New Craftsman Lathe

[44-henry]

Just picked this one up the other day. It came with both 3 and 4 jaw chucks, faceplate, lathe dogs, live and dead centers, and several drill chucks with MT1 mounts. I also think it has the original 1/3 horse motor. I am missing a few small parts (did find the rest of the lantern tool post parts in the box after taking these pictures), but overall it seems to be in nice shape, the heavy welded aluminum tray that was included is particularily nice and about 1/4 inch thick. Does not seem to be much wear on the lathe either which was a nice surprise for as rough and grimey as it looked when I picked it up. I have just cleaned up the pieces and have not mounted any of them yet. Was originally planning on a complete tear down and restoration, but I kind of like how it looks as is. Think I did OK for $150.

I have owned several other lathes over the years, but this is my first Atlas. Any thoughts on them? I am curious about the age oc this one, figure it is probably late 50's early 60's.

 

[bazmak]

Know nothing about them but it looks a tidy unit and a bargain at the price.Look up lathes on the internet
and i would strip down,make and replace worn or missing parts etc. A nice paint job to finish off. Lots of satisfaction

 

[ShopShoe]

mrpete222 on YouTube has owned and repaired/modified some. I believe he also has instructional videos for specific operations.

--ShopShoe

 

[Mr68gts]

You did good at 150. What you have there is a Atlas 618 rebadged as a Craftsman 101.
This is a better lathe than the 109.
I didn't catch if it came with the change gears or not. You can find them (used of course) but most times will only come with the lathe. I have yet to thread on mine so I haven't used my gears yet.
Some parts are still available from Clausing by the way. And there are of course many parts on ebay.
The was a mill post attachment for the cross slide available and some tapered morse collets for the spindle available.
Make sure you know what thread the spindle is as it has been said there was 2 different ones depending on date of manufacture as I understand it.
I paid 950.00 for mine but it literally came with everything! The mill post, atlas morse collets 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks. (4 jaw being independant.) Tool latern post, qctp and holders and some tooling. There is more I am forgetting to mention I am sure.
There are some atlas manuals online if you search that are downloadable also.
That would probably be the earliest one Ive seen by serial number btw.
Have fun.
Paul

 

[Wizard69]

Man what a steal!

Seriously you could easily pay $150 just for a chuck for this lathe. As much as i tried ive never have managed to find deals like you just got. Jealous.

 

[44-henry]

Thanks for the info. The lathe only had the gears that were attached; however, I bought another one yesterday for about the same price that had a complete set of gears and also some other accessories with it (extra 3 and 4 jaw). This one is also missing a couple parts but between the two of them I have enough for a complete lathe. I have less than 400 invested in the total package including the steel stand it is sitting on, plus the extra lathe will only need a few minor parts to make it complete as well.

Only problem now is convincing my wife I actually need four metal lathes.

 

[cheepo45]

I have one identical to yours. It has made a lot of parts over the years. You got a really good deal on that! I paid $400 25 years ago. I have manuals, etc. if you need them.

 

[tim9lives]

You got a great score. I really like my 618 lathe. It's not a hefty South Bend, but it does great on Delrin and Brass. Does OK on mild steel with light cuts. Once leveled and tuned in, it's an accurate and nice little lathe in my opinion.

 

[Wizard69]

Only problem now is convincing my wife I actually need four metal lathes.

tell her one is to donate to a needy machinist.

 

[Mr68gts]

You may want to keep the second one for parts. Most likely if anything you will need spindle or carriage parts. I haven't looked to see whats all available new but secondary market has quite a bit. However it is an antique and therefor parts may at some point of not already be hard to find.
And don't feel bad about more than one lathe lol. I keep a old Unimat 3 lathe/mill combo in the house and the 618 is in the garage for the bigger mess projects lol.

 

[packrat]

I have had two Atlas/Craftsman lathes one 6 inch and a older 12 inch. I have a Atlas lathe manual here if I could find it..

 

[44-henry]

Just got it mounted this afternoon. Lucked out and got a really heavy steel bench that I refinished. I want to change the belts out to powertwist ones and install a drum switch, still have z few parts to make/find but it is getting closer.

Here is a picture of my mini lathe bench in the lab. I am teaching a kids machining class at the University where I work this summer and these are the lathes we use.

 

[DJP]

Most lathe enclosures have a large sheet of metal along the back. Any risk of debris or broken parts flying across the table to hit a student on the opposite side?

Perhaps not a big problem with small lathes.

 

[lathe nut]

Good deal for you, I got one recent the fellow said he was cleaning out this grandfather's shop, so it meant nothing to him, "don't like that kind of person" anyway I got it for $50.00 with all the lights bells and whistles, have a couple of 12" heavy and one 12" light, heck I like lathes, I will attach the manual if I can figure how to do it.

 

[lathe nut]

got it happy chipping 2 U

 

[oldchadders]

Know nothing about them but it looks a tidy unit and a bargain at the price.Look up lathes on the internet
and i would strip down,make and replace worn or missing parts etc. A nice paint job to finish off. Lots of satisfaction

As a retired electrical engineer, my first thought was how easy it seems for metal chips to get into the motor when turning. I am just creating something similar-looking myself, I am using a low-voltage motor from an electric scooter, which has all of the openings cover with a fine mesh.

 

[packrat]

Good deal for you, I got one recent the fellow said he was cleaning out this grandfather's shop, so it meant nothing to him, "don't like that kind of person" anyway I got it for $50.00 with all the lights bells and whistles, have a couple of 12" heavy and one 12" light, heck I like lathes, I will attach the manual if I can figure how to do it.

You got a good price on that one, I have seen a few up for sale at over $300.00 for the little 6" Craftsman lathe {it is sad that some of the young people do not care about there Grandfathers things}..I have a South Bend lathe now but the Craftsman lathe was the first lathe I had....