Thinking of Purchasing a Craftsman 12"

Yeah, anyone who lists something at one price then decides to raise it isn't somebody I would want to deal with, in normal business that's called bait and switch and it's illegal.

At the end of the day you will be much better off waiting and buying a better machine.

My first lathe, if you can call it that, was one of the cheap 3 in 1 machines from China. I didn't have this group to consult and I really didn't know anything about machining, I just needed something to build and modify parts for my karting business. It turned out to be nothing but frustration but fortunately I later found a Seneca Falls Star lathe on Craigslist for $300 and sold the Chinese machine for a loss. It's not that great of a lathe but it more than paid for itself doing engine rebuilds for a few years. Last year I fixed it up with a QCTP, 3 phase motor, and a bunch of other stuff.

In retrospect I should have sold it and bought a newer, better lathe but experience is a merciless teacher. I will probably be able to sell the Star for close to what I have into it should I want to but I'll hang onto it for now.

So, save your pennies. Do more research and reach out to folks who might know where something nice is. As others have mentioned, if you have the room, bigger lathes often go cheap but you will have to know how to evaluate something that's spent it's life making parts in a working shop or factory.

If you want a hobby sized machine either hold out for something used that has been lovingly refurbished by another hobbyist or plan on buying new unless you come across that $300 deal.

John
 
If this was an in service lathe coming out of someone's shop, with the basic tooling I listed it could be a reasonable deal at $1000, but as it sits you have work in front of you. If the seller won't negotiate a more realistic price, then probably not worth the effort.

The 9 and 10" Grizzly lathes have their short comings, but they are a good value and in my opinion not a bad place to start, even if you eventually want to go bigger. The PM lathes are better, but at their price their 10x22/30 is probably better suited to someone who wants that size lathe longer term.
 
Well as if by magic within minutes of things falling through with the seller, this beauty showed up and I snapped it up. A Craftsman 618 with two four jaws, a Bison three jaw, plenty of cutters, a full set of change gears, quick change tool post, and last but not least a live and dead center from the magnanimous York, who lives in my area :). I paid $600 for the lot, he even threw in the table and steel plate it was mounted on. I feel like I got a much better deal than whatever I would have been dealing with on the 12". It may be smaller but I think it will serve me well until I can upgrade to something more substantial.
 

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ChandlerJPerry said:
Well as if by magic within minutes of things falling through with the seller, this beauty showed up and I snapped it up. A Craftsman 618 with two four jaws, a Bison three jaw, plenty of cutters, a full set of change gears, quick change tool post, and last but not least a live and dead center from the magnanimous York, who lives in my area :). I paid $600 for the lot, he even threw in the table and steel plate it was mounted on. I feel like I got a much better deal than whatever I would have been dealing with on the 12". It may be smaller but I think it will serve me well until I can upgrade to something more substantial.
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Well done!
 
It might be smaller, but that is the kind of thing you really want to get if you want to make stuff instead of fixing the lathe. It looks like it has been used recently, not shoved in a dark corner, and neglected with half the tooling gone lost over time.

Not a bad price either, if you get to a point where you want to go bigger you shouldn't have trouble getting your money back.
 
ChandlerJPerry said:
Well as if by magic within minutes of things falling through with the seller, this beauty showed up and I snapped it up. A Craftsman 618 with two four jaws, a Bison three jaw, plenty of cutters, a full set of change gears, quick change tool post, and last but not least a live and dead center from the magnanimous York, who lives in my area :). I paid $600 for the lot, he even threw in the table and steel plate it was mounted on. I feel like I got a much better deal than whatever I would have been dealing with on the 12". It may be smaller but I think it will serve me well until I can upgrade to something more substantial.
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Cool,

DSCN1338.JPG

You got a lot more stuff with yours than I did with mine, and you won't have to do as much work as I did either.

www.hobby-machinist.com

Just added a 101.21200 to my shop out west

I've been suffering lathe withdrawals since my Seneca Falls Star 9" is 2000 miles away. I found this little guy on Craigslist, not the upgrade I've been hoping for but it should keep me busy for a little while. She's rusty but the spindle turns smooth so hopefully just a clean-up and paint...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com

John
 
@ChandlerJPerry,

To first correct your statement just above that you had found and bought a Craftsman version of the Atlas 618, you didn't actually. The machine that you bought is a 101.21200 which is the same except for badge as the Atlas 3950. The Craftsman equivalent to the Atlas 618 is the 101.21400, built from 1957 until 1972. While all four models are 6x18's, only the Atlas 618 can properly be referred to as a 618 (the Model Number). It was in production from 1937 until 1972 and in my opinion was probably, all things considered, the best 6" lathe ever built. It's only real shortcoming was that Atlas never built and sold a QCGB for it.

To correct someone else's error back up this thread, "10F-28" is an Atlas part number, not a model number. Specifically, 10F-28 is the casting number and the finish-machined part number of the change gear guard on the left end of the headstock on all Atlas 10F lathes except for the Pick-O-Matic and QC models. The "28" in the part number has nothing to do with bed length. It just happened to be the next available number back around 1931 when the original Atlas 9" was in the design phase and someone was assigning part numbers for it. The part number assigned that day was 9-28.
 
Sounds like walking away was the right thing to do. That seller seemed confused, or at the very least was probably getting conflicting advice and didn't really know what do to. Looks like you got a pretty sweet machine because you waited, so enjoy!

Let us know if the seller of lathe #1 calls back and what he says.

For comparison (for anyone following this thread who's thinking of buying a lathe), I paid $400 for a similar lathe in better shape on a stand that I sold for $350. I also bought a parts machine (same lathe model) for $350 that had no motor or tooling that was in about the same shape as lathe #1. I've sold off most of the parts I didn't use and made all my money back. I bought both of these off CL in the Los Angles area.
 
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