# Sears Router Crafter on Houston Craigs LIst



## darrink (Sep 7, 2009)

I found this on Craig's List if anyone is interested. I have not contacted the seller, so I will leave that up to anyone that may be interested.

Craftsman ROUTER CRAFTER LATHE

Thanks,
Darrin


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Thanks for the link Darren, I have an unending interest in Router Lathes and I have not seen that one so I would be happy to play with it for a few hours, I don't look on Craig's List but $100US seems cheap, if it were easier to get it over here then I may have gone after it. NGM


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

My first question, from experience, would be if parts are available for it. Sears has a habit of only stocking parts for a few years plus not all parts are interchangeable with the OEM product.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

It sounds like a good buy to me Darrin, by the way, you're quite a stranger these days, I hope you are keeping well.


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## darrink (Sep 7, 2009)

neville9999 said:


> Thanks for the link Darren, I have an unending interest in Router Lathes and I have not seen that one so I would be happy to play with it for a few hours, I don't look on Craig's List but $100US seems cheap, if it were easier to get it over here then I may have gone after it. NGM


Neville,
I had one before, and it just did not interest me, so I sold it. I know these are very popular with a lot of people, so maybe some will be able to pick this one up.

Darin


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## darrink (Sep 7, 2009)

Knothead47 said:


> My first question, from experience, would be if parts are available for it. Sears has a habit of only stocking parts for a few years plus not all parts are interchangeable with the OEM product.


John,
I don't believe parts are still available for these. BJ, on the forum here, has been very helpful with showing how to make a few items for these. They are pretty dependable.

Darrin


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## darrink (Sep 7, 2009)

harrysin said:


> It sounds like a good buy to me Darrin, by the way, you're quite a stranger these days, I hope you are keeping well.


Hello Harry. I have been a little more active lately. I started school, and the reading assignments take a lot of time. We are on summer break now, so I have been able to get out in the shop more. I did post some pictures in the Show N' Tell section.

Had my Gall Bladder removed yesterday, so I will be at home for a couple of days.

Hope you are doing well also Harry!


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Darrin I have looked very closely at these Router Lathes that are made commercially, some are very good for just some types of processing and others are good for some other type of work, none of them seem to be "one size fits all" What I mean by that is that there are none that I have seen that will do all of the machining that I would want one to do, some can do spiral flutes very well but are not very flexible in regard to changing the pitch of the spiral or in regard to adjusting the height of the tail stock, I am making one that I think will do all the machine processes that I want one to do, however I am still happy to see images of new ones that I have not seen but, with apple pie then the proof is in the eating so only if I could try a particular one for a week or so then I could say how well it would work how flexible it would be in regard to its indexing options, I am just so far away that me trying some of them is impossible, still thanks for the image of one I had not seen, NGM


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

I picked up one of the Craftsman router lathes a couple of yrs back and it sat in the corner until recently. I can offer up a couple of very unqualified observations after having used it recently. I needed a pedestal for a chess table I'm working on. Figured this would be a good opportunity to give the CRL a run for its money. It information I got with the unit said it could handle stock up to 4's thick. NOT! Not even close. I found that 3"s is about the max it can handle. I do not have a real lathe (not yet Bernie *L*) so I had to make the best of it using the CRL. I began by quartering off the stock so that it would fit snuggly into the unit. Mounting was/is a little tricky at first. You need to make sure that your stock is parallel with the unit. This is a given I suppose, but something easily overlooked. Line it up, tighten, repeat seemed to be the process. 
I'll throw this in here, the CRL makes ALOT of dust, fine dust!! It may have something to do with the stock I was using (quartersawn cherry) but even at that, man, dust was everywhere. Respiratory protection is a must!!! and if you dont' have a shop apron, get one! *LOL*...
The CRL claimed to be able to handle I believe up to 36" stock. The best I could do was a little under 24. Which worked out fine for my needs, but certainly feel well short of what might be expected. 
Turning a 3 1/4" octagon into a <3" circle was not difficult, but time consuming. You can't rush this thing, just nibble away at it. Another thing I noticed was that you can not introduce the bit to the wood straight on. The bit makes contact with the wood at a slight angle. I found this to be a little worrisome. I found that I needed to put a little downward pressure on the unit while cranking in order to keep the router from lifting. Also, if you crank too fast, the bit wants to wonder off track. not a good thing when it comes down to the detail work. SOOOOOo with all that babble having been said, to this point I'd say you have a few options... Create your cylinder as described or something similar to it. B: just buy it and be done with it C: find a buddy who has a lathe and do it right and much safer or D: go and get a midi lathe that can handle this size of stock. I almost did....:sold:

I found that having a square end mounted (actually just placed into)the cup does a much, much better job of securing that work piece. Once you get to this point, everything depends on what your going to try to do. I went for the spirals. The bit still engages the wood at an angle and did so throughout the process. Leaving behind
ridges. Slow, slow, slow folks...and just very minimal increases in bit depth work best. In my case, i used a 1/4" straight bit. Anything more than 1/8" depth change and I was pushing it. Indexing worked extremely well. nice and repeatable and lined up just as she should. Once I got the hang of it, pretty darn slick is all I can say. Alot of farting around required, a touch of luck is helpfull but the end product is just too cool. As mentioned by someone earlier, the rack of the spiral is fixed and not much can be done about it so, it is what it is...After all of that, you still looking at several hours of sanding. On a 22" piece, I spent a good 6-9 hours of sanding. The end result is just beautiful though. I dont' know how you would achieve the same effect any other way short of carving by hand. I suspect, as with just about any piece of equipment such as this, there is a considerable learning curve and plenty of shortcuts, tips, tricks and how to's. Good luck finding em!! However....

If you have one, give it a try, if you can get one reasonable, go for it. The work that can be generated by this thing is pretty sweet and IMHO, well worth the time/investment.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Nice report Bill, you have said what I would expect to hear, when I think about those commercial router lathes then I wonder how many indexing options there are??? how easy is it to change the indexing??? and the big one, by how much can the pitch be changed from the straightest cut which must be able to be done as there would be no rotation with a straight cut flute so I would say how much from the straightest spiral cut flute to the tightest pitch spiral flute??? it would be a worry for me to hear that even though they say that you can get a table leg into it that you think that a leg that long would not fit, anyway I am still making one and these issues have also been on my mind regarding my construction however congratulations on being prepared to write such a complete report. NGM


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hey Neville... I'd really like to see your version as it progress's. I really do like the spiral the unit makes, its just adds a little something different. But the unit itself is extremely limited in terms of variations of a theme. You can change the number of spirals with 24 indexing points available. The greater the number of spirals the smaller diameter bit must be used. What really concerned me more than anything was the introduction of the router bit into the wood. On a 3 1/8" diameter piece of stock the bit meet the wood at approx. 15 degrees plus or minus I would guess (and thats all that is, just a good guess). As you progress and lower the bit, the angle is constant. AS the diameter of your stock changes, so does the angle. The mounting platform for the router is adjustable but limited in so much that the diameter of the stock ultimately determines the angle of approach. In many cases, this leaves a very attractive pattern in the wood, in other cases, it leaves a WHOLE lot of sanding to be done.  

Being able to change the pitch of the spiral would be an excellent option to have available.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Hey Neville... I'd really like to see your version as it progress's. I really do like the spiral the unit makes, its just adds a little something different. But the unit itself is extremely limited in terms of variations of a theme. You can change the number of spirals with 24 indexing points available. The greater the number of spirals the smaller diameter bit must be used. What really concerned me more than anything was the introduction of the router bit into the wood. On a 3 1/8" diameter piece of stock the bit meet the wood at approx. 15 degrees plus or minus I would guess (and thats all that is, just a good guess). As you progress and lower the bit, the angle is constant. AS the diameter of your stock changes, so does the angle. The mounting platform for the router is adjustable but limited in so much that the diameter of the stock ultimately determines the angle of approach. In many cases, this leaves a very attractive pattern in the wood, in other cases, it leaves a WHOLE lot of sanding to be done.
> 
> Being able to change the pitch of the spiral would be an excellent option to have available.


The only way to change the flutes pitch is with gearing, you have to be able to vary the two speeds, one being spindle rotation speed and the other being the cutter sled speed, I am working on keeping the sled speed constant and just varying the spindle rotation speed, it is easier for me as I just want spirals within 1/2 a flute over 350mm to a full spiral flute over the same distance and I don't want to do any spirals tighter than that, most of the commercial router lathes I have seen have the two speeds constant so that means that even if you do speed up the rotation then sled speed speeds up as well so that still gives the same pitch, I have said before that there is not any one jig that will do everything and you have to make a jig that will do the job at hand. I am not going to publish any photos just now. maybe later on. Neville


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