New guy looking for the right lathe

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beech277

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Hi all,

Just found your site a few days ago and introduced myself over in the new members section.

I've been reading a lot of info over the past few days and the Craftsman/Atlas seems to keep coming up. I found one locally and actually looked at it on CL at least twice over the past few days before I realized what it was. I can't find a lot of info on what these machines go for, so I hope it's ok if I post a link to it and get your opinions this one. I'm a total newb, so any and all advice is appreciated.

http://nashville.craigslist.org/mpo/4647946671.html

Kevin
 
I think he is pretty out to lunch on the price, even where I live I wouldn't think to pay that much for a small atlas lathe. The tooling he has listed is pretty common fair on most lathes you would buy so no real additional value in tooling to justify the price. I have owned an atlas lathe and looked at a few more and my advice would be to look for something either newer or built to a slightly higher standard.

Shawn

ps. Just looked at the photos again and he is showing two completely different lathes in the photos. One of the photos shows a 12" atlas headstock.

pss $100 more and much better lathe http://nashville.craigslist.org/tls/4642690432.html
 
Thanks Shawn,

I appreciate the info.

I saw that one, but the listing was so vague I wasn't to sure about it. Can you tell what model it is from the pictures?
 
Welcome aboard. So is 1K your approximate price range?? Great. 2k it is. We will start shopping! Ok kidding but it sometimes goes down that way right?
Most of the regulars here know and will tell you tooling up the lathe or other machines can really add up and often exceed the price of the machine itself. So just something to keep in mind.
If you will, allow me to deviate from your question regarding the atlas and suggest (stretching) to something a touch more substantial. Again, not knowing your situation it may be impractical but here is one I believe to be ideal for many hsm types like us with limited space and rigging equipment. It's decent size yet small enough to break into bits for moving if needed. Geared head. Camlock spindle. Foot brake. Threading. Power feeds. I'd offer him a lot less to start and would go to 1,750 -2k. If you can do it and not end up divorced you wont be sorry.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=271279923034

Now if you are set on something like the craftsman I would say for the price the machine better be in pristine shape. If not $500 or so. You can find lots of info on the atlases, craftsman and most other lathes at lathes.uk. Google it or someone may be able post the link.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hey Kevin, the lathe I linked to is a South Bend, model 9C. It would be the least featured of the 9" south bend models. No quick change gear box and no clutch but for a first lathe it would be a good option, especially if your options are limited. I own a 9B and have been quite happy with it so far. Changing the gears for threading is a bit of a pain but I'm not usually in a rush so don't really mind.

Shawn

This lathe http://clarksville.craigslist.org/tls/4579271380.html would be a better choice than the Atlas AFAIC and it's cheaper as well. Do you have any idea what size of lathe your looking for, features etc?
 
Both the Craftsman and the South Bend are over priced, the Craftsman more so than the SB because besides being smaller, it is missing its countershaft and SB lathes tend to go for more. Perhaps mainly because there are many more of the various Atlas built models around. In any case, without the countershaft, the 6" is only good for 8 speeds, not its original 16. If either one included a few of the harder to find accessories like milling attachment, steady rest, etc., that might change the picture a little.

Speaking of pictures, the fourth one from the left in the ad is of the headstock from a Craftsman Commercial 12x24 or 12x36. I think it's off of the cabinet model. And it may be of ONLY the headstock. But if you stumble across one of those complete for $975 or $1000, that would be a good price.

I'm not going to comment on the little Chicom lathe as it is out of place here.

The first thing that you need to decide before looking for a lathe is why you want a lathe (i.e., what you hope to do with it). That will determine the size you need. As a good rule of thumb, buy one that will handle parts at least somewhat larger. However, if you could get by with a 12" but most of your parts could be made on a 6", don't buy a 16". Then decide whether you would rather have vintage American or new Chicom. The latter will on average cost more and at least the cheaper ones not last as long. But unless you get a lemon (probability usually being inversely proportional to what you pay for it), no work will be required to put it into operation. THEN you can start trolling CL, eBay, and boards like this one or start looking in the Enco, Grizzly, etc. catalogs. And there are Fora on this board for pretty much anything that you decide to buy.

Robert D.

Robert D.

Robert D.
 
I second Shawn's opinion as well. The Atlas is overpriced by about $600 in my opinion.

The South Bend is similar to the first metal lathe that I bought. I like it a lot. I still use it as a secondary operation machine. Around here that price would be on the high side, but not nearly as bad as the Atlas.

I don't know what the going prices are in your area as they vary from region to region. Hard as it might be, I'd cool my jets if I were you. Take a month or so to see what they are going for around there. Besides, occasionally a really good deal does come up. You might also ask around amongst friends and (especially) co-workers. I've gotten some really good deals that way. I knew a guy who was looking to buy a banjo, but kept it kind of quiet. So while he was searching, his brother sold one cheap.

Just my two cents worth.

Charles
 
Thanks for all the great comments. Please keep them coming.

So, I called about both the South Bend. Left a message with them, now waiting on a call back. The Atlas I'm thinking is too small. I'm not opposed to an import lathe, but I'd like something that can be passed down. Also, the longer I look the bigger my budget can grow.

As as far as what I want to do with it. My initial projects after I get the hang of using a lathe, would be making a solid collar to eliminate the pinion crush sleeve on my FJ-40. My other thought was to make new blade guide wheels for my Craftsman band saw. I had believed parts for this saw were made of unobtianium until a few days ago. I'd also like to do some light gun smithing, mostly crown work and possibly truing an action. I'd like as many features as I can get. Quick change gears and power feed sound appealing, but as long as I can find a quality machine and enjoy using it I'll be happy.

I put the word in with a friend tonight that I was looking for a lathe. He is going to ask his dad, who ran a machine shop his whole life, if he has any leads.

Thanks again,

Kevin
 
Kevin,

As absolute minimum cost does not appear to be your first priority, I would suggest you go for one with a Quick Change Gear Box. The QCGB doesn't improve the accuracy or handling capability but goes a long way to increasing convenience of operation. You should also go with one that has power cross feed (not all of them do). For gunsmithing, you need one that will handle up to about 36" between centers (the maximum length part that will fit between headstock and tailstock). Another consideration is spindle bore (the maximum diameter part that can be passed through or partially through the headstock spindle). The final major size criteria is swing. This is the largest diameter workpiece that can be mounted to the headstock and still clear the bed. However, the swing is what will clear the bed. The other two sub-specs are swing over carriage wings, which will be a little smaller than the rated swing, and at least for gunsmithing, not particularly important. And swing over carriage. This would be important for working on any part much over say 6" long. Swing over carriage for various rated swings varies somewhat between makes but could be typically said to be somewhere around half of the rated swing. So from all of that, you should be looking for something between 9x36 and 12x36.

Before I go further, I'll say that although some gunsmithing jobs might be a bit more convenient with a spindle bore large enough to pass the entire barrel and receiver through the headstock, not being able to won't keep you from doing the work. I won't go into the details right now.

Anyway, there are that I'm relatively familar with four American manufacturers who made machines that fall into this range, in alphabetical order (hey, this IS the Atlas forum!):

Atlas (also sold by Sears under the Craftsman badge and later with nameplates that say Atlas-Clausing - Atlas actually bought Clausing around 1950 but later changed the company name to Clausing for reasons having nothing to do with the machines you would be interested in)

Clausing (briefly in the early 1950's sold with Atlas badges and different model numbers - the badges were quickly changed back to Clausing but the model number change continued).

Logan (also sold by Montgomery-Wards)

South Bend (still being sold under the same name but Chinese made and definitely not the same machines).

There may be one or two others and any proponents feel free to chime in.

All made one or more models in the range between 9" and 12" swing with at least 36" between centers. There is a forum on this board covering each and at least some of the manuals on each make can be found in Downloads.

My choice out of the lot, in part because I've owned one for 33 years, have a friend whom I know is using one for gunsmithing (I found it for him), and know that parts availability is still relatively good by comparison to the other three, would be the Atlas or Craftsman (only difference is the badge) 12x36 Commercial, made from late 1957 through early 1981. They came in both cabinet (under drive) and bench models. I have the former and my friend has a Craftsman version of the latter. Others will certainly have different opinions.

Robert D.
 
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