Saw this for sale

[Traffer]

Hi Folks,
I have been looking for a great deal on the lathe for a couple of years. I just saw this. I would buy it in a second but I do not have the money, a way to move it and a good place to put it. I am posting it just in the small chance that someone here would be able to buy it. Or maybe it is not that good of a deal? It is in central Wisconsin. Let me know what you think.
https://wausau.craigslist.org/tls/5991628410.html

[shoot-n-lead]

Hi Folks,
I have been looking for a great deal on the lathe for a couple of years. I just saw this. I would buy it in a second but I do not have the money, a way to move it and a good place to put it.
https://wausau.craigslist.org/tls/5991628410.html

Well, I will ask you the same question I often ask myself..if you don't have 2 important parts of the purchase...WHY are you looking for one?

[ascast]

I got one (bigger) and they moved it on a skid of 3/4 ply wood with 2x6 frame and roll back truck. Dropped in my shop $350. I have a much broader transmission, maybe 15 gears with more speeds and a DO-ALL converter.
It has a short bed, like 2 foot. It's not really suitable for full on barrel work, but I can do one end at a time with 3 or 4 jaw chucks.
That said, I have not used it in about 12 years.
It's not clear what you would get for tooling, but that is where the real money goes.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

It is old and the bed will probably show lots of wear and cannot be fixed within reasonable cost. I see it that it does not have a quick change gear box. It is not what I would want to bother with. I would add to what s-n-l said, if $650 is too much for you at this time you might ought to look at accessories for the lathe. That can be sobering.

[Traffer]

Yes, I have been well just kind of looking for a miracle. I did have one lined up for $200 that was smaller maybe 18"? but the guy backed down at the last minute. The reason I posted it was mainly if anyone here might be interested. I appreciate the comments though. As far as the tooling, There are some pretty good bargains on eBay. It looks like it has a tool holder and I have chucks for the tail stock. What could possibly cost much?(sarcasm) As long as we are on the subject, I had thought about getting a 7x10" from Harbor Freight Rules. I don't believe that they come with tools either. What kind of cost for tools would we be looking at for a tiny lathe like that?

[rondog]

As a former machinist, I believe I'd step away from that one. Too much of a relic IMO, I'd bet it's just loaded with problems and issues. And tooling, there's a bottomless money-sucking pit! There's an endless amount of tools for metal lathes, and they ain't cheap.

And then there's milling machines, like a small Bridgeport, and the tooling for them. OMG.....

That said, I'd LOVE to have a lathe and a mill! And a shop to put them in. They would be SO useful and fun! Maybe if I win the Powerball someday.....

[Buckshot]

...............I wouldn't buy old iron unless I could go look at it and run it. Too many possible issues to do it otherwise, unless it was at a REPUTABLE dealer who'd checked it out beforehand, and would stand behind it's advertised condition.

So far as the mini lathes go, the net is LOADED with sites of users, with photo's and video's galore. Just do a search for "7x10 Lathes. You can make a LOT of useful parts on one of the ubiquitous 7" machines. There are several purveyors of these type machines, and most are produced by Sieg in China. Some outfits like HF and Cummins Tools take whatever comes off the line. Other outfits like Grizzly or Micro Mark (who also has a 7x14 version) have to pass certain accuracy/performance standards before their name goes on the unit.

Heck, before I had a lathe I made simple stuff with nothing more then a 3/8" VS DeWalt clamped in my bench vise . What you need to get is mainly determined by what you think you'd like to do. Also, for light, small envelop work you can get a a milling attachment to replace the cross slide on the lathe.



Before I had a real milling machine I used this Palmgren milling attachment on my 11" Logan. The right photo shows a replacement cocking lever I made for a friend's old Winchester 22 semi auto. Broken original on the right. If you're going to want to do barrel work, or any production type stuff you'll want a lathe with at least a 1-3/8" hole through the spindle.

If you can go personally to check out used iron, then that's one thing. If not, then you'll have to begin saving up for what you think you'll need, buying it new from a dealer. It took me quite a few years to afford what I wanted to get, and it was used when I got it. Once you do get a lathe, you can make a lot of your own tooling, which can save you LOTS of money.

................Buckshot

[JSH]

I looked for a used 9-10" lathe in this neck of the woods for a couple of years to no avail. I was already to pull the trigger and go to Grizzly and pick up one that fit my needs and then some. A couple of weeks before my planned trip, I ran across one local to me.
In the weeks since then I have had info passed on to me or run across at least one south bend or atlas ever since.
I had found an atlas that I would have bought, but the seller sold it out from under me after we had come to an agreement.
Lots like fishing,me patient.

[ulav8r]

What kind of cost for tools would we be looking at for a tiny lathe like that?

At least 2-3 times the cost of the lathe if you buy everything new.

[tim338]

That lathe wouldn't be to bad to move if you break it down into smaller pieces. $650 for that machine is top money. It looks like it comes with some of the change gears and a few other miscellaneous items. Let it sit awhile and maybe get it cheaper.

[contender1]

I too was one of these folks who looked for a lathe to be able to tinker with my gun stuff.
Patience, lots of local searches, & all can & will reward you with a deal IF,,, IF,,, you do the legwork.
I recently purchased an older Atlas,, with a BUNCH of tooling,, at an estate auction. It was covered with dust & grime,,, from the lack of use. Yet,, as I looked it over,,, I saw it was a fairly tight machine for an older one. And as noted,, all the extra tooling was a huge bonus. A 3 ft bed, 12" spindle, and all. It came on it's own homemade stand. The only two drawbacks were the lack of the quick change gear box,,, which was an option on that model, AND I found one gear tooth chipped in the auto feed. BUT,,, it did come with the gears to do the speed changes & all. And the replacement gear for the chipped one cost me $30.
It's take a while & I'd have a long list here,,,if I went on to share what all I got with this one. BUT,,, the bottom line is,,, I gave $360 OTD for mine. I got a LOT more than that in the value of the tooling.

[Traffer]

Well I found another one that looks OK to me. But again, I do not know enough to know a good deal when I see it. That is why I ask you expert folks. Here are the pictures, what do you think?
Attachment 196086Attachment 196087Attachment 196085Attachment 196088Attachment 196089

[samari46]

Looks like a short bed on that atlas. So if you contemplate some barrel weight you'll have to do it through the headstock. That is if it has a big enough spindle bore. Buckshot is right about having at least 1 3/8th inch spindle bore. I live in Louisiana where the oil industry is and thinking finding a used lathe in nice shape would be fairly easy. Nope in all the time looking I found exactly one. Sitting along side a service road all covered in rust. Hunted around for the place that was selling it and the guy wanted 5K for it. No tooling, no extra parts or chucks, and the wiring looked as though it was ripped out of the wall. got a Jet 13x40 with all the extras and the stand. That was a the fun part. Next came the tool catalogs and more money. Some of the tooling you show look like they were made by armstrong and are usually good quality. Probably 1/4" tool bits. I grind my own high speed steel ones except for the threading ones. Those I got from Warner with their own holders. Nice to go out in the garage to make chips. See the chuck key in the chuck?, really bad habit to get into. Start the lathe and things get exciting very fast. The lathe shows what looks like a quick change gear box so no changing out gears for changing spindle speeds. Also shows a lantern type tool holder. I put a Phase II quick change tool holder on my lathe, easier to set the bits at the proper height. Frank

[izzyjoe]

That would be a good starting lathe, then you can move to a bigger one latter on. There was a well know gunsmith here in town that built a lot of rifles using an atlas lathe, and some of them were bench rest rifles!

[Bent Ramrod]

It looks like an Atlas 6" x 20". You probably won't be able to turn rifle barrel blanks on it (without a lot of wild improvisation) but it will pull a lot of jobs out of the fire. Clausing/Atlas still offers some parts and support for these machines, and spare parts, accessories and other stuff, some old from parted-out machines and some new manufacture, is all over E-Bay.

That one is the old fashioned type that needs the change gears for speeds and threading. If the gears are there, and the thing works at all, $600 is a fair bargain.

I've got other lathes, but I use my Atlas 6" all the time.

[John Taylor]

One of my first lathes was an Atlas 6" ( Craftsman). Got it in trade for a $100 riding lawn mower. After a few years I realized it was not big enough to do much so I sold a bunch of stuff and borrowed some money and bought a new 12X37 with milling and taper attachment. That was a lot of money at $3,500 forty years ago. About the only thing it gets used for now is polishing and tool post grinder. Two other lathes get all the other work.

[gzig5]

I've got a Craftsman/Atlas 12x36 lathe that is surplus to my needs. Ive made a lot of good parts on it. Comes with enough tooling to get you started. Pm me if you are interested. I'm North of Milwaukee.