New Craftsman Lathe

[westsailpat]

This is a heart warming thread , even if it is a little old . Question , I saw in the pictures that a bed turret went with this machine , was that a after market turret or was it a Atlas piece and if it was Atlas did they make one for a 618 ?

 

[wa5cab]

westsailpat,
In the 1930's and 40's Atlas did manufacture bed turrets. They turn up from time to time. But only for the 10" and 12" machines. AFAIK, they never made one for the 6" machines.

Jman,

All of the Craftsman (and Atlas) 12" machines have the tumbler style lead screw FWD/OFF/REV mechanism (as well as all of the Atlas and Craftsman 6"). The machines that don't are either 9" or 10". And for anyone reading, I moved Jman's posts into a new thread beginning "Another New Lathe...".

 

[timpet98]

I have a lathe that appears to be the same exact model, aside from the lack of Craftsman tag on the head stock. The strange thing is that there doesn't seem to be any rivet holes in the head stock, instead some numbers scratched into the paint, which my grandpa informed me was the original owner's social security number, I blocked out a few, and hope he doesn't mind, although he is long past this life anyway. The only other difference I can't wrap my head around is the funky plunger that indexes on the holes in the casting for forward neutral and reverse of the power feed. If anyone knows if it was a different model year that I can't find in the Craftsman catalogs, or a modification from the original owner any help would be greatly appreciated. Also was wondering if anyone had a clearer photo of the switch plate cover, I am planning on replacing the whole switch assembly that I put on it when there was nothing.

 

[wa5cab]

If you look at the screw-cutting 12" lathe in the 1936 Sears Power Tools catalog, you will see that in that year, the motor switch looked pretty much like what you have installed except that the cover plate did not hang out. You can probably still buy the correct cover plate. It isn't as wide as the plastic wall plate that you used.

For a comment on the tumbler assembly, you will need to take a better photo of it. Open the gear cover and take a closeup shot from the left end.

But from everything that I can see, the machine looks like a 101.07360 (no back gears) or 101.07380 (with back gears).

 

[timpet98]

Thats the smallest plate that I could find, and I know that its not shown in that photo, but its the wrong handy box as well, I have sourced one without any holes cut in it like in the 1936 catalog, and I'm thinking that ill have to custom make the plate cover from sheet metal because A. Its too big, and B. The picture does not seem to have the beveled edge. Ill upload more photos of the gear box tonight.

 

[wa5cab]

The switch box on the 1936 model was I'm pretty sure a standard junction and switch box for conduit with only the rear knockout removed. They made a flush metal cover for that box which should still be available.

 

[timpet98]

Got distracted working on a new bench with a 5 in top for the lathe and drill press, but here are some more photos. The bed seems to say 15-224. Im not sure how the electrical box is supposed to be mounted, but I have it bolted to the change gear cover with some huge washers in one of the punch outs.

 

[wa5cab]

Tim,

Thanks for the photos. The first character in the serial number area is, judging by half a dozen other reports, an upper case "L". Your serial number is 224. And no one yet alive seems to know what the L5 meant. One other lathe reports having L4, one L5A and three L6. Possibly most of the other low serial numbers also had L-something but it wasn't reported.

The four photos of the pulley seem to show that it has the bushings but the front one must be pressed in out of view of the camera. Two of the photos show the keyway for the Woodruff key that keeps the bull gear from turning. So Atlas must have used the standard spindle. Which means that if you acquire the parts to convert it to a 101.07380, you won't need another spindle. But I can't tell what keeps the pulley from turning on the spindle. Perhaps the pulley oil hole is tapped through and against a flat cut in the spindle. You would have to pull the spindle to determine that. Whether you would need to replace the pulley to add back gear I can't say. There may be enough material to drill the hole for the direct drive pin but I can't say for certain.

The odd detent and knob for locking the tumbler into one of the three positions doesn't appear in the catalog photo.