Craftsman Commercial Metal Lathe?

I never have this kind of luck so I thought I would post on here and see what you guys know about this lathe? I think I am getting a bit of a streak of luck here. A buddy of mine had is uncle pass away and is offering me his Craftsman Commercial Metal lathe. Its just the right size for a shop as it will turn 12. I haven't used a lathe for several years since I changed industries and I was always keeping my eye open for one, but this one is the right price-Free! I don't think I can go wrong there and hope to put it to good use. Looking for anyone with pointers on this old lathe or any advice etc you can tell me about it. I think its a model 101?
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For sure grab it up ! you can always use it. More commonly know as an Atlas lathe I think.
Try google search on that and see what all comes up.
 
I had an Atlas just like that many years ago.
I now have a huge old Monarch that is WWI vintage.
That thing is Heavy.
 
Looks like a four jaw chuck great to have but a pain to center workpiece. Get a can of way lube and lube daily. That can do a lot of work NICE!
 
Nice score!
Make sure you look in all the cabinets and drawers for all the tooling that came with it - chucks, steady rest, collets, bits, manuals etc.
No more using a socket that sorta fits for bushing, bearing or seal drivers.
Make one exactly right - like a pro.
There are several very good forums for hobby machinists. Good, enthusiastic, helpful folks - like here.
One is hobby-machinist.com
another is vintagemachinery.org
or owwm.org
 
Four jaws are nice , set fist bar with dial indicator , to turn true. After true rotation is ached make two jaws 90 degrees , only open those two to release and reclamation the bear stock and you wont have to re indicate for most jobs .
Nice machine you got ,enjoy , go to practical machinist for tips !
 
Good deal now get ahold of Ultradog and ask for some of that drill rod he doesn't know what to do with.
 
Thank you for the tips. What part of MN are you? Well before nnalert I used to get up to Minneapolis via I-35 from MO from time to time. If Im ever in need of drill rod to turn stuff on this old machine, I will hit you up if you want to sell some!
 
Thanks all! To date since 2004 when I got on this website, the YTMAG community has been some of the most knowledgeable, friendly and useful people I ever met on the internet and very few times in person.
 
Those lathes were made by Atlas for Sears. I have one the same size only a floor model. I got it at an estate sale for $400 with just about every attachment available except the one I would really like to have, taper attachment. It was in like new condition. Couldn't believe I got it so cheap. Like was said sometimes you luck out. Some days you are the pigeon, some days you are the statue.
 
Great catch! as they said, just a waste of space without tooling, grab everything. Once you get past the very basics of lathe operation, which is best learned reading one of many books on the subject, you will learn and retain more if you simply use it turning some shapes to a size you determine. Make EVERY part to a tight tolorance, even if not required, then it will be easy to do when required.

Every home machinist board I looked at was populated by gizzled old farts that woke up on the wrong side of the bed every day and used the board as a backhanded way to brag about how smart they are,,but you might be able to pick up sone tips if you can tolorate the abuse.
 

Atlas 12 inch lathe with the quick change gearbox. Good light lathe. It's a 300 series I think. The 101 was the little 6" series. I'd grab it in a heart beat. Just don't try to hog a bunch with it like it was a 16" Leblonde and you'll be fine.
 
I have an earlier model of the same thing. Atlas was not top-of-the line, but is good for most around-the-home-and-farm work. Some weak points were the use of Zamak for the back gears, threading gears, and the handles. The bed is also flat (as opposed to Vee style on other lathes), which kept the costs down but doesn't have the self-centering feature of the vee style. The original Atlas was a 10 inch if I am not mistaken. When it was badged for Craftsman they raised the head and tail stock one inch to swing 12 inches over bed. The problem is the cross-feed was not lengthened an additional inch, so its realistic ability to turn something 12 inch OD is limited. I think it will do maybe 6 inches between centers, which is not a problem.

On the positive side, the atlas had a nice feature where the quick change gear box gave more threading pitches than other manufacturers. For example, the Atlas will do 30 TPI, which few, if any other lathes will do. That is an extra fine thread that shows up on a few older items here and there. There is also a power cross feed on the carriage which is nice for facing cuts. If you get a milling attachment with it, you're golden. Those alone sell for big bucks. As mentioned, the back gears allow for really low RPM's on the spindle, which is useful when cutting really coarse threads or even threading pipe. I got mine for $700 and it has paid for itself in 4-5 years with repairs it has allowed me to make. Yours will pay for itself immediately!
 
Wow, are you lucky! I have an old gear change Craftsman with a worn bed, but I have still done a lot of projects with it.
 
You will love having a screw cutting lathe available to you. Southbends How to run a lathe. Is a great guide to get started. Heres a link to a free version, however you can purchase later versions fairly cheaply, and those would be more applicable to your lathe.
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1617/3789.pdf

I can also recommend the Home Shop Machinist forum. Theres a lot of new machinists on there and a older guys are usually very helpful.

Jerry
 

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