New Used Toy

[Dusty Fuller]

I was gifted with my first lathe yesterday by my soon to be SWMBO. Its a Craftsman 113.228360, 12" swing/37" bed, 1hp max. I don't expect miracles from it, but I'd like to see if anyone has any experience with this or a similar model. I don't want to test its limits until I know more about "the world of spin". Everything works and all the parts are there, and its pretty clean. No rust on the bed. I'll have to build something to mount it on, but I know where its going to sit when it is mounted (bolted to the concrete floor of my old wellhouse). Does it have any quirks that I should know about ahead of time (ex. excess motor vibration, weakness, etc)? I'll be posting pictures as soon as someone brings a digital camera to the house. A decent variety of turning tools came with it, once again nothing too special but they're not junk as far as I can tell. I know all about the safety equipment (thank you SMC!). Thanks in advance for your help!

Dusty Fuller
Carrollton, GA

[Curt Fuller]

I'm not familiar with the model number but the description sounds like the tube bed type lathe that craftsman made for years. I first started turning on the ridgid wl1200 which is essentially the same machine. I put a lot of miles on it an enjoyed every minute of it. It's mostly designed as a spindle turning lathe but it will handle light face work. Good luck and welcome to the "abyss" of turning.

[Bart Leetch]

I have one of those lathes that was my Dad's. I don't use it anymore only because I had an older Delta double duty lathe that can turn both on the inside & outside of the head & a jet mini lathe. be careful of the riveted on key way on the bottom side of the tube. Dad's lathe had been un-mounted for several years & some of the rivets had come loose.

Also make a stand that the chips can just fall down through & have a table/cabinet set off to the side to set tools & such on. I don't think you'll need to bolt it down if you make the stand right. I made mine out of bed frame angle where the legs were set like a good saw horse out toward the front & back & out toward each end. I made a rectangular frame of angle & made the legs with 1 web of the angle sticking up that allowed a carriage bolt to go through a hole at each corner with a nut to hold the legs onto the bed frame for the lathe & a stretcher bar down from the under the center of the lathe at an angle from a bracket to each leg set bolted to the cross bar (angle) between the front & back leg. This with the motor hung out back on a bolt hing pin comprised my lathe set up. The Whole stand with lathe ends up fairly heavy for the little lathe & sets rock solid. cost about $10 lets face it bed frame angle is cheap when you have a pile of it & they are easy to come by. Welding rod & nuts & bolts are cheap too. For more weight you can hang a small bag of sand from the center support bracket for the leg braces.

You won't be turning big heavy items on the lathe it only has a single bearing in the head stock & trueness is entirely dependent on the trueness of the key riveted on the bottom of the tube. Parts may or may not be hard to find for this lathe it has a fine threaded mounting for the face plate. If you do try to turn to its max size diameter make sure you have gotten the material you wish to turn as round & balanced as you can. Also make sure to unlock the head spindle the lock is located to the top & back side of the shaft on the right side of the headstock as you face the lathe. Take ahold of it & pull to the right & twist it so the cross bar is laying in the shallow detents that will hold it out of the pully face. Try to rotate the shaft by hand before you turn it on. The system also serves to index the head.

Alright this is probably more than you want to know about this lathe so have fun but remember it is alight duty lathe. A Jet mini lathe with the extension is a heavier built lathe although not able to turn but 10". You'll be ready to move up to a Mustard Powermatic or Mayo Oneway in no time.

[Dusty Fuller]

Thanks for the replies, and don't worry about giving too much info. I like to know what a tool is capable of before spinning the wood. I think its a good place to start, and it didn't cost "me" anything. If anyone thinks of anything else, please post!

Dusty Fuller
Carrollton, GA