New to me Craftsman 6" lathe

Which model is it? There are several, the most popular (and infamous) being the "109", which was built by AA Products in Ann Arbor, Michigan. AA went out of business in the 1960's and Sears has no parts support for it. The AA was known for having a weak spindle and the ways wore out fast if not taken care of. Current market for a good one is less than $300 with all the popular accessories (3 jaw, 4 jaw, faceplate, drill chuck, all the change gears). These lathes were hot sellers in their day, but the vast majority were abused at some point, creating a tremendous demand for repair parts. I had one with bad ways that I parted out for considerably more than I would have been able to sell the whole machine for.

YMMV.

-Carl

No No wait tell me what you really think of it.. Don't hold back. I purchased it pretty cheap, he just didn't want it sitting around anymore so I don't have much into it at all anyways but I do appriciate your opinion. Thanks,

Russ Wizinsky

Is it a model 101-xxxxx or a model 109-xxxxx.? It makes a difference. If you can't find the model no. on the back side of the bed go here

and search for a picture of it. If you have a 101 maybe I can answer some questions for you. If you have a model 109 someone else will be able to help you. Does it have change gears, tooling etc.?

Richard Coke

The 101 had a rather weak spindle, spindle bushings rather than bearings and cast potmetal gears. It's OK for light work, one step up from a Unimat, but don't try anything serious.

Agreed. If they'd rated it as a 3" or 4" lathe, and adjusted axis to bed height accordingly, instead of pretending it's a 6", the whole thing would have been more reasonable. The fact that it WILL swing 6" invites the user to overtax the machine, often with disastrous results.

And, yes, in most respects it is a step up from a Unimat. It's not really a bad little lathe, as long as you operate it within it's *REAL* capacity.

Dan Mitchell ==========

John >

"The 101 had a rather weak spindle, spindle bushings rather than bearings and cast potmetal gears. It's OK for light work, one step up from a Unimat, but don't try anything serious."

The Sears 6" engine lathe, with the model number beginning with 101. was made Atlas Press Co.

These lathes have a sturdy spindle with a #2 Morse taper in the bore. (the weak spindle was a feature of the sears model 109. made by aa engineering)

There were two major versions of this Atlas machine. One, with sintered bronze spindle bearings, the other with Timken tapered roller bearings.

The gears (change and backgear) were high pressure Zamak castings. These have wear qualities similar to cast iron.

These machines are very sturdy. I have one of the older (sintered bronze bearing) machines and have turned large (for a six inch size lathe) projects. After 50 years of use/abuse, the run-out of the spindle is less that 0.0005". These machines can cut a wide range of threads, and will take 18" between centers. The spindle speed can be adjusted to below 60 rpm, making it ideal for threading.

If the bed has not been abused and is complete with change gears, faceplate, etc., I would considered this as a good asset.

Leo (pearland, tx)

Very true. these were TOTALLY different machines. In manufacturer, design, and capability.

The Sears/Atlas 6" is a fine little lathe. There's not much bad I can say about it, and I have an use one (Timken bearing one) often at work. It'll do most anything any similar sized lathe will do.

The Sears/AA 6" (so called) is not nearly as big or good a lathe. Still it's not bad if you think of it as a 3" or 4" lathe ... that's what it REALLY is. For a small hobby lathe, used withing it's real capacity, it's 'OK'.

Dan Mitchell ==========

Leo Reed wrote:

Russ, I have the manual for the 101.21200.

I need a manual for a 101.21200 Craftsman Lathe BADLY!

Can I still get one?

Thanks, Ja

-- KnuckleBuster