I have an old craftsman lathe and can't find any parts. Its from the 1940's or 50's and doesn't seem to have tapered parts. Does anybody have any parts sources or ideas of where to look? I've tried the search engines with nothing to show for it. I'm looking for a live center and some other things. I love the lathe because its old, and I don't want to replace it. Thanks!

find the model # on the name plate.go to sears parts .com.. put the model # in the search box on that site.. you might be pleasantly surprised.
live center..first you have to know if it is a MT 1 , or MT 2, for the taper, if it is a old full size, I'd bet it's a MT 2..
I've found plenty of stuff that works on my old fifty's era J-line.. you should have good luck too.

Thanks Karl, I think this means I owe ya a plug when I get her running right again.

Find the serial number too......Sears had many suppliers over the years for Craftsman and other series of lathes and the serial #'s date the machines to specific manufacturers. Styles totally changed as did parts. I have a 3' Craftsman lathe made by Atlas in the late 30's.

If Sears doesnt offer any parts, try going to owwm.com and clicking on the affiliated yahoo group and then posting an ad for parts. You can also check under Sears there, they possibly have the manual for your lathe. Shouldnt be difficult finding live centers that fit, but actual parts are a different story if something is cracked or missing from machines.

Good point Vermonter, serial # is key too..
there is a good site for antique woodworking tools as well.. I'm at work, don't have url saved on this machine.. but if you do a google, you will find it.. lots of helpfull stuff there.. found out more about my j-line there than anyplace else.. one guy on there kept PM'ing me to buy it! :hihi:

If it doesn't use tapered parts, let me know exactly what your looking for. I may be able to help you out.

That was some nice older stuff Karl....pretty sure Yates made a porcelain coated lathe under the Jline banner(lot of schools had them), remember seeing a pic of one that had been restored, it was something. The old Jline planers were nice as well, tho parts for those are a real bear to find.

There are some pics as I recall at owwm of Jline stuff that had been restored. Karl my guess would be that we're talking about the same site.



Good point Vermonter, serial # is key too..
there is a good site for antique woodworking tools as well.. I'm at work, don't have url saved on this machine.. but if you do a google, you will find it.. lots of helpfull stuff there.. found out more about my j-line there than anyplace else.. one guy on there kept PM'ing me to buy it! :hihi:

Hey Sam, wups i mean Karl, some good stuff there. :hihi:

Figures, there is no model/serial on it that I could find. Do they hide the #'s somewhere or am I dead in the water.

Any manufacturer's live center should fit as long as you got the taper size. I have all kinds of crap from other manufacturers on my old lathe. As far as the other stuff be more specific about what it is you are looking for. Maybe another manufacturer makes similar stuff that can be used. Besides Mugz is a machinist and he can make you a part maybe:hihi: Paul

Crash, can you post a pic of it? Should be fairly easy to figure out who made it and at least narrow the manufacture date to within a couple of years. LIve or turning centers should be easy as has been mentioned, its only when you need a replacement cast part that things get real dicey. Also take a measurement so you know the length it could turn.

added later-Crash on most tools, esp from that period, there would have been a metal Craftsman logo tag attached to the machine in some prominent spot. The model/serial number would usually be on another metal tag attached out of the way. On my machine the Craftsman logo is front and dead center on the cast base while the other tag is attached in the back. Sometimes the Craftsman logo would be applied with a glue on decal to painted cast but its real rare that the model/serial number wanst attached on a metal tag or plate.

check this site out.
http://www.owwm.com/

Yeah its a great site.

Sorry for the delay, gone fishing.
Found the plate when I was taking pics here they are,
http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e68/chg98765/lathe/
One of the pics is the center, and one is looking up the tailstock. All I really want for it is a live center and maybe a chuck. The sears site did have a parts diagram so I'll start my search from there. Thanks everybody.

I'll send you a couple .pdf files in a pm, from a 49 Sears catalog, shows the lathe tho Im not sure of length and also shows accessories/centers available with catalog numbers at that time. Since you found the actual badge with the serial number you should be in good shape but if not, according to the catalog it appears to take a 5/8 straight. And if anyone ever asks, you've got a "King-Seeley".