Sears mini lathe

[1930]

I have been looking for a lathe for some time to sort of get me started, I know virtually nothing about lathes other than some of their uses.

I picked this up this afternoon for 75.00 and I am just crossing my fingers that all the parts are there and once a motor is found and its cleaned up I can put it too some use.

Can anyone tell me if any sort of owners manual is avail? Id like to get to know the lathe and how it sort of works before I start cleaning it.

All parts seem to move as near as I can tell but things are very sticky.

Id like to get in contact with someone that has put one of these to use, Id like to get an idea of motor configuration/recommended motors ect.

Better pictures to follow.

 

[1930]

Looks like for what they are bringing on E-bay I did pretty good, are these lathes that desirable and why?

I see a 7 page re-print manual avail for sale on E-bay but Id like to find a free version on-line if anyone knows of one avail. Thanks

 

[Kensgarage]

Here ya go. Click the pdf on the left
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=2112

 

[1930]

Here ya go. Click the pdf on the left
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=2112

Thanks very much

 

[spongerich]

The Craftsman 109 was my first metal lathe. As lathes go, they're not completely useless, though nearly so. I made a video tour of one when I had one in my shop recently

Do you have the set of change gears that go with it? Should be about 9 of them and you'll need them for cutting threads. A replacement set on eBay usually costs about $150. The 109 is cute, but there are a lot of problems with them and they're mostly an exercise in frustration.

With all of the shortcomings of that particular lathe, and given their inexplicable popularity, my advise is to clean it up as well as you can, sell it on eBay for a healthy profit. (You should be able to get $250-$300 as long as you're prepared to pack and ship it... local pickup limits your audience and you aren't likely to get as much for it).

Take the money and invest it on an Atlas 618 (AKA Craftsman 101) or even a Harbor Freight 7x12. Don't know what the market is like down there, but here in the north east, you can find Atlas 10" lathes for $300-400 if you're patient. Just my $.02

 

[1930]

Thanks for the nice video, would there have been an original motor? I am under the impression that some of these power tools would have been originally sold without a motor. Not sure if that is the case here.

Changing gears? not sure, what I did get is what I have shown, will take better pictures.

Do you know where I can get a better operator manual? The manual mentioned above although printed and saved does not go into any details of how the lathe is used.

When I get a vintage tool I am usually stuck with it for life, I usually spend way too much money finding missing parts and putting it back together the way it originally was, even if the usefulness of the tool does not warrant the time and energy.

I know virtually nothing about using lathes, I know there is a chuck for instance that holds the object to be formed but have no idea how to loosen and tighten chuck, Im going to get a better look at it today and take better pictures.

What disappointing me the most is I believe mine is missing the little craftsman sticker I noticed on an E-bay item and of course now if there is an original motor the fact that is missing is going to be a real downer.

 

[1930]

Here are better pictures, I do not have any extra gears but the gears within appear un-broken.

I do not see any sort of a mounting location for the motor and obviously any sort of a mount is missing as well.

 

[zkling]

I too had a 109 as my first lathe in my early double digits. It will teach you alot, mostly patience and appreication for a quality machine. The lack of apron mounted longitudional feed is the most frustrating IMHO.

Do a search for "Craftsman 109" there is tons of info out on them.

 

[rpcraft]

This maybe isn't the same vintage as your vintage lathes but I found a unit on facecreep marketplace that I am a little interetested in buying if it does what I think it does (which is cut metal). I have not gotten feedback from the current owner, may not, but hope to. They have one of those posts that says dont text or email me, call me, then it has hidden information, which I am pretty sure is their phone #, lol. I think most people don't realize facebook doesn't want you posting your phone number in the add (so put it in the picture if you want it posted). anyways I digress, I was hoping someone could offer me a sears model number or some info about this unit based off a picture? I'm still searching for details and info my own self but I figure the half brain I have would easily be bolstered by the few that may be able to post more info. It looks like a mini metal lathe from maybe the 70's or 80's but I am having no luck so far.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Roberts210]

I wonder if 1930 ever got his little lathe up and running, or if he sold it?

 

[blacksuit99]

No doubt, we have been waiting 6 years for an update!

 

[rsanter]

That is a good machine to start on, you will learn a great deal.

That machine is from back in the day when you bought the machine and the motor separately.

It is expected that you will make a bench or base board for it. A simple 3/4" piece of plywood will be fine and you will mount the lathe to it and the motor to it.

Those Lathes are limited with what they can do but for a beginner it will be great to learn on. I had a similar model that I made lots of small stuff on.

Great for making and modifying bushings and small shafts.
Great for misc small parts.

To this day I still keep and use a large lathe and a small lathe.

Get some aluminum and some plastic(delran, nylon) to practice on

You will be able to do small steel parts but it will be very slow

For people that do not have the feed gears or hate changing gears, some of them make an add on shaft that can be driven from a small variable speed electric motor so that can have a simple variable speed feed system. You only really need to have the feed gears if you plan to cut threads

 

[Mgdoug3]

I had that same lathe for about 2 months and then sold it for a slight profit. I quickly realized that it's just too small to do anything I wanted to do. Few months later I bought a Clausing 4914 and just recently a Leblond Regal 17x54.

I wouldn't recommend this lathe for a beginner. You can get them cheap but the spindle is small and weak. They're easy to bend. If I remember right, the spindle is only a 1/2". It was fun to play around with but you could waste hours and still not do much work.

 

[rpcraft]

I am thinking I am going to pick it up. I don't think it has all the attachments but I won't know for sure until I get to overlook it at the owners place and what it does have will get me into basic lathe operations. I think it will help me getting started and maybe move on to figure out if i really do need something larger in the grand scheme without filling up my garage currently.

 

[Rangie]

They aren't bad and will give you the basics. When you move up to a better machine you will be amazed at the transformation.

Alec.

 

[rpcraft]

I took a look at it when I got there and that thing was so small I felt like girls would look at me weird just owning it, lol. Needless to say I decided to resist the urge. I don't have projects that big today but I can see I may tackle some things that require a little more girth and length.