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In the spring of 2008 I had the chance to purchase a Craftsman
101.21400 (Atlas 618) metal lathe from the estate of a very close family friend who was the original
purchaser of the lathe in about 1960. When I visually checked the lathe for condition and wear, I
decided that he probably didn't have more than ten hours use on it. For example, there are no apparent
scratches or other obvious wear on the bed ways. Along with the lathe itself came both three jaw and four chucks, Jacobs chucks
for both the headstock and tailstock, various tool holders, a reversible motor with drum switch, and a little bit of tooling.
Because the lathe had sat on his garage bench for many years, the oil and other lubricants were all pretty well dried up, but since it was covered,
it was actually pretty clean and rust free. Consequently, the lathe will probably need
pretty much a complete tear down, cleaning, and re-assembly. Because my garage shop is no where near
ready for the lathe, it is currently wrapped and sealed in heavy plastic sheeting and stored in my shed. |
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Along with the lathe, I also purchased a heavy duty Craftsman 150
bench top drill press of about the same age from the same estate. The drill press had a lot more
use over the years than the lathe but is still in very good condition but also in need of a fair amount of cleaning
and re-lubricating. |
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I'll be posting images below as the process of setting up my home
machine shop continues. |
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These two pictures are of the Craftsman lathe as installed in the
original owner's garage. The lathe was covered in plastic sheeting, but was buried under about three feet
of empty boxes and other miscellaneous stuff. |
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Yes, there really is a garage under all this stuff somewhere!!
This is where my home machine shop will eventually be located. The lathe will go along the right hand
wall. |
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