Does it stay or does it go?

[Royal Viking]

I have a 4" Craftsman Lathe and a Southbend 9" lathe. I've had the Craftsman since around 1982. I bought the SB in 2008. I recently came across a mill/drill Harbor Freight machine for about $500. The seller does not seem to be in a hurry and I could sell the Craftsman along with some other things to get the money to buy the mill/drill machine.

Would the Craftsman lathe be useful for small work (compared to using the SB)? Is it better to keep it and wait to buy a mill/drill machine later?

 

[steamer]

If its the Dunlap lathe....well...get the mill/drill

I suspect it's the dunlap as I have never heard of a 4" Atlas.

Dave

 

[Twmaster]

Sears also sold the Sheline lathe under the Craftsman brand. The 109 is (optimistically) listed as a 6" lathe.

 

[AR1911]

There was also a very nice Austrian-made Emco branded as Craftsman at about that time period.
I'd hang onto that if possible.

I have a 10x24 lathe and a big millrite to match, but I've kept my minimill and minilathe for small work. When I'm spinning a chuck at 2500 RPM for a small shaft, I'd rather work close to a 2" collet chuck than a 10" hunk of whirling steel. I also had a very nice 9" Logan between those two, but I found myself seldom using it, so it moved on to a new home.