Picked up a Craftsman 101.21200 6x18 lathe

[ksierens]

Two weeks ago I picked up a Craftsman 101.21200 lathe from a local guy. His dad had bought it new when he retired and he responded to a “Wanted” add I placed on Craigslist. The lathe came with a 3 jaw chuck, with both sets of jaws, a 4 jaw chuck, face plate, dogs, live and dead centers, spur and center for wood turning, lantern style tool holder with three tool holders, a steady rest, milling adapter, draw bar with tool holder, knurling wheels, full change gears, threading dial, multiple drill chucks, tooling, micrometer, depth gauge, wiggler, and a bunch of mt1 drills, original motor and forward/reverse switch. It also came with an old portable compressor that his Dad had mounted to the cart the lathe was on. The guys also had a Craftsman King Seeley bench drill press and a Craftsman bench grinder that I picked up at the same time. The only thing that was wrong with it was the cross feeds handle and the tailstocks handle was broken, and had been replaced with something else, oh and he had all the manuals, the Atlas Operating a Lathe book, and a bunch of articles his Dad had cut out of Popular Mechanics from back in the 40’s.

He also has a horizontal cut off saw for sale with 3 blades, the vertical table, and one casters, for $125, so if you are in South East Michigan, let me know and I can put you in touch with him.

So then I get an email a few days later from another guy, saying that he has a Craftsman 101.21200 lathe he wants to sell if I am still interested. I asked wath came with it, and he says a three jaw chuck with both jaws, a carriage stop (needed), follower rest (needed), quick change tool post and 5 holders, a lantern tool post and 3 holders (needed), full change gears, threading dial, drill chuck, face plate and centers, original motor and forward/reverese switch, and the two handles that were broken on mine, so since it would cost me almost $300 to buy the parts I did not have, I bought it for $400! Two days later I told a guy I work with I was going to see this lathe, and he bought it for $400, minus the stuff I kept, which still left him with a nicely equipped lathe.

The nice thing is that the quick change tool post and holders I have for my Unimat DB200 will fit this lathe, and after I turn down a blank mt2 holder for a 12mm thread, I can use my ER25 collet, boring head, chucks, etc, from my DB200 on it also. I also have a Benchmaster vertical mill that uses MT2 collets, so I can share them between the two also!

I attached a few pictures of it.

[spro]

What can i say, you won the lottery on that package. Even the rare follower rest and "mill" attachment. Seriously, there are 6" lathes but this is a newer one with the Timken bearings and sturdier platform. The drill press is also a classic and i'm rather fond of those grinders too. good news on tax day

[ZipSnipe]

Yeah sweet deal !!!! The day after I bought my Chinese 9x20 for $500, I drive by a garage sale, had the same lathe with all goodies you have and then some for $300, DOH !!!!!!

[ksierens]

You should have done like I did, buy the second lathe, keep the goodies you don't have, turn around and re-sell the lathe!

[ken572]

ksierens,

VERY COOL FIND..

Your Xmas came early this year

Ken.

[SteveM]

It may be a small lathe, but work within it's limits and you can do some nice work.

You got a great deal, especially with the tooling and accessories.

Did you get any threading gears?

Tony Griffith lists the top speed on some of those at over 3,000 rpm:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas6inch/
Yours looks to be 2,300 rpm.

It's a much more "serious" lathe than the 109 lathes sold by Sears.

You may still be able to get parts from Clausing and Sears.

Parts diagrams available here:
http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdi ... d=10121200

Manual available here:
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=3442h

BTW, that grinder is a 7" grinder, which means you can pick up 36A and 38A norton wheels cheap on ebay. 6" wheels for a standard bench grinder in the appropriate types for HSS are expensive.

My dad has had one of those for probably close to 40 years. I've been searching for one of those for years, but I just landed a great deal on a Ryobi 8" grinder, so I'm going to look for 8" wheels.

Steve

[steamin10]

While still a light duty lathe, I would take it hands down over the Chinee minis that flood the market. Tooling is the icing on the cake. 3 and 4 jaw are necessary for real lathe work, and something better than a lantern post is a light year increase in doable moves on this machine. While I believe this is a starter machine, it is far and away better than Chinee doorstops I have seen.

This is a better lathe, but be cautious. A wreck can easily destroy the main spindle. they are definatly a small work machine but cannot be pressed hard. Otherwise, they are as accurate as you can measure.

[spro]

Fwiw I found my 1966 catalog and even then the spindle was #2 and Timkened. I think this is a tougher spindle than the 6" one I have. The tailstock #1. That "crown" around the craftsman puts it in the 1970's.
There it is in 1973. Headstock 17/32" spindle hole; 9/32" collet capacity. Spindle nose 1"X 10 NS #2 MT. the tailstock #1. So it's still the same lathe as the '60's with a makeover. Still better than mine by a long shot.

[ksierens]

Thanks for the replies!

Steve, yes, it came with the full change gear set. One nice thing with these smaller lathes over say a 9" Southbend is that it can tun metric and imperial threads. The 109 had a much smaller 1/2" spindle and was prone to bending and no through hole. Yes, parts are still available through Sears Parts Direct or Clausing (who bought out Atlas), but the are verrry pricey.

Steamin10, I agree about the Chinese mini's, and I just love the old steel anyways. I just finished making the nut to hold my A2Z quick change.

Spro, yes, I believe the man I bought it from said it was purchased in 1973 when his father retired, and it does have the cast iron head stock and the 1" x 10 spindle. I really wanted a 618 mostly because of the looks, but I think there are some advantages mine has over the older style ones.

[Harold_V]

The 109 had a much smaller 1/2" spindle and was prone to bending and no through hole.

The factory spindle *did* have a through hole on the 109 Craftsman lathe---and as you alluded, it was exceedingly easy to bend the ½ threaded portion, which was fitted with an 0 Morse taper. A lesson I learned the hard way, as a young lad.

Harold

[spro]

Well Harold, we know good by knowing bad. They did have a hollow spindle and someone before me had a tapered lead insert with a draw bolt. I left that out and the spindle was bent by transport with a 4" chuck on it. I considered a solid 1/2" spindle and it seems it's been done. That planetary reduction wouldn't accept a larger dia spindle so it was a dead end.

[1492]

Do you have a Craftsman model 101.21200 for sale