although you will pay today's prices, Clausing (which used to be Atlas Press) still sells a lot of new parts for at least the later lathes. Third, many common parts are all over eBay. Fourth, some parts are still available from Sears Parts Direct, although they are usually cheaper from Clausing. And finally, many factory drawings of parts that Clausing no longer carries are in our Downloads.

 

[ARC-170]

I bought it! $400. Turns out it's a Craftsman model 101 07403. The bed (including under the headstock) is 36" long. Swing is 12".
1. The spindle turns, but it feels crunchy, not smooth. Ugh.
2. There was only one change gear.
3. All the "turny" parts turned, but they were hard to do so. The side gears would not easily engage.
4. This whole thing desperately needs oil; it's bone dry.
5. The motor works, but it's got some kludgy wiring. Where does the wire into the machine go? Looks like a ground.
6. It cam with all kinds of tooling (see below) and I grabbed a bunch of other stuff on and around the lathe just in case.

Next steps:
7. Take apart and clean. Where do I find advice and instructions for that? I've taken things apart, but not precision machinery! Any trick/tips/etc would be appreciated.
8. What cleaners do I use? What oil/grease is used and where?

Should I start a restoration thread? I tend to just ask one question per thread, rather than have one long one.

Let me know your thoughts and comments!

Some picture for your viewing pleasure:

FRONT:

BACK:


GEARBOX:


CARRIAGE, FRONT:


CARRIAGE, REAR:


CHUCK:


TOP GEAR BOX:


TOOLING:


MOTOR CONNECTIONS:

 

[mickri]

Way to go. Looks like you got a good deal. These lathes are easy to take apart. I would give all of the nuts and bolts a good shot of your favorite penetrating oil every day for a couple of days. Look on the atlas/craftsman forum and you will find lots of info on what to do to resurrect your lathe. Vintage Machinery will most likely have the owner's manuals that you can download and download a copy of the Manual of Lathe Operations. Commonly referred to MOLO. You are on your way.