New to me Craftsmen Atlas 12X36

Fred,

No, 058-016 is the casting and part number for the 1/2" ways 54" bed. I couldn't find anything else on the back of my bed either. I think it may have been on the Atlas Lathes UK site where I read that the 1/2" ways beds had a casting date on them. Maybe some did and some didn't.

Yes, the PO must have added the 3/8" plate. It is not shown on the parts list page showing the cabinet and pan and I don't see any need for it. Normally, the pan sits on 4 rubber grommets on top of the cabinet and the right leg. The grommets stick through the pan and part way through 7/16" USS flat washers. The bed legs sit on the 4 washers.

Robert D.
 
Farmass said:
Also I had to take apart the lathe to get it into the basement and there is a 3/8" steel plate under the chip pan, would that be something the previous owner added?
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Hi Fred, that looks like a very nice buy, well done. I think the 3/8 plate would have been added to add mass which really does help damp out vibrations and chatter, you should keep it in place as lathes can't be too heavily mounted.

Bernard
 
Fred,

You will find the Craftsman manual (brief operating instructions and illustrated parts list) on your machine in the Downloads section. I am gradually getting all of the manuals uploaded there. You can sometimes find the less machine specific but much thicker "Manual of Lathe Operations and Machinist's Tables" on eBay. But you need to watch the copyright dates - you want one dated 1959 or later. You can also buy new the final edition from Clausing for under $25. Wherever you find it, you will be glad that you got the latter manual.

Robert D.
 
The RoseAntiqueTools site has most but not all of the Sears Power Tools catalogs from before 1931 to 1973 available for download. Unfortunately the 1958 and 1967 editions are missing. Which results in a two-year uncertainty of when the 1/2" bed models came in and when the lever operated cross-feed change was made.

Another site with a lot of text and photos of all of the Atlas lathes is http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html

Robert D.
 
Fred,

Whether you keep the 3/8" plate or not (I don't personally think it is necessary but my 3996 is firmly anchored to concrete in six places) as long as you have the bed off of the cabinet you should take this opportunity to replace the four rubber bushings. You can get them from Clausing.

Robert D.
 
Fred,

Nice looking old iron. I think the Atlas / Craftsman gets criticized too much. They can produce good parts, particularly in the larger size lathes. Nice find.

Steve
 
Nice lathe with plenty of attachments/tooling. Congrats.

stevecmo said:
Fred,

Nice looking old iron. I think the Atlas / Craftsman gets criticized too much. They can produce good parts, particularly in the larger size lathes. Nice find.

Steve
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For the hobbiest, they work very well. When compared to an industrial machine, they fall short ( because they were NOT designed for that type of heavy work)
 
Thanks Steve,

I feel i did quite well with all the tooling and such it put me back $1000. I was looking at the smithy 3-1 and some chinese lathes and mills, and started doing some homework. I decided I wanted to buy some American Iron. I had the opportunity to buy this or a bare bones southbend 13". I chose this as it was much easier to get down in my basement and had all the tooling. The thing with the southbend is i know it isnt going anywhere as it belongs to a friend of the family and he said if he "needs" to sell it he will let me know before he sells it. So if I outgrow this lathe I should be-able to re-coup a good portion of that money and get the southbend.

Now if I can only find a Van Norman #12 around michigan I would be a happy camper. Anyone know of one or wants to sell one?


stevecmo said:
Fred,

Nice looking old iron. I think the Atlas / Craftsman gets criticized too much. They can produce good parts, particularly in the larger size lathes. Nice find.

Steve
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