After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that are available for the taking.

1. One is an old Craftsman/Atlas 12" x 24" that the owner describes as being in pretty good shape. I haven't yet seen it, but he is sending me pics. It has what he thinks is the original greenish paint, has the flat bed, and the stand with heavy cast iron legs, a couple chucks, and various pieces of tooling.

2. I have also found 2 old Logans with collet type headstock. Both are in good working order, and seem to be in fair to good condition. I will examine them a second time this week, and hear them run etc. They both have the flat belt drive, one of them has the integrated belt tensioner in the belt cover.

The price is approximately the same for all the lathes, $800 - $900.

The pro's and con's, as I see them, include:

Logans are much older, and I don't know what part availablilty is and will continue to be.

The Logans have the flat belt drive, the Craftsman has the more modern V-belt. Being a newbie I'm not sure if one is inherently better/worse than the other, although continued availability of the flat belt is certainly questionable.

There seems to be an absolute abundance of parts for the Craftsman/Atlas series of lathes on Ebay. Logan seems to run a distant third in this regard, just behind South Bend.

My intended use is a home/hobby lathe, making mostly aluminum parts.

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the better advised purchase decision.

After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that
are available for the taking.

1. One is an old Craftsman/Atlas 12" x 24" that the owner describes as
being in pretty good shape. I haven't yet seen it, but he is sending me
pics. It has what he thinks is the original greenish paint, has the flat
bed, and the stand with heavy cast iron legs, a couple chucks, and
various pieces of tooling.

2. I have also found 2 old Logans with collet type headstock. Both are
in good working order, and seem to be in fair to good condition. I will
examine them a second time this week, and hear them run etc. They both
have the flat belt drive, one of them has the integrated belt tensioner
in the belt cover.

The price is approximately the same for all the lathes, $800 - $900.

The pro's and con's, as I see them, include:

Logans are much older, and I don't know what part availablilty is and
will continue to be.

The Logans have the flat belt drive, the Craftsman has the more modern
V-belt. Being a newbie I'm not sure if one is inherently better/worse
than the other, although continued availability of the flat belt is
certainly questionable.

There seems to be an absolute abundance of parts for the
Craftsman/Atlas series of lathes on Ebay. Logan seems to run a distant
third in this regard, just behind South Bend.

My intended use is a home/hobby lathe, making mostly aluminum parts.

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the
better advised purchase decision.


--
J. Mark Wolf

The 12" Craftsman/Atlas was made from the '30s into the '70s in various
versions. Price totally depends on age and condition. They are good home shop
lathes (I have an Atlas 10", basically same thing) with a ton of parts support,
but they are also the lightest 12 inchers out there. Not exactly hogging
machines. The older ones can be problematic with bad castings and bearings.
$800 sounds about right for the high end but I'd try to get a better price,
unless it's in great shape and/or loaded.

I know very little about Logans, but they are high quality and may not be as
old as you think. Scott Logan still supplies parts for many models. Most are
heavily-built.

V-belts are easier to get, tension, and maintain. Flat belts are smoother to
run, provide some clutch action, and look great. Not too hard to get if you
have a good belt shop. It's a wash.

GTO(John)

$800 sounds like a lot of money.

I picked up a 10x24 Logan Model 200 a few months back, loose change
gears, 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks, stand, flat belts, etc. $300. got a
couple of surprises: head stock bearing was toast along with the scroll
in the 3 jaw. Other than that (!!) it's a nice little machine. Even has
power cross feed. There was a similar machine on e-bay about the same
time, lots more accessories including quick change, steady rest,
collets(??) on the east coast that went for a bit under $500 IIRC.

J. Mark Wolf wrote:
After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that
are available for the taking.

1. One is an old Craftsman/Atlas 12" x 24" that the owner describes as
being in pretty good shape. I haven't yet seen it, but he is sending me
pics. It has what he thinks is the original greenish paint, has the flat
bed, and the stand with heavy cast iron legs, a couple chucks, and
various pieces of tooling.

2. I have also found 2 old Logans with collet type headstock. Both are
in good working order, and seem to be in fair to good condition. I will
examine them a second time this week, and hear them run etc. They both
have the flat belt drive, one of them has the integrated belt tensioner
in the belt cover.

The price is approximately the same for all the lathes, $800 - $900.

The pro's and con's, as I see them, include:

Logans are much older, and I don't know what part availablilty is and
will continue to be.

The Logans have the flat belt drive, the Craftsman has the more modern
V-belt. Being a newbie I'm not sure if one is inherently better/worse
than the other, although continued availability of the flat belt is
certainly questionable.

There seems to be an absolute abundance of parts for the
Craftsman/Atlas series of lathes on Ebay. Logan seems to run a distant
third in this regard, just behind South Bend.

My intended use is a home/hobby lathe, making mostly aluminum parts.

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the
better advised purchase decision.

In article , J. Mark Wolf says...

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the
better advised purchase decision.

As described they sound all about the same. The v-belt vs flat
belt thing isn't a big deal. Either does the job fine.

What size are the spindles in the logans? Some of them were
5C collet capable, and that would be a big plus.

I would choose the lathe that you could inspect personally, and
was close to you. I would also choose the one that had the
best tooling that goes along with it.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

It depends where you are located. Probably 10 years ago in Colorado I
sold a Logan 10x24 with a bunch of tooling, gear change box, etc. for
$1400. It was in excellent condition and I felt that was market price
for the area.

Steve

RoyJ wrote:

$800 sounds like a lot of money.

I picked up a 10x24 Logan Model 200 a few months back, loose change
gears, 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks, stand, flat belts, etc. $300. got a
couple of surprises: head stock bearing was toast along with the
scroll in the 3 jaw. Other than that (!!) it's a nice little machine.
Even has power cross feed. There was a similar machine on e-bay about
the same time, lots more accessories including quick change, steady
rest, collets(??) on the east coast that went for a bit under $500 IIRC.

J. Mark Wolf wrote:

After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that
are available for the taking.

1. One is an old Craftsman/Atlas 12" x 24" that the owner describes as
being in pretty good shape. I haven't yet seen it, but he is sending me
pics. It has what he thinks is the original greenish paint, has the flat
bed, and the stand with heavy cast iron legs, a couple chucks, and
various pieces of tooling.

2. I have also found 2 old Logans with collet type headstock. Both are
in good working order, and seem to be in fair to good condition. I will
examine them a second time this week, and hear them run etc. They both
have the flat belt drive, one of them has the integrated belt tensioner
in the belt cover.

The price is approximately the same for all the lathes, $800 - $900.
The pro's and con's, as I see them, include:

Logans are much older, and I don't know what part availablilty is and
will continue to be.
The Logans have the flat belt drive, the Craftsman has the more modern
V-belt. Being a newbie I'm not sure if one is inherently better/worse
than the other, although continued availability of the flat belt is
certainly questionable.

There seems to be an absolute abundance of parts for the
Craftsman/Atlas series of lathes on Ebay. Logan seems to run a distant
third in this regard, just behind South Bend.

My intended use is a home/hobby lathe, making mostly aluminum parts.

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the
better advised purchase decision.

Mark

I have had a Logan 9x17 for a couple years. The reason you don't see
parts on ebay is because fes are parted out - they last. If you need
parts, Scott Logan maintains a parts stock for most models, mostly as a
hobby and a tribute to his ancestry. He also hosts a nice website and
moderates a Yahoo group for Logan enthusiasts. These are nice, durable
machines which are probably at the top end of the hobbiest "old iron".

A bought an Atlas 10x36 last summer, as a basket case. I am almost
finished rebuilding it, using the Logan to make a lot of the parts.
Clausing still offers many of the replacement parts, but some key items
are not available. For example, there is a little pot-metal casting with
two gears in it that connects the carriage handwheel to the rack. About
half of them are broken, but still in use. Makes the handwheel action
very sloppy. If you look at the apron on the headstock side, in the gap
between apron and bed, you can see it. If it moves around when you crank
the handwheel it's broken. They go on ebay for $50 and up.
The Atlas has been a fun project, and it's a nice machine after the
refurbishing, but I will keep the Logan and sell the Atlas.

As for value, if you haven't found a lathe like these under $500, you
aren't looking hard enough. The only way I'd pay $800 for an older lathe
is if it's like new and has QC and tooling. But then I'm a bargain-hunter.

Good luck

Rex B
Fort Worth


J. Mark Wolf wrote:
After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that
are available for the taking.

1. One is an old Craftsman/Atlas 12" x 24" that the owner describes as
being in pretty good shape. I haven't yet seen it, but he is sending me
pics. It has what he thinks is the original greenish paint, has the flat
bed, and the stand with heavy cast iron legs, a couple chucks, and
various pieces of tooling.

2. I have also found 2 old Logans with collet type headstock. Both are
in good working order, and seem to be in fair to good condition. I will
examine them a second time this week, and hear them run etc. They both
have the flat belt drive, one of them has the integrated belt tensioner
in the belt cover.

The price is approximately the same for all the lathes, $800 - $900.

The pro's and con's, as I see them, include:

Logans are much older, and I don't know what part availablilty is and
will continue to be.

The Logans have the flat belt drive, the Craftsman has the more modern
V-belt. Being a newbie I'm not sure if one is inherently better/worse
than the other, although continued availability of the flat belt is
certainly questionable.

There seems to be an absolute abundance of parts for the
Craftsman/Atlas series of lathes on Ebay. Logan seems to run a distant
third in this regard, just behind South Bend.

My intended use is a home/hobby lathe, making mostly aluminum parts.

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the
better advised purchase decision.

I've had a 10" Logan for several years. It was built in 1946 and will still
hold 0.001. I've had no trouble getting parts for it (what few I've
needed...).

I think the flat belt is an advantage. If you overload the machine, it will
throw the belt before something of consequence busts.

I paid, as I recall, $700 for it, with a roll-around toolbox full of
assorted
tooling (some of which hadn't been used in years and needed a good
cleaning up...).

Jerry

"GTO69RA4" wrote in message
...


After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that
are available for the taking.

1. One is an old Craftsman/Atlas 12" x 24" that the owner describes as
being in pretty good shape. I haven't yet seen it, but he is sending me
pics. It has what he thinks is the original greenish paint, has the flat
bed, and the stand with heavy cast iron legs, a couple chucks, and
various pieces of tooling.

2. I have also found 2 old Logans with collet type headstock. Both are
in good working order, and seem to be in fair to good condition. I will
examine them a second time this week, and hear them run etc. They both
have the flat belt drive, one of them has the integrated belt tensioner
in the belt cover.

The price is approximately the same for all the lathes, $800 - $900.

The pro's and con's, as I see them, include:

Logans are much older, and I don't know what part availablilty is and
will continue to be.

The Logans have the flat belt drive, the Craftsman has the more modern
V-belt. Being a newbie I'm not sure if one is inherently better/worse
than the other, although continued availability of the flat belt is
certainly questionable.

There seems to be an absolute abundance of parts for the
Craftsman/Atlas series of lathes on Ebay. Logan seems to run a distant
third in this regard, just behind South Bend.

My intended use is a home/hobby lathe, making mostly aluminum parts.

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the
better advised purchase decision.


--
J. Mark Wolf

The 12" Craftsman/Atlas was made from the '30s into the '70s in various
versions. Price totally depends on age and condition. They are good home
shop
lathes (I have an Atlas 10", basically same thing) with a ton of parts
support,
but they are also the lightest 12 inchers out there. Not exactly hogging
machines. The older ones can be problematic with bad castings and
bearings.
$800 sounds about right for the high end but I'd try to get a better
price,
unless it's in great shape and/or loaded.

I know very little about Logans, but they are high quality and may not be
as
old as you think. Scott Logan still supplies parts for many models. Most
are
heavily-built.

V-belts are easier to get, tension, and maintain. Flat belts are smoother
to
run, provide some clutch action, and look great. Not too hard to get if
you
have a good belt shop. It's a wash.

GTO(John)

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 13:21:05 +0000, J. Mark Wolf
wrote:


After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that
are available for the taking.

1. One is an old Craftsman/Atlas 12" x 24" that the owner describes as
being in pretty good shape. I haven't yet seen it, but he is sending me
pics. It has what he thinks is the original greenish paint, has the flat
bed, and the stand with heavy cast iron legs, a couple chucks, and
various pieces of tooling.

2. I have also found 2 old Logans with collet type headstock. Both are
in good working order, and seem to be in fair to good condition. I will
examine them a second time this week, and hear them run etc. They both
have the flat belt drive, one of them has the integrated belt tensioner
in the belt cover.

If the other does not have the countershaft with the automatic
tensioning, and has the rear mounted drive, it must be a Montgomery
Wards 10" Lathe, built by Logan.

Also, since these are Flat Belt Drive, they were built prior to 1953.
Not a problem, but perhaps a bargaining point.

If you can come up with a Model Number and Serial Number, I can
provide additional details. Please copy me by direct email, as my
feed for Usenet is less than perfect.

The price is approximately the same for all the lathes, $800 - $900.

The pro's and con's, as I see them, include:

Logans are much older, and I don't know what part availablilty is and
will continue to be.

We carry over 4000 parts for various Logan Lathes and Montgomery Wards
Lathes. These are all new manufactured parts, not old stock or used
parts, although on occasion, we do provide used, properly described as
such. We plan to continue to support these Lathes.

The Logans have the flat belt drive, the Craftsman has the more modern
V-belt. Being a newbie I'm not sure if one is inherently better/worse
than the other, although continued availability of the flat belt is
certainly questionable.

Again, we carry the flat belts in stock; either cemented endless or
open with Clipper(r) lacing. Nothing wrong with the flat belt drive,
if properly adjusted and maintained. The belt will handle whatever
the Lathe was designed for. I have personally run Logan Lathes with
the flat belt, and have taken pretty substantial cuts in, for
instance, 6" dia Cast Iron.

There seems to be an absolute abundance of parts for the
Craftsman/Atlas series of lathes on Ebay. Logan seems to run a distant
third in this regard, just behind South Bend.

Sounds about right. South Bend built more lathes than Logan, which
would account for some of the difference. I don't know how many
Craftsman/Atlas were built.

My intended use is a home/hobby lathe, making mostly aluminum parts.

Please provide opinions (be gentle, now) as to which would be the
better advised purchase decision.

Well, I'm probably a bit biased, but I would recommend the Logan. But
that's just meg.


--
+--------------------------------------------+
| Scott Logan - ssl "at" lathe.com |
| Logan Actuator Co. http://www.lathe.com |
| Harvard, IL |
|++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
| Parts and Accessories for Logan Lathes and |
| Montgomery Wards Lathes |
| Logan-Lilly Mine Hoist Safety Controllers |
+--------------------------------------------+
"Measure Twice, Cut Once"

RCM FAQ - http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal
Metal Web News - http://www.metalwebnews.com/
Help squash SPAM: http://www.cauce.org/

wrote:
[color=blue][i]

After many weeks of scouring the universe, I have found 3 lathes that
are available for the taking.

Update:

Thanks for all the great input everybody.

I've decided to go with the Logan. Turns out it is a Logan 200. I looked it over as well as I know how, which is nill, but found the bed to be in good shape, no knicks or dings, head, tailstock and carriage all very smooth and snug, with the exception that the carriage handwheel is sloppy, which someone on this forum suggested might be the case. One of the two flat belts is a little ragged, but that's OK. The seller ran it for me, and once I heard it's little "heartbeat" I just had to have it!

I have had a great deal of difficulty finding a small lathe that is affordable. There have been a few candidates on Ebay, but unless you live close enough to look at it, you have to buy sight unseen, then pay shipping or drive many many hours round-trip to pick it up yourself. Even then, they have have all gone for well over a thousand dollars!

I'm sure, with a little attention this lathe will outlast me!

Mark - Generally a Logan lathe is a better/stronger machine than the Atlas.
For one thing they utilize steel gears rather than zinc alloy. In fact years
ago I sold my old 10x24 Atlas and acquired my current 11x24 Logan for that
reason; and because it had a quick change and took 5C collets. However, based
on the very limited information you provided on the 'older' Logans and the fact
that you intend to work primarily with aluminum, the 12x24 Craftsman lathe may
be the better choice. I'm not sure what you meant by "collet type headstock" on
the Logans and you did not mention the size, ie. 10x24, etc. The 11 and 12"
machines are significantly better than the 10". Do the old Logans come with any
chucks or other tooling? What size/type spindle nose do they have? Can they
take 5C collets? Do any of them have a quick change gear box; and if not, are
the needed change gears included? I also suggest the overall condition of the
lathes, especailly the ways, should be a major consideration. Keep in mind
that repair parts and needed tooling can be quite expensive. IMHO to be worth
the money you quoted, all these machines should be in good condition.
Good luck, John M

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 18:10:17 +0000, J. Mark Wolf
wrote:

I've decided to go with the Logan. Turns out it is a Logan 200. I
looked it over as well as I know how, which is nill, but found the bed
to be in good shape, no knicks or dings, head, tailstock and carriage
all very smooth and snug, with the exception that the carriage
handwheel is sloppy, which someone on this forum suggested might be the
case. One of the two flat belts is a little ragged, but that's OK. The
seller ran it for me, and once I heard it's little "heartbeat" I just
had to have it!

The Model 200 is the original Logan Lathe, and was built from 1941
until 1953. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, with a Serial Number
I can date it closer.

Just to clarify, this lathe should have only one flat belt, from the
countershaft to the spindle. The belt from the 2 step "V" motor
pulley to the 2 step flat countershaft pulley is a V belt.

I tried to copy you by email on the last post, but your server bounced
the message, so I won't bother this time. Hopefully you will see
this.

--
+--------------------------------------------+
| Scott Logan - ssl "at" lathe.com |
| Logan Actuator Co. http://www.lathe.com |
| Harvard, IL |
|++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
| Parts and Accessories for Logan Lathes and |
| Montgomery Wards Lathes |
| Logan-Lilly Mine Hoist Safety Controllers |
+--------------------------------------------+
"Measure Twice, Cut Once"

RCM FAQ - http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal
Metal Web News - http://www.metalwebnews.com/
Help squash SPAM: http://www.cauce.org/

Scott Logan wrote:

The Model 200 is the original Logan Lathe, and was built from 1941
until 1953. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, with a Serial Number
I can date it closer.

Just to clarify, this lathe should have only one flat belt, from the
countershaft to the spindle. The belt from the 2 step "V" motor
pulley to the 2 step flat countershaft pulley is a V belt.

Hi Scott

The photocopied docs that I saw identified the lathe as a "200" although they may have been docs for a different but similar lathe I suppose.

There are definately 2 flat belts on the lathe I'm considering. One between the motor and the jackshaft, and one between the jackshaft and headstock pulley. I was under the impression that this was a stock implementation, but I wonder now if it was an improvisation.

One of the two "200" lathes at the sellers facility has a support pole between the floor and the motor. The other "200" does not.

Can you direct me to some pics or diagrams of these lathes to help identify what is what?

http://www.loganact.com
http://www.lathe.com/models.htm

http://www.lathes.co.uk/logan/index.html

Those should help some.

I am a bit surprised that they had not all been brought up yet.

Cheers
Trevor Jones

On Fri, 7 Jan 2005 13:16:20 +0000, J. Mark Wolf
wrote:


Scott Logan wrote:

The Model 200 is the original Logan Lathe, and was built from 1941
until 1953. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, with a Serial Number
I can date it closer.

Just to clarify, this lathe should have only one flat belt, from the
countershaft to the spindle. The belt from the 2 step "V" motor
pulley to the 2 step flat countershaft pulley is a V belt.


Hi Scott

The photocopied docs that I saw identified the lathe as a "200"
although they may have been docs for a different but similar lathe I
suppose.

There are definately 2 flat belts on the lathe I'm considering. One
between the motor and the jackshaft, and one between the jackshaft and
headstock pulley. I was under the impression that this was a stock
implementation, but I wonder now if it was an improvisation.

One of the two "200" lathes at the sellers facility has a support pole
between the floor and the motor. The other "200" does not.

Can you direct me to some pics or diagrams of these lathes to help
identify what is what?

First of all, if you are identifying this lathe by the "docs" we have
no idea what it may actually be. Check the Lathe itself for a Model
Number and a Serial Number. The Model Number should be on a nameplate
on the front of the headstock (unless it is a very early machine) or
on the Quick Change Gearbox, if so equipped. Note that the early
Logan Lathes sis not have a model number on the nameplate, since there
was only one model.

The Serial Number is stamped on top of the bed, right hand end,
between the front V and flat ways. On Logan Lathes, it is a 5 digit
number. On Montgomery Wards Lathes, it is a 4 digit number, possibly
followed by an "A".

Most certainly, no Logan Lathe used 2 flat belts. The drive from the
motor should be a V-Belt. There should be a 2 step V pulley on the
motor, driving a 2 step flat pulley on the countershaft. The only
exceptions on early lathes (prior to 1953) would be the Model
400/1400, which DID use a V belt from the motor as well as a V belt to
the spindle.

All Logan Lathes with the rear drive have a support for the drive box
assembly. There were a couple of different styles, and if it is a
bench model, the bench itself provides the support, but it must be
there, or the Lathe is unstable.

As for pics, see:

http://lathe.com/catalogs/index.htm

Hope this helps.


--
+--------------------------------------------+
| Scott Logan - ssl "at" lathe.com |
| Logan Actuator Co. http://www.lathe.com |
| Harvard, IL |
|++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
| Parts and Accessories for Logan Lathes and |
| Montgomery Wards Lathes |
| Logan-Lilly Mine Hoist Safety Controllers |
+--------------------------------------------+
"Measure Twice, Cut Once"

RCM FAQ - http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal
Metal Web News - http://www.metalwebnews.com/
Help squash SPAM: http://www.cauce.org/