Hmmm..So what should I do?

[Joezx10r]

I recently purchased a lathe bed from an 101 Atlas lathe 30 inches long in real good shape off ebay. It was an impulse buy and Im not sure if I want to try and piece one together back with stock parts off ebay or place an import headstock and make some parts to CNC it. I guess my questions are Is the original headstock's suitable for CNC or should I not waste my time and use a different headstock?

[widgitmaster]

Not everyone is familiar with the old Craftsman lathes, so a picture or two of the headstock would help us answer your question!

[Joezx10r]

This is all I got.

[Mike Nash]

And I thought I was impulsive.

[Farasien]

One of the main issues I've seen discussed in lengthening the 7X10 lathe beds is taking the headstock off the machine- more specifically, trying to get them back on and square with the entire setup. If you have some way of accurately measuring the squareness of the setup at its full length and don't mind screwing with shifting things up/dn/l/r on all 4 corners (assuming your head isn't perfectly square and flat) and have all the machinery needed to drill accurate and perfectly (or nearly so) square and straight holes, its doable, but its not going to be an afternoon project. Also, when dealing with machines no longer in production, you could likely buy and build a '90% machine' and be waiting for damn-near ever for the last few parts to become available to put it together.

Craftsman lathes look very CNCable, but doing it as a parting-together project looks alot more like a labor of love than a serious run at CNC turning. If I were you, I'd keep an eye out on eBay for a full machine and buy it, replace or reworking any worn parts on it that need it rather than start from the (literal) ground up.

Just my 2b.

-Farasien

[Joezx10r]

Well heres a headstock I picked up for 15 dollars its quite large but its not the one that goes with the bed I have but will fit with little work. It goes to the larger 10" lathe and im thinking of turning out a spindle for it since finding one in good shape is proving to be difficult.

[widgitmaster]

Why mess with eBay's junk pile!
This may sound strange, but with all the economic crunches in action, many smaller businesses are shutting down! This is resulting in an abundance of low priced high quality used machinery at all levels of manufacturing! So it's a GOOD time to buy used machines! Check the internet for used machinery warehouses in your area, you might just find the deal of a lifetime!
Eric

[Joezx10r]

Thats true, Ive had plenty of chances to buy large heavy industrial equipment dirt cheap but I dont have the space to put them. I could buy a bridgeport cnc for less than 2gs from my boss but I dont have a place too put it. I gotta use what I have the space for.

[Twmaster]

Here's my 2 bits worth...

I like projects and am as impulsive a FeeBay addict as it appears you are... You could make a nifty machine from parts.

However, I'l have to echo what's been said... I'm no fan of chinese machines being that I own a 7x10...

However, the 8x12 that Horrible Fright sells is reported to be a very good machine compared to the 7x and 9x asian lathes. It sells for $549 regular price. If you get on the H-F email list they regularly send 20% off coupons out. That would make the 8x12 about $439. A steal IMHO.

Otherwise I'll be watching this thread to see this Atlas Franklathe come to life!

[Joezx10r]

Yeah Im a impulsive ebayer too and enjoy tinkering. Im fairly confident that it will be a good lathe for me to enjoy using and ive got everything dirt cheap, only about 120.00 in so far with the bed, headstock and cross slide and really its larger than I need.

[Bubba]

Hey, my motto is "Build it first and then if it don't work, buy it"!
The point being is that I use the "project" as a learning experience and if it don't work, I sure have learned a lot. That part "learning" is priceless. I personally like the "YOU CAN'T DO THAT, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE" is nothing more than a challenge to say, WATCH ME! Yep, I'm a dumb redneck that don't know no better:})
Most of the time, I win and a few, I loose except for the learning part and that is a BIG winner.

I personally am looking forward to your build thread. There have been others on this forum that I thought had less of a chance of coming to fruition. Go for it and have fun and learn.

[Joezx10r]

Well my impulsive ebaying snagged me a 54" long bed that matches the headstock and cross slide and got it for less than what I paid for the smaller one. The 30" bed is now back on ebay.