There are two ATLAS Lathes for sale near me; 6" ~40" between centers  flat bed $750, and a 12" ~ 48" b/c flat bed $1200. Both are single phase. I was going to buy a 7 X 12 Grizzly or something similar until I spied this. Anyone with any advice (hopefully based on personal experience with these), I'd appreciate your input. The seller is adding accessories with the lathes, and he says the ways are in good shape. Thanks

I suggest you ask on the USENET newsgroup [green]rec.crafts.metalworking[/green]

If you don't know how to read/post to USENET already, there is a web-based interface at [url]http://groups.google.com/[/url]
[url]http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=rec.crafts.metalworking[/url]

BTW, where are these lathes located?  I'm in the market for one myself.  (You'd still have first pick, of course.)  I am in the Seattle, WA area.

They are way south of you (as in States).
Someone I know (who has the biggest & most extensive home machine shop [custom bikes] I've ever seen) checked them out for me and told me they weren't worth it. I trust his opinion totally so I never looked at them myself. I'll email you the guy's number.