The biggest knock on those Atlas/Sears lathes was that the gearing and pulleys and I think the carriage were a zinc alloy called Zamak. If kept antiseptically clean, they'd last a while...if not they wore out in a hurry. I wonder what they were thinking......other Atlas machines I have (horizontal mill and shaper) are much better made. Sears was notorious for demanding products built to their price; I suppose that might have had something to do with it.