# Christmas Finds?



## 1hand (Dec 29, 2009)

Hello all,

Just got home from my Mom and Dads Christmas in Minnesota. When I was there I was digging around in my Grandpa's shop and found this.





The model number is 101 28910
The serial number is 10601
Does anyone knows anything but this Craftsman? How old is it?
The drawers are filled with all sorts of old tooling and stuff like this




The price was right. All I have to do is go back out there with my trailer to pick it up. :big:
Any info I could get on this would be great.

Matt


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## Artie (Dec 29, 2009)

G'day Matt, I cant answer your question BUT I would like to say this is probably the best find in a while.

Why?

'Cause it is your Gandpa's and I hope to see you put it to bloody good use. Im sure your Grand father is proud to see his grand son continuing on with his (obvious) passion.

Well done mate.

Artie


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## Tin Falcon (Dec 29, 2009)

That looks like one of the good craftsman lathes they were made by atlas look here.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/craftsman/page3.html
and here
http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/page3.html

Tin


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## black85vette (Dec 29, 2009)

That is awesome. It is the same as mine, a 12" Craftsman made by Atlas as Tin said. Plus it has the quick change gear box for threading which was an option. It uses a standard general purpose motor that is common and cheap. Lots of tools and parts still available for them. You got a great lathe there. Even better when it came from family.


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## 1hand (Dec 29, 2009)

Thanks guys.

I was so excited that I didn't get many pics as my dad said I could have it right before we were to leave. Dad had put a Dayton switch on it, so it will also run in reverse. The best thing was it was my Grandpa's 84th birthday yesterday when he and Dad gave it to me. I did notice it had an Atlas owners manual in one of the drawers also.


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## Tin Falcon (Dec 29, 2009)

Looks like you owe grandpa an engine for his 85th ;D 
Tin


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## capjak (Dec 29, 2009)

How great it is to have a tool like this passed down the family line. There is a group on Yahoo devoted to the Atlas-Craftsman lathes. The address is [email protected]. I used to have a 618 Craftsman lathe and got a lot of information from the group. With the exception of a couple of grouchy old farts, they are a great bunch of people, just like the ones here.

Jack Hilderbrant


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## joeby (Dec 29, 2009)

I have a lathe like that. The usual stuff you hear about these suggests there are but two camps on the subject, those that like them and those that hate them, no in-between.

 The end gearing is Zamak, as well as the apron handwheel bracket (behind the apron), the leadscrew is supported by a breakaway bearing on the tailstock end, etc. These all known trouble spots on these lathes, but parts are still available from Clausing, I believe, or Ebay.

 Anyway, the lathe I have has been in the family for almost fifty years, and still does its job. It has done a lot of work over the years, and it's starting to show its age. There has been a lot of work done TO it also. The end gears were changed to aluminum years ago, the leadscrew and cross-slide leadscrew have been replaced at least once, the countershaft has been replaced and now runs in needle bearings. There are other things, I'm sure, that I can't think of right now.

 Bottom line is, you can't beat the price, the machine is still serviceable if any reasonable amount of attention was paid it, and it is capable of doing good work. 

 You could do much worse.

Kevin


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## 1hand (Dec 29, 2009)

That would be Cool Tin. What a great Idea. The only thing this lathe has done for years is turn down shafts to use for bucket pins on big front end loaders and bull dozers. The idea of turning out a small little operational engine with this ol' lathe would make my G-pa's head spin. There is also a very old valve grinder there that would be cool but I don't know what I would use it for, may be to grind bits or something. Grandpa used to fix old tractors for framers back in the day when you cranked everything over by hand.

Matt


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## 1hand (Dec 29, 2009)

Thanks Joeby and capjak.

matt


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## black85vette (Dec 29, 2009)

One thing I forgot to mention is that the vintage is late 60's. I think your owners manual will confirm that. My parts list is dated 1969.  One thing you might look into is getting a link type belt. The belt from the jack shaft to the spindle requires you to remove the spindle to replace it.


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## 1hand (Dec 29, 2009)

b85v; thanks for the age. Yeah I had flipped up the door there and was wondering how you get the belt off. That would be a great addition with the belt. It needs to be cleaned up and looked over real good for its been sitting for quite some time. Can't wait for my trip back to get it in late Jan.


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## black85vette (Dec 29, 2009)

1hand  said:
			
		

> Can't wait for my trip back to get it in late Jan.



Take some help! It is about 300 lbs without the motor if I recall correctly. Unmount the motor and jack shaft. Also remove the side, top cover, chuck and tail stock. That will make it a "little" easier to handle. A cherry picker is the best bet


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## Powder keg (Dec 29, 2009)

Now that you have plenty of tools Matt. Have you decided on an engine? Nice score too by the way. I got my SB from a family member.


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## 1hand (Dec 29, 2009)

p keg;

Not yet on the engine. I now have a 3 ring binder full of plans. Can't decide....... ??? I don't have any brass, so I've been trying to figure out which one so I know what I need to get. I will be laid off in couple weeks, so I need to get on the ball here so I have what I need for my month off of work. I have a pretty nice selection of 6061 in flat, round and square. And all the steel I would want from work. Lot of the plans are showing many parts in brass. Maybe I can substitute steel for brass? I've already spent more than I should have on tooling and looking at these brass prices are enough to scare a guy. That and I would like to double size the plans. Not getting a good pay check for over a month isn't going to help either. Is there any parts of an engine that "HAVE TO" be made out of brass?

Matt


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## ksouers (Dec 29, 2009)

Great stuff, Matt.

Now, do the old man proud and USE it  ;D


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## Powder keg (Dec 29, 2009)

I think most of the Brass parts are for looks. The Mega cyclone I'm building will have a fortune in Bronze when I'm done. But I have it left over from some Cannon barrel projects. If I had to buy the stuff now it would be steel and cast iron all the way.


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## Tin Falcon (Dec 30, 2009)

1Hand I tend to recommend the McCabe runner or the LMS oscillator. 
Brass is great looking and easy to machine but expensive. 
The James Senf mini kin or Elmers tiny are great in brass as they are small. being small the parts are fiddly and fit and finish are important. 
My mini kin still needs 20 psi most other engines I have run on a lot less. 
If you need any help just holler.
Tin


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## rake60 (Dec 30, 2009)

Great tools Matt.

*"They don't make em like that anymore!"* Thm:

Rick


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## Artie (Dec 30, 2009)

capjak  said:
			
		

> How great it is to have a tool like this passed down the family line. There is a group on Yahoo devoted to the Atlas-Craftsman lathes. The address is [email protected]. I used to have a 618 Craftsman lathe and got a lot of information from the group. With the exception of a couple of grouchy old farts, they are a great bunch of people, just like the ones here.
> 
> Jack Hilderbrant



Huh? Mmmmmmmm.........


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## lathe nut (Dec 30, 2009)

Matt, glad you got it and can keep it in the family, I have one its a 1978 year model, great machine, going to really like it, we really don't own them we are only using them, here is a good example, you use it and take care if it and the next person will do the same, great how that works, Lathe Nut


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