Identical to the new-for-1959 12-inch Atlas, the final form of the Craftsman 12-inch was a considerably modified and improved model. Abandoning the long-lived, bed-mounted carriage feed reverse box as always used on the 10-inch, both models now used the conventional tumble-reverse assembly from the previous version of the Craftsman lathe. Besides numerous other detailed changes, the greatest single advance was the option of a neat self-contained underdrive cabinet stand that made the machine much more acceptable to training and education establishments as well as saving the home user valuable workshop space. In this aspect Atlas were decades behind South Bend and Sheldon who had both produced such types since the 1940s.
Depending upon their individual specification - various combinations of bed length, motor type, screwcutting by changewheels or screwcutting gearbox, etc. - the lathes are found with the following (and probably additional) Model Numbers: 101.28950, 101.28910 or a similar 101.289** number including: 101.2758, 101.2759, 101.2895N, 101.2893N, 101.2894N, 101.2897N, 101.28990, 101.28991N and 101.28993N2.
In the 1970s the lathe carried a "Craftsman Commercial" badge, though by the early 1980s this had been changed to "Sears Craftsman".
If the original 9-inch models are included, as the final 12-inch Atlas lathe was assembled on the 6th of March, 1981, this gave a production run for the type - Atlas and Craftsman - of almost 50 years.