# Cranking Craftsman 109 leadscrew by hand



## ericc (Feb 23, 2014)

Hi.  I have a Craftsman 109 lathe that I acquired from a storage sale for a good price.  Unfortunately, it was not complete.  One thing that was missing was the hand wheel for the leadscrew.  The power feed works fine, and the lathe has a tunbler reverse lever.  Today, I found a wheel at a garage sale.  I put it on, then discovered that it will not turn in the neutral position.  I looked around the web a bit, and it is suggested that the gear be removed so that there is less drag.  The gear was stuck tight.  There is a screw holding it on, but it won't come off the leadscrew.  Since the gear is delicate, I was not using very much force.  Suddenly, the whole leadscrew started creeping forward slightly.  This got the gear out of engagement, and the hand wheel spun easily, smoothly moving the carriage.  Now, I realize that this is not the was to do it, but it seems to be working just fine.  Is this OK, or do I need to get the leadscrew gear off with a gear puller.  Seems like a real hassle to just get hand feed.  The gear does not seem to be keyed by the standard diametrically opposed slots that you see on the E-bay gears.  Thanks for any advice in advance.


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## sinebar (Feb 24, 2014)

I'm sure that you already know that your lead screw should not move axially, if that is what you mean by creeping forward. The gear and a spacer (both have key ways) are stacked on the end of the lead screw and should be an easy sliding fit. Here are a couple of pictures of a 109.21270 that I hope will help.





My apologies for the late response and the poor picture quality (taken with my antique flip phone)

And, yes it is much easier to turn the hand wheel with the gear removed.
Check out http://www.homeshopsupply.com/index.html for more info


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## The Liberal Arts Garage (Feb 24, 2014)

Two suggestions (I have a109): one-keys are o/s,driven in, two,bashed end of shaft. Drill and tap gear 1/4-28, make a simple gear puller and gently dislodge. Not to worry, gears on eBay..BLJHB


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## ericc (Feb 24, 2014)

The Liberal Arts Garage said:


> Two suggestions (I have a109): one-keys are o/s,driven in, two,bashed end of shaft. Drill and tap gear 1/4-28, make a simple gear puller and gently dislodge. Not to worry, gears on eBay..BLJHB



Hi.  The drilling sounds like a great suggestion.  I have a two jaw gear puller that looks like it will hurt the gear.

What do you mean by "keys are o/s"?  Do you mean that they are on the "Other Side"?  That's what it looks like in the photo above, which by the way is very clear, thanks!


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## mjonkman (Feb 24, 2014)

I think what he was trying to say is that the keys might be slightly oversized to fit tightly in the keyway of the lead screw shaft. But if they were also oversized for the gear keyway then it will lock the gear onto the lead screw. I can't remember which way the lead screw comes out on that lathe. If it pulls out on the left side of the headstock then I would remove the tailstock bearing and make sure that the half nuts aren't engaged and then slide it out with the gear on it, then gently press the gear off the shaft using an arbor press with full support under the gear. If it slides out toward the tailstock, then I would carefully see if I would do as above but then tap the end of the shaft as it goes through the gear carefully with a brass hammer and see if I could work the gear off by pushing the lead screw out. One has to of course be careful that they don't damage the lead screw or the bushings it is going through at the headstock end - ie. if the keys won't move with the gear then might do some damage if you pound on the shaft.

That gear should just slide on and off without much difficulty. 

Sincerely
Mark R. Jonkman


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## master53yoda (Feb 25, 2014)

There are two versions of the 109.  One is the short bed  and the picture that sinebar shows is of the short bed version.    The spacer for the gear comes off as shown.    The other version has a longer bed and NORMALLY is a dark blue.   The picture that i have attached is of the longer bed version.    The lead screw has the spacer attached permanently to the shaft with a pin.     Both versions the shaft is removed by removing the hand wheel and spacer at the tail stock end and the shaft comes out the head stock end.      I would remove the shaft as mjonkman suggested and put some heat on the gear.  It will expand way faster than the shaft will and should come right off.    Look for burrs etc on the end of the shaft.  

 I have both versions of the 109 and none of the parts that attach to the ways are interchangeable as the short bed ways are wider by about 3/8" than the long bed ways.

The long bed version is one that I am going to work over but haven't started on it yet.

Good Luck









Master Yoda


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## ericc (Feb 26, 2014)

Master Yoda, great you are in the ways of the force.  Indeed, the long bed model is what I have.  It is very clear from your photo that this pesky spacer is what is giving me problems.  There is very clearly a flange on the end of the spacer, and the keys are visible inside the flange.  Therefore, the gear will only come out in one direction! (From left to right facing the lathe.)  hew:  Had I put a puller on that gear, I would have been trying to pull the gear the wrong way off the flange.  The result would have almost certainly been a disaster.  I am really glad that I did not force it.:nono:

So, the whole leadscrew comes out from right to left, then the gear can be pressed off in the correct direction, from left to right.  It probably is not worth it to try to remove the spacer pin.  This is starting to make a lot of sense from a picture of the 64 tooth gear that I saw on Ebay.  It has the double keyed bore, but there is a flange on one end (the one with the circular sprrues).  Why do things have to be so complicated!?!?!


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## wa5cab (Feb 26, 2014)

Yoda,

Isn't that a flat washer on the end of the spacer in your photos, held on by the round head screw?  Given that the screw gear is routinely changed for certain threads, it makes less than no sense to have to pull the lead screw just to change feeds.

Robert D.


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## master53yoda (Mar 1, 2014)

wa5cab said:


> Yoda,
> 
> Isn't that a flat washer on the end of the spacer in your photos, held on by the round head screw?  Given that the screw gear is routinely changed for certain threads, it makes less than no sense to have to pull the lead screw just to change feeds.
> 
> Robert D.



Yes that  is a washer that comes off when you remove the screw.       ericc if you have a flange that is holding that geat on you will need to remove that flange you may have to grind or file it off someone may have hammered the end of the shaft.   That gear will come off without removeing the shaft.
unless something else is holding it on.   Using the gear puller was the correct direction to remove the gear, first find out what is holding the gear on so tight and then as a last resort pull the shaft and press the gear off the end of the shaft apply a little heat first.

sorry for not getting back quicker


Art


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## wa5cab (Mar 1, 2014)

OK.  I thought so.  Eric, is there any chance that the keyed bushing on your lead screw was put on backwards?  That would require that you pull the gear off over the lead screw threads.

Robert D.


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## ericc (Mar 2, 2014)

OK, you guys are correct.  Somehow I got things backwards.  It is now clear that the gear comes off in the normal direction (to the left).  Everything just seems to be tight on this lathe.  The tailstock took forever to free, even with liberal applications of penetrating oil, and the chuck was difficult as well.  I just wanted to take it off to see if it had the unusual 24 tpi nose.  It did :angry:

Thanks for all the suggestions!


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## The Liberal Arts Garage (Nov 9, 2014)

ericc said:


> OK, you guys are correct.  Somehow I got things backwards.  It is now clear that the gear comes off in the normal direction (to the left).  Everything just seems to be tight on this lathe.  The tailstock took forever to free, even with liberal applications of penetrating oil, and the chuck was difficult as well.  I just wanted to take it off to see if it had the unusual 24 tpi nose.  It did :angry:
> 
> Thanks for all the suggestions![/QUOTE
> When I bought my $60 AA 109 703 ( long bed )I found the shaft , gears, and spacer had different size keys / keyways. New keys at Ace and
> some fussy filing cured it. .....BLJHB.


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