"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2009-03-11, Jedd Haas wrote:
hi guys, what do you think of this price?

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/tls/1069626964.html

Atlas Craftsman 6" Lathe (Pics) - $300 (Prairieville La.)
Reply to: [Errors when replying to
ads?]
Date: 2009-03-10, 10:05PM CDT


New belts, new motor. very little tooling. no extra gears. Good shape.
Can be seen at http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/bsa050/ Keep
Clicking on pics untill fullpage

- Old enough so it has bronze bearings instead of ball or roller
bearings.

? Only a 3-jaw chuck -- and what looks like some square rod bent
into an 'L' to act as the wrench for the chuck.

- You can only cut a single thread pitch -- whatever the gears in
the headstock are currently set for. You really *need* the
other gears to make it a useful lathe.

+ A steady rest to fit the lathe -- and maybe two clamp blocks
to choose from to hold it down.

+ A 1-2" micrometer (I think).

+ A spare belt.

+ A rather nice chip tray under it -- if that comes with it.

- No four-jaw chuck.

- No faceplate.

? Lantern style toolpost -- but no tool holders to go with it.

+ A tailstock center.

- No tailstock drill chuck

- No live center for the tailstock.

+ At least it has the tailstock, unlike the South Bend in the
background of the third photo.

? No clue as to how worn the bed is.

*If* the bed is unworn, and the same for the spindle bearings,
then it *might* be worth that as a parts lathe to support another of the
same design. Otherwise, there is too much missing. Those gears are
Zamac castings, and many of them are failing by this age.

I would personally be more interested in the South Bend in the
background -- if the tailstock comes with it.

Enjoy,
DoN.

The lathe I see in the pictures is the Timken bearing equipped model.

There are no obvious signs of abuse (e.g. broken cranks).

I think the price is not out of line, if the machine is in decent
shape.

The one thing that is curious is that the belt on the spindle looks
new, implying the headstock was torn down recently. Why? Did he do a
good job?

-Bruno