Craftsman Lathe Build Dates ?

[railroader]

Folks,

I just bought a "Master Craftsman" lathe with the following stamped on the way: 101L5A319S

Can anyone help me figure out when it was made?

It is a sweet machine, well taken care of

 

[wa5cab]

Chris (please sign posts),

That is the longest, wierdest and probably earliest serial number string that I have seen on a Craftsman lathe. The actual serial number part of it is the 319. As the Craftsman 12" lathes first appear in the 1936 Power Tools Catalog and as the line (or part of it) was built up to mid 1957 at a serial number of at least 41832 (the highest number we have), my first guess would be that it was probably made in 1936. However, except for the metal badge on the headstock, everything else present matches the photo in the 1937 catalog. So maybe late 1936.

The Model Number is probably either 101.07381 (if it has back gears) or 101.07361 (if it doesn't).

As to the rest of what's stamped on the bed, "101" is the Sears contractor code for Atlas. This is the only reported example of "101" being stamped on the bed. "L5" seems to be the Atlas part number prefix (or one of them) used for 12" parts that were different from the corresponding part on the 10". They also used L2 and L3 but we have no idea what the digit signifies. The "A" is unknown. The "S" suffix might stand for "Sears". Although quite a few 10" have it as well.

Anyway, does it have back gears? When I know the answer to that, I can put it into the database.

Robert D.

 

[railroader]

Thank you, Robert

There are no back gears.

I'm looking for a belt cover (over the headstock) and a gear cover (a hinged door covering the gears on the far left side of the headstock). I found a guy on E-bay who is helping me. Any suggestions are welcome.

Cheers

Chris Schilling
Winter Haven, Florida
989 430-6980

 

[railroader]

Robert,

Can you tell me which file on the downloads page has the early catalog you mentioned?

I can only download one file at a time; as I get the message, "you have reached your download quota for the day."

Thank you

Chris Schilling
Winter Haven, Florida
989 430-6980

 

[wa5cab]

Chris,

OK. I assume that there is no nameplate present. I don't know why, but probably 90% of the ones that have been repainted, whomever did it didn't bother to put the nameplate back on. The mounting holes for the two back gear brackets should be present.

So that makes the most likely model number 101.07361. This model had the same change gear cover as all of the later models but you still need to find one with the early 96T thread settings plate inside of it. The three models ending in "2" and the three ending in "3" (instead of those ending in "0" and "1") all had the later change gears and no 96T. This model did not have a belt cover. And as it had no back gears, it did not have the two individual gear covers. So aside from the color and the missing change gear cover, it looks just like it did when new.

I haven't uploaded any of the Craftsman catalogs to Downloads.. The upload limit for PDF's used to be set to 10 MB and although the 1937 is just under that, many are over it. The limit is now 20 MB so I may start uploading them. In any case, I just uploaded the 1937 one, and the title is Craftsman Power Tools Catalog 1937.PDF. Note that the photograph on page 16 is of the 101.07381, with back gears. Yours is the one referred to as the 8-speed model (no back gears), catalog number ending in 2028. The photo on page 14 is of a stripped down version of the one on page 17. The latter being a 101.07401. It came with a belt cover but yours didn't. However, nothing wrong with adding it, if you want to.

When you reach 30 posts, the daily limit should go away. So I'm told.

Robert D.

 

[railroader]

Robert,

Thanks for answering my questions. You are a good man.

I guess I'm not sure about the back gear question (i'm ignorant).

Can you tell from the photos below if I have a back gear?





Thank you

Chris Schilling
Winter Haven Florida
989 430 6980

 

[railroader]

Robert,

I might be wrong, but are these the bolt holes you referred to for the back gears?

Thank you

Chris Schilling
Winter Haven Florida
989 430 6980



I also wanted to mention that the nameplate on the motor looks cool:

 

[railroader]

Robert, I should have done my homework before bothering you with the back gear question.

Thanks a million for downloading the catalog, because it clearly shows I have no back gears.

Mine has the "counter shaft assembly" shown on the bottom of page 14.

I'm searching for belt/gear covers, such as in this photo I found on the web below. Any suggestions for a vendor would be great.

Cheers



Thanks again

Chris Schilling
Winter Haven Florida
989 430 6980

 

[wa5cab]

Chris,

Yes, the three holes (two tapped) in the back of the headstock shown in the most recent photograph of your machine are the holes for mounting the right (left in the photograph) change gear bracket. The tapped holes for the left bracket are also used to attach the belt tension lock (bar or plate). The unused third hole through the lock is for the alignment pin for the (not present) left back bear bracket.

As for a vendor for the covers, I don't know of anyone who presently has either for sale. You might try http://www.mymachineshop.net/ . Joel has had such things in the past. Otherwise, put a Wanted post in the Wanted forum at the extreme bottom of the list of fora. And one in the Classifieds. Otherwise, eBay.

Robert D.

 

[mecompco]

Again Robert, Thanks for the great info, I am excited to start running this lathe and I will either locate a suitable Atlas part for the motor shaft or I will start running it with a temporary pulley of the correct width and a midrange size to get me started. I am going to continue cleaning it up and start the fabrication of a steel stand this weekend. I am still hopeful that one of the other forum members that has one of these will reply with a measurement of the OD of the two step pulley.

From there, as you said I can purchase a commercial replacement, or I have some Aluminum stock that I can use to make a set. Really shouldn't be that complicated, I will rough out all the dimensions and make a form tool for the "V" Would be a handy skill to develop, so in the future I can create precisely the size of pulley I need. I have plans to build a Power Hacksaw in the very near future.

Jaimie, how's the lathe project coming? Here's mine, before I cleaned it up a little. It is a 101.07383. It seems to run well, though I have not done much with it yet. It does make a lot of noise but the chuck spins. Perhaps someone has an idea about how to smooth out the belt/motor/pulley noise?



Regards,
Michael