TT,
The Craftsman 101.07383 was built by Atlas and sold by Sears from approximately (based mainly on catalogs) 1939 to 1945. It has a babbit bearing headstock, a 5/8" dia. leadscrew and does not have power cross feed. Aside from the spindle bearings, spindle, lead screw and carriage, it is equivalent to the much more plentiful Craftsman 101.07403, and most parts are the same, except for those affected by the four listed differences. It was made in four bed lengths, 36", 42", 48" and 54", which correspond to 12x18, 12x24, 12x30 and 12x36.
We do not have many entries for the 101.073x in the Yahoo database and unlike on the Timken bearing models, there is no way from anything on the machine to date it. However, it is thought that Sears, unlike Atlas, ran serial numbers sequentially from 1936 through 1957 and did not start over at "1" for each new model. Based on that assumption and using known bearing dates off of 101.07403's, it was probably made in 1942.
No one knows what the suffix "S" means. As it has also been reported in some Atlas 10" serial numbers, it can't mean Sears, which would have been the obvious guess.
There is a parts list in Downloads. Unfortunately, it is not an exploded view one. Also download the one on 101.07403. With due consideration of the differences given above, it will be useful. I started on building the equivalent format parts list for the 07383 but haven't completed it.
For the best version of the Atlas Manual of Lathe Operation and Machinest Tables (MOLO), see the selection chart in Downloads.
Robert D.
Robert D.
