older craftsman 12" lathe ?????

Manual at Sears Parts Direct *LINK*

Jeff Willaford

Sears tube lathe. Here is a link to the manual you can download. MT1 and 3/4 x 16 tpi spindle according to the manual.


http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/part-model/Craftsman-Parts/Lathe-Parts/user-manuals/manual-downloads/Model-11323800/0247/0728000?modelNumber=11323800&diagramPageId=&documentId=

Re: older craftsman 12" lathe ????? *LINK*

Dave Paine

Jeff answered about the taper and spindle thread.

Penn State is one of the places for less expensive lathe accessories. Some work better than others.

Back when this lathe was made MT1 was more common. These days MT2 is more common, FYI in case you find a given site only sells MT2 hardware.

My local wood turning friend used to have a Craftsman mono-tube lathe. He complained on vibration and noise. When he upgraded I cleaned up the lathe to give to another friend. The set screw on the pulley attached to the headstock spindle had come loose over time. He never checked this.

I good idea to check the pulley set screws, dis-assemble and clean everything before putting the lathe into operation. The lathes are often not well maintained, just like my friends lathe.


https://www.pennstateind.com/store/lathe-accessories.html

Re: older craftsman 12" lathe ?????

Jim Breeden

I had one of those things - gave it to Habitat For Humanity. Maybe someone else found it to be acceptable.

My tube Crapsman lathe did not have a taper

Ken Vaughan

Check closely for a morse taper. The one I had did not have any taper -

It was a cup dead center on a straight shaft. Vaseline was the "live center".

It was a flexible lathe as in the opposite of rigid.

Re: older craftsman 12" lathe ?????

Brad Vietje

Don't lose that dead cup center! As long as the MT is the same on the headstock as the tailstock, insert it in the headstock spindle -- it is the absolute best way to drive wood safely for beginners learning spindle turning. If something goes wrong, the wood just stops.

With sharp tools, its good practice to round up a square piece without stopping the blank; when you do, a little more tail pressure is all you need to get started again.

I teach beginners this way, but its a good exercise for all of us periodically, just as a check that we are still using good technique. While I tend to remove waste stock very quickly with "power cuts" to save time (which would stall the dead cup drive for sure), I still like to check my skills every now & again.

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Thanks for the info and advice

Mike Potts

Thank all of you for your input, looks like we will have two new turners in our ranks.

Mike

That was my first lathe many years and .....

JamieDonaldson

....7 lathes ago. I was able to improve alignment by drilling and taping for a bolt to secure headstock to the tube.

Re: That was my first lathe many years and .....

Barry Irby

I bought one when I was in high school, about fifty years ago. Kept it at least thirty years. Sold it for more than I paid for it. ($79.95?). Turned a lot of stuff on it. It had No. 1 Morse tapers. I remember it fondly.

Rigid vs Ridgid

John K Jordan

>>It was a flexible lathe as in the opposite of rigid.

I smiled at this. My first lathe was a "Ridgid" tube lathe from Home Depot which appeared to be identical to the Craftsman design. I bought it to make something for my son in architecture school, then got interested in turning and gave it to a friend. A new Jet 1642 appeared in its place!

Here is the manual in case it helps. I really don't remember if it had morse tapers on the spindle and tailstock. I think I still have a Teknatool chuck insert for it if anyone needs it.

http://www.ridgidparts.com/pdf/WL12000.pdf

JKJ

Re: older craftsman 12" lathe ?????

eliot feldman

My first lathe was one of these tube-bed lathes. A fellow standing behind me in line at a wood shop store asked me if I had ever tried turning and would I like to purchase his used one for $300. I did, and found out latter that you could buy all you wanted ( about 35 years ago) for $100. The guy since died, but I think of him fondly anyway because he got me into wood turning, which I still love and work at nearly every day.

One thing you can try with this lathe is to remove the tube bed and rig up some kind of deal for the tool rest and convert it to a bowl lathe -- and with a large swing!

As I recall, it has a fairly hefty motor and changing speed with the belt is easy.

I did some decent things with that lathe.

I gave it to my brother-in-law, who, as it turns out never unpacked it, and it sits rusting in his damp basement.

Re: older craftsman 12" lathe ?????

john lucas

I almost bought one from a guy who made a good living selling inexpensive bowls that he made on one of those lathes. I backed out and later bought the Delta 46-700 which unfortunately turned out to have just about as bad a reputation as this tube lathe.