1945 Craftsman Info needed

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The gentleman I bought my lathe from posted the history of it so I thought I would share it here. After reading it I didn't buy a lathe, I bought a piece of history!

Quote:Just a little info on this machine, I purchased the lathe about 24 years ago from the original owner that lived in Chicago. He told me that He and his brother both purchased identical lathes the year they returned from service during WW II (late 1945). They didn't have a lot of funds and maid payments on the machines. He told me their plan was to pay for the lathes by doing piece work for the war effort; they did this just long enough to pay for the machines. I guess you could say these machines served our country as well. The machines were primarily used for scale down model train and engine modeling, after their tour of duty.

I needed a lathe for my Harley motorcycle repair and restoration side business, this was my first machine. I found it in a Chicago newspaper add ,no Craig’s list or internet back then paid $1500 which was a bunch back then. This handy machine has saved my a-- countless times and put food on the table for a money strapped single DAD. It has been very reliable over the years. I did replace the head stock Timken roller bearings and not much else. The bearings I removed were marked 1945 only one was pitted and made a little noise so replaced them both. The one good dated original bearing is included with some spare parts. I found the original buck chuck a little on the small side for my needs, so I purchased a bison 6.25 adjust true chuck. The adjust true chucks are great but very pricy $$ .
Sorry Elijah it’s not included I will be using it on a replacement machine. Should you need the 6.25 chuck adapter backing plate let me know it’s yours when I'm done with it. I'm giving you as a gift my old veneer caliper and an old Starrett 1" mic. These are the two I’ve used for years nothing special they work & you will need them. Its time I use the new ones I have had sitting in my box for years.

So this machine goes from one service member to another and then another. I hope you enjoy it and it serves you well.