# Can any one tell me what lathe I've picked up



## RHayden2k (Dec 14, 2014)

Hi, I'm new hear and I need to identify this lathe that I acquired last summer. It is in poor shape but it was inexpensive and I figured it would be a good project to get familiar with lathes. It has a 9 in. swing and aprox. 17 in. bed. They covered most of the rust with a coat of black paint. 

I did find the remains of a ID tag on the tail stock end of the the bed. I remains unreadable so far, and I don't expect that to change. 

The lead screw is really coated with hardened grease and I found the half nut broken, which I will need to replace, as well as some of the smaller parts in the head.

Any help in the ID would really be appreciated.

Bob


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## Ebel440 (Dec 14, 2014)

It's a craftsman 109 lathe made by the Ann Arbor company also called AA.


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## Bill Gruby (Dec 14, 2014)

Check ebay for parts. They show up on a regular basis. You can search it two ways, "Craftsman 109 Lathe or Craftsman AA Lathe"

 "Billy G"


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## Ebel440 (Dec 14, 2014)

Tare you go buying anything you should look it over and try to figure out what parts need replacing.  Did you get the rest of the gears or anything else with the lathe?  I have a 109 myself and have looked at the prices for some parts and they could quickly add up to more then I paid for the lathe.  They don't have the best reputation and that may influence the lathes value.  I'm not saying to not fix it but you should be aware of this before you go getting in too deep. If you are just getting into this hobby you can learn on it but may want a larger lathe after awhile.  With everything I read about them I thought it would be useless but it seems a lot of people either exaggerate the lathes weaknesses or are just repeating what they have heard.  It will work to make smaller parts but it does take some extra attention to how you do things.  It is a six inch swing with about 12" length I don't remember the exact length off hand.  There's a website called deansphotografia or something similar where he goes over some modifications to the lathe.


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## chips&more (Dec 14, 2014)

I’m pretty sure that lathe is a 6” swing. And I have a few parts laying around. PM me if you are interested…Good Luck, Dave.


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## Andre (Dec 14, 2014)

It's a 109.20630. When reassembling the apron watch out for the ball bearing that detents the half nut ON or OFF, it has a hefty spring behind it.

Have fun with your new toy )
*

EDIt: *On second look, your halfnut lever is in the wrong spot. it should be on the right side of the apron, so the holes in the halfnut lever and the blind hole in the back side of the apron line up, there should be a spring and ball bearing in there. It's obvious they are lost, I'd drill that hole clean through, tap it, and thread a bolt through to lock the halfnut lever up or down. You'll have to forcefuly hold it down when threading, though.


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## Bill Gruby (Dec 14, 2014)

There is no need to drill anything out . Just move the handle to the correct position and add the ball and spring for the lock. It's not that big of a deal. I had one of those lathes and gave it to a friend. It is a good starter lathe.

 "Billy G"

  If you give me the dia. and depth of the hole in the apron I will send you the correct ball and spring. Why butcher a good lathe.


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## Andre (Dec 14, 2014)

Bill Gruby said:


> There is no need to drill anything out . Just move the handle to the correct position and add the ball and spring for the lock. It's not that big of a deal. I had one of those lathes and gave it to a friend. It is a good starter lathe.
> 
> "Billy G"
> 
> If you give me the dia. and depth of the hole in the apron I will send you the correct ball and spring. Why butcher a good lathe.




When your halfnut starts to wear, sometimes it will disengage during a heavy cut. Having the ability to lock it wouldn't be a bad idea in my opinion. If he did a good job of it, it's not butchering. Rather, a creative modification :biggrin:


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## Bill Gruby (Dec 14, 2014)

Call it what you will. IMHO it is not needed. On that lathe you will not be making a heavy enough cut to have the half nut kick out. That half nut is one piece. Upper and Lower are integral. They engage by rolling in and disengage the same way. When one hits the other follows. That's why the pivot is in the center of the two. As I said I owned one of these and kick out was never an issue. Also, if you do away with the ability of them from disengaging what else might break instead. The ball and spring are there to limit the damage. A bolt will not.

 "Billy G"


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## Andre (Dec 14, 2014)

Bill Gruby said:


> Call it what you will. IMHO it is not needed. On that lathe you will not be making a heavy enough cut to have the half nut kick out. That half nut is one piece. Upper and Lower are integral. They engage by rolling in and disengage the same way. When one hits the other follows. That's why the pivot is in the center of the two. As I said I owned one of these and kick out was never an issue. Also, if you do away with the ability of them from disengaging what else might break instead. The ball and spring are there to limit the damage. A bolt will not.
> 
> "Billy G"



I have a 109 also, use it almost daily for small things. My halfnut kicks out during a "heavy" cut. I have to hold it down when threading, or there goes the nice thread.....

VERY good point about the damage limiting factor. Didn't think of that.


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## Bill Gruby (Dec 14, 2014)

The cure for popping out is to stretch the spring. It puts more tension on the ball and holds it tighter. You may also find the spring broken. A word of advice. Anytime something is movable by design, don't make it rigid. It is moveable for a reason. Nuff said on this one. Time for bed. Thank you for acknowledging my point.

 "Billy G"


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## Andre (Dec 14, 2014)

Bill Gruby said:


> The cure for popping out is to stretch the spring. It puts more tension on the ball and holds it tighter. You may also find the spring broken. A word of advice. Anytime something is movable by design, don't make it rigid. It is moveable for a reason. Nuff said on this one. Time for bed. Thank you for acknowledging my point.
> 
> "Billy G"



The spring is still there and intact. Good night, Bill )


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## Bill Gruby (Dec 15, 2014)

If the ball and spring detent lock are not holding only one thing can be wrong. The spring is too weak. Two fixes to this, #1 replace the spring -- #2 stretch the spring to add tension. Now, let's give this thread back to the OP. Sorry for the sidetrack.

 "Billy G"


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## Ebel440 (Dec 15, 2014)

I was experimenting taking heavy cuts on my 109 over the weekend with the power feed and I didn't have any issue with the nut. I think something on your lathe just needs fixing. It is 50+ years old things wear out.


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## Andre (Dec 15, 2014)

Ebel440 said:


> I was experimenting taking heavy cuts on my 109 over the weekend with the power feed and I didn't have any issue with the nut. I think something on your lathe just needs fixing. It is 50+ years old things wear out.




My halfnuts are very worn. I won't be using the stock carriage anymore as I have an aluminum adapter block that lets be use a Derbyshire cross slide on it for precise work. Once I finish the last part I will show it on the forum. 

Do you plan to clean up your 109? Restore it?


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## Ebel440 (Dec 15, 2014)

Not anytime soon I just got it to have a lathe to use until I could move my Logan 200 into my garage. I cleaned it enough to check it out after I bought it, oiled it,made a tool post and rear gib if you can call it that and hooked up a motor and started using it.


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