Craftsman 109 lathe

[L5wolvesf]

A friend told me about this Craftsman 109 lathe that he doesn’t have the cash for. It is supposed to be in very good working order. Wondering what y’all thought it might be worth.

I’ve been reading here about lathes and have been wanting one for a while. I would be a total nub, but I can learn fairly quickly. My main use would be for my auto related toys, including making parts (or modification of existing parts) for my SCCA car.

This one seems like it would be a good starting point for me. It would fit in the limited space I have available for it. And the price the guy is pondering is within my range.

Thank you,
L

 

[Steevo]

In very good condition, they sell around here for between $200 and $300
With a lot of tooling, they can go higher.
The most important thing to get with it is the change gear set.

 

[p912s]

I have the newer version (Atlas 6-inch Lathe Mk. 2) of this lathe and love it. Have made lots of little parts for our race car. You can find info about them here - http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas6inch/

 

[rsanter]

As seen there.... $150 to $200

With tooling, a little more

Bob

 

[2mJps]

I started off with a atlas 10inch lathe and sold it now i have 3 lathes bigest is a 20x 72. I got a unimate 5 years ago. The atlas was 1000 times the lathe the unimate is. With that said if i had to give much for this lathe i would look for some thing biger.

 

[larry_g]

I started with that lathe many years ago. It quickly proved to small for making auto sized parts. I learned a lot with that lathe though and sold it for more that I paid for it. That is the beauty of small american lathes, you can use it till you outgrow it and then sell if for about what you paid for it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[1982fxr]

when they come up in Phoenix they seem to be $300-all the way up to like $1,000 if restored and with accessories. Sounds crazy, but true

 

[L5wolvesf]

The most important thing to get with it is the change gear set.

OK, totally nube question, what is the change gear set? I’ll presume it has to do with the gears pic’d below.

Is tooling model specific (just for a 109) – or can tooling for a 101 (just for instance) work on a 109, brand specific, generic, adaptable, all of the above?

About tooling; what should I be looking for?

Are there any specific problems I should look for on this particular model/style lathe?

Thank you,
L

 

[Gregger Rod & Custom]

Hey,
I have also looked at some of these lathes and I'm not sure they will do very much and I'm afraid what they might do they won't do very accurately.

Now, I don't have one so I am also interested in what other members who have one say about using it. There is one available locally for $400 which has been for sale so long that I might get it for $200-ish. None the less, I'm not willing to give any money or my garage space to any tool that doesn't work well.

The member on here with the "1950s Craftsman Garage retro remodel" named Red Leader really knows his craftsman tools. I love his garage post and all the tool restoration posts.

He listed the top 8 craftsman tool DUDS.... and this lathe is #8
Check it out here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2219709&highlight=lathe#post2219709

(See post 2106 on page 106.)

So... lets hear from other members who have and use the Craftsman 109 lathe.


Gregger

 

[Red Leader]

...with of course no offense meant at all to 109 owners Actually, a few of them chimed in after I made that post, and they opinions were pretty similar

In terms of popularity, the lathe actually was no dud...you see them all over the place. I have little working knowledge of this particular lathe, the one I have is the early 1930s 9" Altas (approx 1932), of which Craftsman re-branded and sold with more squared off feet a little later.

These little lathes seems great to learn on, but not much else. I'll be happy to move up from the Atlas.

-RL

 

[Steevo]

You will need to get the whole model number to verify what options were available with it.
109.0702xxxx, 109.0703xxxx, etc.

Here is some background on the 109 series:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/craftsman/page4.html

 

[steel 35]

That lathe has some gears on it but needs more for the set, the gears will inter change with some others but I believe that is all. I have three sizes one is like that in a box never to be assembled again. See #8

 

[justanengineer]

OK, totally nube question, what is the change gear set? I’ll presume it has to do with the gears pic’d below.

About tooling; what should I be looking for?

Are there any specific problems I should look for on this particular model/style lathe?

The change gear set allows you to change the gearing between the spindle and the leadscrew on the front of the lathe, which on that lathe allows for cutting different threads and different rates of longitudinal power feeding.

Tooling to look for - steady rests, additional chucks, faceplates, drill chucks, collets, centers etc etc.

On those lathes I think the biggest problems were simply broken parts and cracked castings. No offense meant to anyone, but theyre about as cheap as they got during that period, and folks always seem to like to push these small machines a bit too hard.

 

[454ragtop]

About the best that could be said about that lathe is it's better than no lathe at all, barely. Check the spindle carefully, very common to find them bent. Don't confuse this with the 6" Atlas lathe, a much more capable machine. I suggest you look for a 9 or 10 inch swing machine, much more useful for automotive work, and can actually cut steel with them, something I wouldn't recommend with a 109.
HTH, Jim

 

[L5wolvesf]

I saw the guy who has it today (didn’t see the lathe we ran into each other at Walmart), and got the following:

You will need to get the whole model number to verify what options were available with it.109.0702xxxx, 109.0703xxxx, etc.

109.22370

That lathe has some gears on it but needs more for the set, the gears will inter change with some others but I believe that is all. I have three sizes one is like that in a box never to be assembled again. See #8

He said it has reverse / neutral / forward – no other gears just what is on it (picture above).

. . . Tooling to look for - steady rests, additional chucks, faceplates, drill chucks, collets, centers etc etc. . . . On those lathes I think the biggest problems were simply broken parts and cracked castings.

Some tools (like 4 or 5), one is a “cutter”, he didn’t recall what others.

About the best that could be said about that lathe is it's better than no lathe at all, barely. . . . Check the spindle carefully, very common to find them bent..

Better than no lathe at all is what I am thinking, something to learn on.

I’ll keep an eye out for the problems y’all mentioned

I think I could get him down to 250 or so.

Keep the info coming.

Thank you,
L