Craftsman 12x36 lathe - A steal of a deal

[BIGROG]

I know I have said this in the other lathe post but I feel in would fit in here nicely. I have just serviced my new (to me) ML7 and I must say, boy I'm glad I did, after buying a Startrite drill off fleabay from an engineering firm and finding the wiring in a "very" poor state so I had to renew the lot, I thought I would do a full check on the ML7 before I start to use it. I would advise anyone buying used equipment even from "professional sources", please get it fully checked before you use it.

Another point to consider on safety, most hobby engineers/welders work on their own in their garages/workshops with no body else around incase of an emergency, therefore I plan to only use my lathe when there is someone else at home and ask them to keep an eye/ear on me.

 

[shenion]

Good point on the wiring. We had to disconnect the cabling as it ran through the stand. Was not bad, I did redo some when putting back together.

My other lathe had worn oyt cabling. Replaced it before using it. It had a 3550 RPM motor, way too fast for the lathe. Replaced it with a 1750 (wanted a 1050 RPM.) You need to check parts that may have been replaced with non-standard parts.

 

[wyn]

Nice looking work with the quick change tooling, Shenion...

 

[shenion]

Finished the spindle for the old AA lathe. New on top, old on bottom. Made a small change with a thicker shoulder.

Came out well, one thing is one set of docs I had said 0.550" shaft. Another said 0.551". Made it 0.550" and it slides in easier than the old. Howerver, it is not worn 0.004 smaller at the head end The bearing seats much better on the new (old one the tapered bearing was recessed and caused the shoulder to rub on case.

Only thing left is to grind flat for gear. Will do that in tomorrow as to not bother neighbors.

Old has a Morse Taper #0 and center drilled 1/4". New is only drilled about 1" in with 6.5mm. I have a 6.5mm dead center that it can use.

Woodruff slot done with dremel. Not ideal, but worked.

 

[hareng]

Some usefull info here Shen
http://www.lathes.co.uk/page21.html
Craftsmen is in there.

 

[shenion]

Yes, checked those pages before i bought the lathe. Also the Atlas_lathe Yahoo group.

The AA/Dulap craftsman I got of ebay is junk. Should have researched it more.

This one has no model number or serial number. Looks to have been made in 1945.