I picked up the lathe yesterday. It looked to be in good condition. It is
a Craftsman 101-17403 with 12" swing and 30" between centers.

It also has a 3/4" leadscrew. So would this be considered a later model?
So I am assuming a standard quick change gear box would fit. I will have to
do some testing with the leadscrew and see if it is going to be a problem.
The threads are all there, but the first 12 inches or so of threads are not
as square looking as the rest of the leadscrew. Everything else on the
lathe looks perfect. I'm taking it all apart tonight to de-grease and
remove all the metal shavings. It looks as if he used an air gun on it just
before I got there, so now there are fresh metal shavings everywhere!

I also want to change the belt that goes to the main spindle pulley. He has
an orange type of elastic snap together belt on it. I guess he didn't want
to take it apart to put on a new belt. It just feels sloppy.

One last thing, the 5" 3 jaw self centering chuck looks to be original. It
centers up pretty nicely, but it is about .003" off. I figured out which
jaw is causing the problem, and if I put in a .0025 to .0035 shim, it seems
to zero it up to within .0005". Is there a rule of thumb for how accurate
you need to be. Or in other words, what type of tolerances should I expect
to get from the rest of the machine? I am pretty picky, and I'll keep
playing with it until it is perfect, but I am not sure what perfect is. I'm
thinking of purchasing a new chuck, they are a bit pricey, but will I get
more accurate than .0005" right out of the box?

Thanks

"Jon Elson" wrote in message
...


Terry G wrote:

I am picking up a craftsman model 101.07403 12" lathe tomorrow and I am a
bit confused on the actual bed length, and the 'between centers'
dimension.

I searched the web and newsgroups for this model lathe and found it to be
called a 12"x24" and a 12"x36" lathe. Does it come in two sizes?


Yes, 42 and 54" beds.

The person I am purchasing it from actually measured the distance between
the front of the 3 jaw chuck (mounted on the headstock) and the front tip
of
the tailstock without anything installed into it. It measured at around
30". So you can see why I am confused. Is this lathe considered to have
24" or 36" between centers. He also stated it has a 40" bed, but I
think
he is measuring with a tape measure and not quite sure where to measure
from
since I believe these only came in 42" and 54" beds. The lathe is
mounted
on a 60" long table, with about 4 to 6 inches of exposed table (length).
So this leads me to believe the overall length of the lathe is around
54".
I am really confused now.

The only problem with the lathe (which he doesn't consider a problem) is
that the threads on the feedscrew right near the headstock are starting
to
show a little wear. He said it should not affect anything, but wanted to
disclose every thing he noticed. Also, there is a bit of backlash on the
carriage. He said by slightly tightening the gibs he can eliminate that
problem. I priced a new leadscrew from sears, just in case it was
really
bad, and they want $543.33. Is there any other source or way to replace
this item if needed.


It is possible to make new leadscrews from Acme thread stock, but the
one there
sounds quite servicable. Unless you were making new leadscrews, and
need high
precision over long lengths of thread, it should be no problem.

One last question, I want to put a quick change gearbox on it. Will this
adapt to this lathe since it did not originally come with it?


Umm, maybe. On the later models, it is a drop-in replacement, but this
is the
oldest (1938) Atlas model. It may have a 5/8" screw, which is a problem.
All the later models have a 3/4" leadscrew. I still think you can do
it, but it
may require an adapter be made where the leadscrew inserts into the QC.



This lathe is basically a 10" Atlas built with higher headstock and
tailstock,
and is more compatible with 10" Atlas parts.

Jon