I considered bidding on this lathe, (see below), the guy only lives a
few miles from me, but I decided not to. I am wondering if these old
lathes are really worth buying for everyday use? I have a use for a
small lathe and am thinking I would be better off just buying a new
small Import. Any thoughts? Would there be any reason why I would want
one of the older lathes, there seems to be no shortage of them around?
I am not looking for a project, I want a lathe I can use.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=12 72

I am not looking for a project, I want a lathe I can use.

Even new machines can be a project before they can be used.

Best Regards
Tom.

I would suggest you would be better served with a new import small
lathe. Go to www.micromark.com and look at item# 82710. This is a 7x14
lathe with standard american screw theads. ie you get a true 50
thousands on each turn of the cross feed dial. The price is 574.95,
less than you will pay for a old beat up Atlas 6 inch lathe. I owned a
7x12 Micromark lathe for two years and was very happy with it. I have
since moved up to a 12x36 gearhead. Another site to check out is
www.minilathe.com for opinions on the various 7x10 and 7x12 mini
lathes available. Be aware of one strange thing, a 7x10 only has 8
inches between centers! The 7x12 and 7x14s are true 12 and 14 inches
between centers. All of these lathes will need some clean up but
nothing too bad.


(Cuezilla) wrote in message . com...
I considered bidding on this lathe, (see below), the guy only lives a
few miles from me, but I decided not to. I am wondering if these old
lathes are really worth buying for everyday use? I have a use for a
small lathe and am thinking I would be better off just buying a new
small Import. Any thoughts? Would there be any reason why I would want
one of the older lathes, there seems to be no shortage of them around?
I am not looking for a project, I want a lathe I can use.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=12 72

The 109-xxx lathes sold by Sears are NOT Atlas Press Co. built. They
were produced by AA Manufacturing.

These lathes are not as sturdy as the lathes produced by Atlas.

If you can find a Sears or Atlas, these are still supported by Clausing.

The Sears number will be 101-xxx. They are 6" swing and 18" between
centers. I have one bought new in the 50's. It can produced some fine
results, if handled properly.

Leo (pearland, tx)

If you want a small lathe in the 6-9" range that works out of the box have
you considered the European imports from Prazi or Emco (not Enco)?
lg
no neat sig line
"Cuezilla" wrote in message
om...
I considered bidding on this lathe, (see below), the guy only lives a
few miles from me, but I decided not to. I am wondering if these old
lathes are really worth buying for everyday use? I have a use for a
small lathe and am thinking I would be better off just buying a new
small Import. Any thoughts? Would there be any reason why I would want
one of the older lathes, there seems to be no shortage of them around?
I am not looking for a project, I want a lathe I can use.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=12 72

In article , Cuezilla says...

I considered bidding on this lathe, (see below), the guy only lives a
few miles from me, but I decided not to.

The main attraction for those AA Products machines is, they're
small and don't look very intimidating. So many neophytes
are attracted to them because they think a) won't take
up much room b) not very powerful c) does not make much
noise, d) easy to use.

The first three are certainly true, but for the dyed in
the wool metalheads those are deficiencies, not benefits.
The last is not really true, a somewhat larger machine is
easier to learn on I think.

Also most of the AA machines are fairly old and most have
had a tough life. Parts are expensive because they
didn't make many, so unless the machine comes with a
full set of change gears, for example, it's a bit crippled.

Jim

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

(Cuezilla) wrote in message . com...
I considered bidding on this lathe, (see below), the guy only lives a
few miles from me, but I decided not to. I am wondering if these old
lathes are really worth buying for everyday use? I have a use for a
small lathe and am thinking I would be better off just buying a new
small Import. Any thoughts? Would there be any reason why I would want
one of the older lathes, there seems to be no shortage of them around?
I am not looking for a project, I want a lathe I can use.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=12 72

That's a Craftsman AA-109, and while they do work, the outside
diameter of the spindle is only 9/16 inch, spindly to say the least.
I had a couple of them, but I'm not in a hurry to get another one.
You might want to check out
http://www.homier.com, they have about the cheapest price on a 7 x 12
that I've seen. It's usable, does well on small work, but limited by
it's low speed range, not slow enough. Takes a couple of hours to
remove the burrs and the sharp edges, but not a big thing, taking it
apart to remove all the grease it's packed in is the easiest way. Not
what I'd want for my only machine, but my 12 X 36 Grizzly takes most
of the work. It's a good buy for the money.