Thinking of Purchasing a Craftsman 12"

mickri said:
I looked for a year before I found my Craftsman 12x36. And it was only a couple of miles from my house. As I searched it became apparent that most sellers didn't know squat about what they were selling. I figured that anything that came out of a machine shop was worn out and would need lots of love to be usable. In the end I concentrated on estate sales where the family was selling off Grampa's stuff. In your area I would also look in the obituaries searching for a reference to a machinist having passed away. Follow up with the family about what they might have for sale.

Also have you mentioned to people where you work that you are looking for a lathe for a garage shop. One of your co workers may have one sitting in a corner of their garage or know someone who has a lathe.

You won't get any deals from a dealer. Dealers will sell off all of the tooling that they can and will only include a bare minimum of what they couldn't sell separately with the lathe. Tooling can often cost more than the lathe.

And you definitely want to inspect the lathe before making an offer.

Have you thought about what you would like to make with your lathe? Write out what I call a statement of requirements, SOR for short, that your lathe will need to be able to do to make what you want. Doing gunsmithing requires a totally different machine than making clocks. You will also find that hobby size machines will sell for top dollar in most areas whereas big lathes will sell for scrap value or less.

Most of all be patient.
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Thank you for the advice. I will definitely have to ask around work. I have thought that estate sales would be a great place to look but am having trouble finding them in my area. Is there a good resource for them besides local classifieds? As far as what I would like to make, I have nothing particular in mind, most likely odds and ends for automotive repair or whatever else I'm tearing apart at the moment, I have a moderate interest in gunsmithing but that's not an immediate requirement for me, so I think something in the 9-12" range is what I would like. Currently I actually have an old Yost vise I'm working on repairing that needs a new handle, I would like to turn one and thread the ends, then make some knobs for it. There are some large machines for sale in my area but I think the maximum I could comfortably fit in my garage is around a 14x40 or so.
 
mickri said:
I looked for a year before I found my Craftsman 12x36. And it was only a couple of miles from my house. As I searched it became apparent that most sellers didn't know squat about what they were selling. I figured that anything that came out of a machine shop was worn out and would need lots of love to be usable. In the end I concentrated on estate sales where the family was selling off Grampa's stuff. In your area I would also look in the obituaries searching for a reference to a machinist having passed away. Follow up with the family about what they might have for sale.

Also have you mentioned to people where you work that you are looking for a lathe for a garage shop. One of your co workers may have one sitting in a corner of their garage or know someone who has a lathe.

You won't get any deals from a dealer. Dealers will sell off all of the tooling that they can and will only include a bare minimum of what they couldn't sell separately with the lathe. Tooling can often cost more than the lathe.

And you definitely want to inspect the lathe before making an offer.

Have you thought about what you would like to make with your lathe? Write out what I call a statement of requirements, SOR for short, that your lathe will need to be able to do to make what you want. Doing gunsmithing requires a totally different machine than making clocks. You will also find that hobby size machines will sell for top dollar in most areas whereas big lathes will sell for scrap value or less.

Most of all be patient.
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Furthermore, I can totally scan obits, however is there an inoffensive way to reach out to a family that has just lost someone while trying to scoop up their loved one's belongings? I was just pondering the idea and realized I would probably be offended if someone contacted me because they were scanning obituaries for potential material gain, but that may just be me.
 
Now is probably not the best time to be buying a used lathe, I've noticed a reduction in machines showing up on Craigslist and even ebay since the lockdown. Things do still pop up, so is worth keeping an eye open, but don't get desperate thinking what you see now is all there is. Also with CL (and likely your KSL) you need to check often and strike fast when you see a real deal, or someone else will get it. It isn't like ebay where things hang around for a week. The really good deals can be gone in hours.

Even if you can't make the drive look at other Craigslist areas, Phoenix, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles just to see what is out there and some idea of prices. I would also be very leary of buying a lathe or mill sight unseen, photos can give you an idea, but still a lot of unknowns. Ebay is good for tooling, but the difficulty in getting hands on makes it not so great for machines. Ebay machine prices also tend to be considerably higher than Craigslist in general.


As far as the lathe you posted, it is a change gear lathe and none of that tooling is anything special. It does not have a steady rest or follow rest, those are not the easiest parts to find and they can be relatively expensive when you do. I've seen them on ebay for $300-400 each, assume you get them for half that and you are still looking at 1/2 again what you paid for the lathe. Also no 4 Jaw chuck, that could be $100-200 for an inexpensive import, more for something better. It does have a bunch of change gear in its favor.

A QCGB is not something easily added later. On a smaller lathe I'd be less concerned about it since it is uncommon on lathes smaller than 10", but they are pretty common on older 10" and larger lathes, so worth holding out for unless it is checking off all of your other wants. The tooling included with a lathe can make a huge difference between an ok deal and a great deal particularly with a vintage lathe where parts and tooling often require a hunt.
 
In general, when you go beyond about 12x36, you can expect a significant increase in the machine weight and in the cost of tooling, accessories and supplies. For various reasons, the cost of the machines may not go up a whole bunch but the cost of what probably won't come with the machine but that you can't do much without does.

The Atlas built Sears lathe that you were looking at is a 101.07383, which is the final version of the Babbit bearing models that Sears sold. It also looked like it was probably a 12x24. If you have the space, you probably want a 12x36 (or a 10x36). Babbit bearing machines can do good work but don't buy one of them without an evaluation of the bearing condition. They are expensive but you can still buy and replace the Timken bearings found in the 101.07403 and the two QCGB versions of it, 101.27430 and 101.27440. If the babbit bearings are still in good condition, they will probably outlast the owner in a hobby shop. But if they are worn out past the four shim layers that they came with, about your only recourse will be to replace the headstock. Some people will tell you that you can always re-pour the bearings. And you can. But doing it successfully if you haven't already done several and are equipped to do it is far from a trivial undertaking.
 
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Well I let it go and despite the seller's talk about the value, it didn't receive a single bid before the auction ended! I'm curious to see if they relist it but at this point I'm not interested in it for more than a couple hundred dollars if at all.
 
For anyone who would like a good chuckle, today the seller messaged me completely unprompted and said the following:

"Hi, the item is relisted with the buy it now or best offer option. I have to sell it through ebay since communication is through here. If you like please make your best offer I do not really want to haggle."

The really funny part is that the buy it now price has gone up to $900, vs the previous starting bid of $750 :rolleyes:. This is the third time it's been relisted after going without a sale. Just a humorous little update I thought some of you might appreciate.
 
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Nobody is going to pay for shipping this lathe! Would cost 2x more than his minimum price after crating and the crate will weigh about 50% of the lathe if done properly.
It is babbit lathe, strike 1.
Tooling is minimal, dirty and rusty, strike 2.
No inspection, Strike 3!
30 years ago, I purchased a Atlas 10D from a co worker’s husband. Still had to spend for expendable parts. After 20 years I had put in another grand. I did not begrudge doing so, as it is the cost of owning anything. I still liked it, but a better, newer by 70 years came up for less than what I had in the Atlas. Bought it and sold the Atlas for 600 to another friend who wanted a small lathe for home.

Is this one a project? Hard to say without close inspection. Does not look overly bad. QCTP tool holders are not that expensive and flat ways is not a curse. Many modern CNC machining centers use them, but the wear area is in the first 10” from the chuck. Depending on the accuracy you are looking for, this could be a concern.
Good Luck and stay safe.
Pierre
 
Okay, I hate to say this but I'm gonna go ahead since I don't know your personal details.

I lived in Mesa, AZ for 8 years, for those who don't know it's kinda like Salt Lake South. It took me probably 4 years before I figured out the secret of getting just about anything there from business insurance to a good roofer. I finally realized that all I had to do was ask my buddy Dave who was in good at the local temple.

In a tight knit community it's often the religious leaders who have access to information like who to contact about purchasing items from an estate or a closed business. In Utah you know who that is....

John
 
matthewsx said:
Okay, I hate to say this but I'm gonna go ahead since I don't know your personal details.

I lived in Mesa, AZ for 8 years, for those who don't know it's kinda like Salt Lake South. It took me probably 4 years before I figured out the secret of getting just about anything there from business insurance to a good roofer. I finally realized that all I had to do was ask my buddy Dave who was in good at the local temple.

In a tight knit community it's often the religious leaders who have access to information like who to contact about purchasing items from an estate or a closed business. In Utah you know who that is....

John
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Ha, I appreciate your honesty! I know exactly what you mean but unfortunately I was not born into the, "secret club" as it were. I also don't really have friends that participate either. Not exactly my kind of crowd to be honest. Maybe I need to make friends with my local bishop, or meet some churchgoers in the neighborhood.
 
We had one of those, $100.00, upgraded when we found next...

We all start with what we find and keep looking.

That being stated, $300.00 would be max amount with pickup.



The only good part is it is a learning lathe meaning it will hurt you less and once you figure put how to make anything with it you will have a decent skill set.

HF sells a mini lathe for about 500.00 on sale that does good work for its size and within the work space much better than this.

Portable and can be put on a shelf so you can learn and get buy until next one comes along.

We had both...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
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