On 5 Nov 2005 17:29:09 -0800, "JonJonJon"
wrote:

Someone in my area is selling an Atlas/Craftsman lathe. He couldn't get
a model number, but I've seen this model before. He says it must be 20
years old at least. Here's a pictu

http://jonjonjon24.tripod.com/lathe.jpg

Would anyone have any specs on this machine, pros and cons that come to
mind? He is asking 3000$ CAD (about 2500$ USD right now) It comes with
the tooling that's hanging on the wall behind the machine and a milling
attachment. All I know is that it has 12" swing over bed and the bed is
about 4 feet long.

Any tips on what to look for when buying a used lathe would be
appreciated. The other option I have is to buy a much smaller 9x19"
from BusyBee Tools (same thing as Grizzly). It's a smaller machine, but
closer to my price range considering I also want to buy a small milling
machine.


As a reference for you I just had a friend sell his 12" Atlas just
like that. It was in like new condition (he didn't get it that way but
before he got through there wasn't a single thing wrong). It had ALL
the tooling that was available for it. I mean taper attachment,
milling attachment, follow rest, steady rest, collets, carriage stop,
nice Bison 3 jaw chuck (larger than the original), everything. If it
was in the manual then he had it. He got $1800 and this is a machine
starved area where any machine tends to bring a premium price.

He sold it because he got fed up with the lack of rigidity. It just
took to long to do any serious metal removal.

He bought a 14" Logan spending more than he should have (especially
after shipping from NY) and then put a lot more money in it after
getting here (the machine in good shape description can be misleading)
but we've finally got nearly all the problems worked out of it and
he's much happier with it compared to the Atlas.


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm