Sears/Atlas 101.07301 quandary

[johncotexas]

I have a Sears/Atlas 101.07301 that has been in storage for some time and I don't know what to do with it. I have dozens of other projects in line before it. I may want to sell it but perhaps I should refurbish it.

If I were to sell, I don't want to part it out. That seems a sacrilege. What is the best avenue to find not only find out what it is worth but also the best place to sell. Shipping, I assume, would be cost prohibitive. Am I limited to a local purchase?

If I decide to keep it, what is the best place to find parts? I need three handles and the 20t and 24t gears
It is functional and will cut chips as is but definitely needs some parts replaced to be fully functional. Any ideas?
I really appreciate the help.
John

 

[Ulma Doctor]

the old atlas lathes without gearboxes are less desirable on the market and may fetch only about $500, dependent on many factors, such as availability of other machines and locale .
you may be lucky to get $800 but don't expect it

 

[ARC-170]

If you just want money, then sell it. You'll get more money for parts than you would selling it whole. I got $400 for just the base. But instead of selling it in individual pieces, sell it in assemblies. For example, sell the whole headstock as one assembly, the tailstock as another, etc. That's what I did and I made a little profit to plow into my lathe I was restoring. It makes the lathe easier and quicker to sell, too.

That said, I would like to see you sell it to someone who wants to restore it and use it. Look in your local CL and FBMP to see what these machines are going for and see what happens. I live in the greater Los Angels area and lathes right now are about $2000. There are no Atlas/Craftsmans for sale at the moment.

I shipped some lathe ways for about $100. I built a box from a bike box and added 3/4" MDF wood boards all around as protection and supports. It got there just fine. There is a weight limit, though, so I don't think you could ship your lathe whole; you'd either have to ship it via truck or in several pieces. My 101.07403 weighs about 300 lbs. I's have to ship the ways, headstock, apron and tailstock in 4 separate shipments, I think. That's gonna be expensive.

 

[jwmay]

Parting out a mass produced, absolutely average machine tool that you have no heirloom attachment to doesn't seem like sacrilege to me.
If you were to keep it, Ebay has all those missing parts almost all the time.
I recently finished a book called 4000 weeks. The author pointed out that if we're lucky, we will only get about 4000 weeks of life. I think the point was to make sure you're spending yours intentionally, while letting go of many things you keep on your "to do" list. There's really no harm in letting go. Sell it, part it out...Give it away..anything. When it leaves your property, all your thinking/wondering/worrying/questions will go right on down the road with it. And you can worry about something you're more interested in.

 

[markba633csi]

From what I understand the Dallas-Fort Worth area is somewhat lean in terms of good used machinery. If that is true, you should have no trouble selling it locally for a decent price. Atlas are always in demand, and in my opinion (I own two) a better choice than some of the new import stuff.
-Mark

 

[Aaron_W]

The 101.07301 is the earlier 6x18 lathe made by Atlas, replaced in the late 1950s by the mildly improved 101.21400, so yours will be from the 1950s or earlier.
They are pretty neat little lathes and have a bit of a following being a good vintage alternative to something like a Chinese 7x14 or 8x16 mini lathe and are a much better lathe than the other Craftsman 6" lathe made by AA.

Yours doesn't appear to be in bad shape. I have been watching for a good deal on an Atlas or Craftsman 6x18 for the past couple of years. Watching CL and Ebay prices these seem to run $200-300 for a project with a good foundation, upwards of $800-1000 for a nice example if it is has lots of tooling,. I've seen people list them for as much as $1800 but never seen one sell at anything close to that.
Earlier this year I finally found myself one of the later model 101.21400 that was not perfect but in pretty good shape with the common basic tooling (2 chucks, centers, steady rest, change gears etc), I paid $650 which I thought was a fair price.

Assuming the only issues are the missing handles and incomplete set change gears, I'd think you could get $300-500 as is depending on your local machine market. What tooling you have with it would influence price as well, some of the accessories can add a fair bit to the value. The milling attachment alone can sell for $300+

You can find a lot of the common parts like handles on Ebay, but this is a vendor that offers new and used parts for vintage lathes including Atlas / Craftsman. http://www.mymachineshop.net/category_s/55.htm

 

[wa5cab]

To correct a common Internet error, the 612 and 618 had Timken bearings and 1"-10 spindle nose threads from the beginning. The Craftsman 101.07301 was not the earliest version of the Atlas Model 618. About a year after the introduction of the 618, Atlas built for Sears the 101.07300. This had sleeve bearings but had a smaller spindle with 3/4"-16 spindle nose threads. And it did not have back gears. The following year (late 1938 for the 1939 model year) the 101.07300 was replaced by the 101.07301. It was the same as the 618 of that year (second countershaft version) except that it still had sleeve bearings and it had1"-8 spindle nose threads. The following year, the 618 got the third countershaft version but for whatever reason, the 07301 continued to ship with the second version countershaft until end of production in mid 1957. From mid or late 1957 until about mid-1972, as with the 1/2" bed 12" machines, the only differences between the Atlas and Craftsman 6" offerings were the model numbers and the badges. And in most cases the motors.

 

[MikeInOr]

the old atlas lathes without gearboxes are less desirable on the market and may fetch only about $500, dependent on many factors, such as availability of other machines and locale .
you may be lucky to get $800 but don't expect it

I had my Atlas 12" on Craigslist for months finally lowering it to $500 and never got a bite. It was in good shape with practically no wear BUT... no quick change gear box!

I was able to buy my Southbend 13" lathe for slightly more than a gear box for the Atlas would have cost. I wouldn't put a lot of time and effort into your Atlas. I don't think you will get considerably more for the lathe after putting in a lot of work.

 

[wa5cab]

Either that is because there are just too many Atlas 12" already listed in your area or just bad luck. Depending upon bed length and which of the two model groups yours is/was in, the 1/2" bed Atlas 12" usually will easily bring $1000 to $2000 if relatively complete.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

you should be able to sell that in a heart beat for $300 in the DFW area, maybe $500 if you don't mind waiting. It's pretty bare bones by the looks of things and it's the tooling and accessories that add alot of value.