$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.