I'm a new woodturner with the "new" Craftsman 21715
15" lathe. (I think it's well worth its best buy status
in the American Woodworker issue last December or so.)
The only complaint I've got so far is the fact that it's
not the quietest lathe around. It's about the same volume
as the agitation cycle on a top-loading washing machine.
The lathe is mounted a longish bench, which is amplifying
the sound a bit due to resonance. That's not a problem
in my garage, where the lathe is now.

However, I'm about to move far, far away to an apartment,
where the lathe will have to go in the basement storage
area. There, I'm concerned that the noise might be bothersome
to the apartment that has a common wall with the basement
some 10 to 15 feet away.

I've considered placing some rubber pad between the lathe
and its bench to isolate it a bit from the bench.
Alternatively, I've considered using linked belts on its
Reeves drive mechanism to see if that helps.

Does anyone have any experience with these ideas or further
suggestions? I hate to give up my big lathe for a Jet mini
(which is whisper quiet), but I don't want to get my
neighbors upset with me. I'm trying to be the best neighbor
I can be.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Daryl

I've scanned and uploaded some pictures from the
manual showing the drive mechanism in the Craftsman
lathe.

This is the side view with the cover off:
http://www.paradosis.com/pics/lathe/side_view.pdf

This is an exploded view and parts list of the entire thing:
http://www.paradosis.com/pics/lathe/exploded.pdf
http://www.paradosis.com/pics/lathe/parts_list.pdf

You can see that power comes from the shaft connected
to parts 49 and 50 (transmission pulley and drive
belt), going through the lower pulley (24 and 25),
connected via the V belt (6) to the upper pulley
(5 and 8), which drives the spindle.

These PDFs were produced with GhostScript/RedMon.
For some reason, my most recent set up of this results in
lines in the output when printed. They don't obscure
anything, but any ideas as to why this is happening
are appreciated.

Daryl



Daryl Biberdorf wrote:
I'm a new woodturner with the "new" Craftsman 21715
15" lathe. (I think it's well worth its best buy status
in the American Woodworker issue last December or so.)
The only complaint I've got so far is the fact that it's
not the quietest lathe around. It's about the same volume
as the agitation cycle on a top-loading washing machine.
The lathe is mounted a longish bench, which is amplifying
the sound a bit due to resonance. That's not a problem
in my garage, where the lathe is now.

However, I'm about to move far, far away to an apartment,
where the lathe will have to go in the basement storage
area. There, I'm concerned that the noise might be bothersome
to the apartment that has a common wall with the basement
some 10 to 15 feet away.

I've considered placing some rubber pad between the lathe
and its bench to isolate it a bit from the bench.
Alternatively, I've considered using linked belts on its
Reeves drive mechanism to see if that helps.

Does anyone have any experience with these ideas or further
suggestions? I hate to give up my big lathe for a Jet mini
(which is whisper quiet), but I don't want to get my
neighbors upset with me. I'm trying to be the best neighbor
I can be.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Daryl

I think adding rubber pad will not be a good thing. I suggest you add
some sand bag. They will damp a lot of vibration and add good stability
when unbalance blanks.

Daryl Biberdorf wrote in news:5bKcncBT2-nbZLyiU-
:

I'm a new woodturner with the "new" Craftsman 21715
15" lathe. (I think it's well worth its best buy status
in the American Woodworker issue last December or so.)
The only complaint I've got so far is the fact that it's
not the quietest lathe around. It's about the same volume
as the agitation cycle on a top-loading washing machine.
The lathe is mounted a longish bench, which is amplifying
the sound a bit due to resonance. That's not a problem
in my garage, where the lathe is now.

However, I'm about to move far, far away to an apartment,
where the lathe will have to go in the basement storage
area. There, I'm concerned that the noise might be bothersome
to the apartment that has a common wall with the basement
some 10 to 15 feet away.

I've considered placing some rubber pad between the lathe
and its bench to isolate it a bit from the bench.
Alternatively, I've considered using linked belts on its
Reeves drive mechanism to see if that helps.

Does anyone have any experience with these ideas or further
suggestions? I hate to give up my big lathe for a Jet mini
(which is whisper quiet), but I don't want to get my
neighbors upset with me. I'm trying to be the best neighbor
I can be.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Daryl

I bought the Craftsman 21715 earlier this year. I was upgrading from
Harbor Freights $79 lathe which I learned on for two years. I thought it
was a big improvement. Wrong. I had an off balance bowl blank on it and
the spindle started wobbling. I found three loose bolts on it which I
tightened. Then the drive belt started slipping. I looked to see how to
fix it and found it to be much of a problem. It was under warrenty so I
called Sears Repair. He had to order a new belt which was a month and a
half to arrive. After three weeks I heard that this model was hard on
bearings which cost $80 each so I took my lathe back to Sears and got a
refund.
With my refund I added $245 and bought the Jet Jwl 1442 for $715 from
Southern Tool. It was free shipping and I received it in four days.
The jet is 1 horse power and variable speed and I have not been able to
stall with any out of balance bowl blank. I was worth the extra $245.
The day my new Jet Lathe arrived, Fed Ex delivered the belt for the
craftsman lathe. Tommie


http://www.angelfire.com/va3/tommiesplace.com

Tommie wrote: (clip) After three weeks I heard that this model was hard on
bearings which cost $80 each(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^
That fits with what I heard from a friend, who has the earlier gear-driven
version of this lathe. His spindle has developed some play in the bearings.

As an owner of a Craftsman 21715 15" lathe, I have found the best way to
quiet it is to pull the plug on it. That will not only save your ears, but
help keep you from strangling the people at the service desk, parts dept.,
repair scheduling, and the 15 other people you have to call when it breaks.
Hopefully you got the extended service agreement. It took over 2 months to
get a bearing replaced, finally they gave up and gave me a new lathe that I
haven't had the heart to plug in. I have the 5 year service agreement so I
can wait 4 more years to plug it in, so I can have it replaced again in
warrantee.

Steve Andrejat wrote: (clip) finally they gave up and gave me a new lathe
that I haven't had the heart to plug in (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That may be the harshest review of a lathe ever written.

Folks
I am still using my Craftsman and still consider it to be a bargain. I
have it bolted to the floor and turn pieces up to eighteen inches
without problem except getting that large a piece of wood. I find it
quiet to turn on and dependable. I have replaced one drive belt but no
big deal there. I have had both the gear driven and the belt driven
models and like both. Once I get the dust collector and the drill going
for sanding, noise from a lathe is not a problem. Wear hearing
protectors in the shop, folks. You want your ears for a long time.
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://www.roundthewoods.com

I had the old version of that lathe to start out on and it lasted me a
month, and at that time all I was turning were cedar and pine 4x4s.
The service department wasn't any help but the sales people were, I
turned it back in and got my money back. Just my opinion but it seems
that craftsman makes its big power tools look good but thats about it.
Hopefully yours works out well. Personally I'd just turn it back in
and get the Jet or Nova minis and be happy with a quality piece of
equipment, quieter too. I'm not knocking Craftsman, thier handtools
(wrenches, etc) are perfect, that's all I'll buy, their toolboxes are
best for the price. They have to make money on some stuff though and I
guess the big stuff is where they choose to. Either way, good luck,
Guy