Thinking about selling my 618 and curious about a general asking $

[wa5cab]

Veniceboo, Between $600 and $1000 dependent upon what you have that you list with it and dependent upon whether or not a buyer may need to replace the spindle bearings. The legs alone seem to be scarce. Having a set of change gears is a definite plus.

 

[jwmay]

You ought to ask $1300 at least. Be willing to negotiate. You’ve got time.

 

[wa5cab]

Veniceboo,

That's a good point about the original leg set,. You see fewer of those than you do of the 10" Atlas or 12" Craftsman. Especially with the original hardwood top. If the QCGB is an important reason for considering selling the 618 you might be wiser to consider building one of those instead of buying an Oriental machine. I have forgotten whether there is one designed for the 618 in DOWNLOaDS or not. But in case there is and you want to consider building it rather than buying an Oriental machine, let me point out that full access to Downloads requires Donor status (any amount). Without that, you can see a title listing of what is there but not download it or see the details/contents. I have been trying ti get that tidbit of information added to the signup routine for several years now.

 

[Aaron_W]

Veniceboo,

That's a good point about the original leg set,. You see fewer of those than you do of the 10" Atlas or 12" Craftsman. Especially with the original hardwood top. If the QCGB is an important reason for considering selling the 618 you might be wiser to consider building one of those instead of buying an Oriental machine. I have forgotten whether there is one designed for the 618 in DOWNLOADS or not. But in case there is and you want to consider building it rather than buying an Oriental machine, let me point out that full access to Downloads requires Donor status (any amount). Without that, you can see a title listing of what is there but not download it or see the details/contents. I have been trying ti get that tidbit of information added to the signup routine for several years now.

Yes there are a couple of plans out there for a DIY QCGB for the 618. On my to do just to see if I can list. I think there was at least one aftermarket QCGB for the 618, but I'm sure finding one would be a challenge and likely quite a lot of money.

E-lead screw is another option for threading without change gears.

 

[wa5cab]

In my opinion, the only thing standing between saying that the 618 and the Craftsman equivalent are the best 6" lathes ever built are the lack of a factory QCGB. I don't happen to have one but do have an Atlas 3996, serial number 106781. Made late summer of 1980. Not the last one but close as the last one was made in March of 1981.

 

[Smithdoor]

I'm considering upgrading to a Precision Matthews lathe with a gear box for threading and the other benefits that a little bigger lathe would bring. I love my Atlas lathe but it would mean having to part with it. I bought this restored from a guy off of Craig's list about 6 years ago and it came with a lot of tooling that I have since added to it. It has a milling attachment as well as the factory cast iron legs. Curious about a rough asking price. Emphasis on rough.
View attachment 485455

It depends on your location.
Shipping is killer for any sale.
I sold my old SB9A in November and guy want one so bad he drove 200 miles to pick it up.
No one in town was interested did not even get call in my own area
Everyone wanted free shipping on 700 pound lathe.

Dave

 

[Acem]

Nice looking lathe.

Here's how I would sell it.

Bundle the basic lathe with enough tooling to be complete and usable. Price this by itself.

The list the major accessories and tooling separate. (milling attachment, sets of tooling, etc). Price each separate.

Do not sell the accessories until after the lathe sells.

IMHO,YMMV

Thx-Ace

 

[Aaron David]

I just sold my Craftsman 6" to a friend, with all the tooling I had for it (which was everything) on a Delta stand for $1K. And that is friend pricing. I would ask $1500 OBO. Those factory stand legs are scarce, and desirable.

 

[veniceboo]

The more responses that I read here, and thank you for each of your opinions, the more I am rethinking my decision to get rid of this lathe. I think it has a place in my shop still and maybe I should keep it and save my money for a second lathe that can fill the gaps. I agree with the idea that selling the milling attachment and cast iron legs separately would fetch more money than selling it all together.

 

[Aaron_W]

The more responses that I read here, and thank you for each of your opinions, the more I am rethinking my decision to get rid of this lathe. I think it has a place in my shop still and maybe I should keep it and save my money for a second lathe that can fill the gaps. I agree with the idea that selling the milling attachment and cast iron legs separately would fetch more money than selling it all together.

There are many advantages to having more than 1 lathe of different sizes. If you have been happy with the 6" you may find that when you have a larger lathe available, you may still go to the smaller for many tasks.

I started out with a Sherline lathe (3.5" swing) and mill (2.75x12" table). I now have some larger machines, but I still use the Sherlines for a lot of tasks because I'm familiar with them, they are nearly silent to use, they are less intimidating when I'm working close to the moving parts etc.

It can also just be nice to have more than one of a machine type. I have at times set up to use different machines for different tasks, saving me the time of setting up for different steps.

There is relatively affordable tooling for the little Atlas that would cost a lot more for a larger machine, if even available. Take something like a taper attachment, you can find those for the 618 for $200-300. That is a $600-1000 part on most of the 12" imports, and not even an option for most of the 10" imports.