Chester Craftsman Lathe Question

Hello,

I’ve recently bought a Craftsman lathe from Chester Tools based on some recommendations on this forum. I have a side fabrication gig and this is my first lathe. The rest of my equipment is rather last century, i.e. “built to last”. I didn’t have the time to rebuild a lathe so I opted for a new one of those thinking it would be a good modern alternative to the old and worn kind and I’ve just finished setting it up and bedding it in.

What can I say? I think I will run it for until I can find a decent DSG 17x36 to replace it. Chester were spot on with the service and price but this will be the last piece of modern machinery I will ever buy. It is the second most expensive lathe in Chester hobby range but it feels like an entry level lathe even to someone who only use them on and off. It was cheaply made and even quicker assembled. Nothing fits right or matches up. Everything’s loose. Oil contaminated.

I spent 2 days draining, flushing and refilling it, changing fasteners and cleaning it from the transportation grease. It has what sounds like a wobble at a very low RPM range in low gear running CCW. It didn’t run CW to start with due to misaligned micro switches. Fixed that. There’s nothing in the manual. Well, the manual is almost non existent as it’s been scanned and reprinted so many damn times none of the pictures or diagram are even readable. Thanks to this forum, someone pointed at a Grizzly’s 12x37 model lathe, which is nearly identical to the Craftsman (apart from the half nut lever missing on the latter). At least Grizzly bothered to make a decent manual.

I have no one to blame but myself. I should have went to see these in the flesh. I’d have known immediately to stay away from them for good. Wanted to save and now will be spending even more on the fix. As they say there’s never enough time to do things right first time but there’s always enough time to do it again. Oh well. I will probably end up keeping it around as I hate wasting and losing money.

With the intro out of the way, I have a question:

What oil pump / grease gun do you guys use on small grease nipples? They look like 1/4 inch flat washers with a ball in the middle (not the classic sticking out type commonly used on say Fobco drills).

Thanks.

Can't comment on Chester lathes but those standard ball oilers are made to be used with an oil can with a pointed nozzle on the end of the spout. Small enough to push the ball inwards when it's thrust in the hole. Some people put a tiny mini-hacksaw cut sideways across the end of the nozzle so oil can squirt out there if the ball completely blocks off the end of the nozzle.

Edited By Hopper on 26/03/2020 07:21:28

Thanks Hopper. I suspected as much. A little oiler with pointy nozzle came with the lathe so I’ll use that to go over them. Good tip on the hacksaw hack. Will keep it in mind.

Hi Alex,

I have a Chester Craftsman lathe, bought many moons ago and would have to agree with most of the points you make, but bear in mind that they are very much made to a price. They are not toolroom machines.

My experience, for what it,s worth has been ;

A The allen screws used on them were total crap, I replaced all of then with good ones

B Did have a slight problem with vibration at one of the top speeds, seemed to vanish after I bolted the lathe to the floor and wall. Not really much of an issue.

C Overall finish was not great, switches needed to be set right and gibstrips checked, nothing major.

D As an entry level machine, I considered it to be reasonable value. Anything better would have been wasted on me at that time. Might like a better lathe now, but since this one does all I want, perhaps not.

E The "Manual" ??, yes that was a joke, must have been written by the Head bottle washer in the local Takeaway.

F I suppose a lot depends on what you want the machine for, but you must bear in mind that it was not offered as a top grade model. A case of "Horses for courses " perhaps

Overall I am happy with my lathe, not the best around, suitable for purpose, and yes, it does pay to see before you buy. I have been down that road too with other things.

If you wish to sell it on, I don't think you will have any trouble, they are OK for most work, just not toolroom.

Hi I’ve just bought a Chester craftsman lathe big mistake lots of problems from day 1

yes you get a 12 month warranty the only problem is you’ve got to send it back to factory for repair

i had to get an electrical engineer to check electronics as machine stopped working after 3 days

it cost me £140 to get it repaired

sent email to Chester tools still waiting for reply

must have gone into spam box yet again

nit impressed with after sales service

steven