# Craftsman 109 chuck question



## abracadabra (Feb 21, 2017)

Howdy folks---
I've found a Craftsman 109 that I'm contemplating buying locally.  The price is good, its in decent shape.

I know a bit about these machines, mostly their reputation,  but all in all I know very little about how to make this machine work for me.

It comes with a 4-jaw chuck and drill chuck in the tailstock,  but my question is this:

How do I go about mounting a Jacob's chuck in the headstock?  Specifically I need something with a small range, 0-1/4",  but I can't quite figure how to make it work,  what to buy, etc.

The point is I need to factor the cost of this in to what I would pay for the lathe.  For me to use it immediately I need a small Jacobs style chuck that I can mount small rods etc in for woodwind repair.  

The 4 jaw chuck I know will be handy for turning bigger stuff,  looking forward to using that one.

I have a feeling the answer to my question might be easy, but I've dug around a bit,  and couldn't find a definitive answer...........................any help would be MUCH appreciated!  I"m hoping to go look at this lathe at the end of the week!

thanks,

Mk


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## T Bredehoft (Feb 21, 2017)

I have a Jacobs keyed chuck that came with my Clausing MK2 lathe, its No. 56B, screws on the spindle, made for this operation. I holds from 0 to 17/64ths diameter work. It says on it 1" by 10 P.
Perhaps you can find a similar chuck.


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## abracadabra (Feb 21, 2017)

I guess my question is less about which chuck to use, as it seems there are a number which will hold small pieces, but how do I mount/attach the chuck to the headstock? Do need an arbor, adapter, etc?
Mk


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## MrDan (Feb 21, 2017)

I had a 109 lathe years ago. If I remember right both the headstock and tailstock were 0 Morse taper. You would need a 0 Morse to whatever Jacobs taper the chuck used, I believe. Like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Morse-Taper-Jacobs-Drill-Chuck/dp/B0007Q74ZG

That adaptor goes from a 0 Morse to a 2 JT (Jacobs taper). Here's a cheap chuck that has a matching 2 JT:

https://www.amazon.com/Jet-561702-TDC-375-Taper-Mount/dp/B0007XXI7M

I'm not really recommending these specific parts, shown just as an example.


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## francist (Feb 21, 2017)

For that size and range you might think about a chuck off a dead cordless drill. Most ones I've used are provisioned for 3/8" fine thread, but I scrap the drill so as to keep the chuck and its little stub shaft together. Then you just chuck that into your dandy 4-jaw chuck on the lathe. Dial it in, and you're good to go. You won't be able to pass stock through the spindle, but you would have your Jacobs chuck for driving with the headstock.

-frank


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## MrDan (Feb 21, 2017)

You could also consider a small (like 3 inch) 3-jaw chuck, they are available for the 109 lathe. Here's one that I believe would fit (again just as an example that I found using Google):

http://www.mymachineshop.net/product_p/10095.htm


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## francist (Feb 21, 2017)




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## MrDan (Feb 21, 2017)

Yet another possibility - I think the spindle is threaded 1/2-20, that's how the 4-jaw mounts. You can get (buy or scrounge) drill chucks that have a 1/2-20 threaded mount that might (I haven't personally tried this) thread directly onto the spindle. Example:

https://www.amazon.com/Jacobs-Chuck-30602-2-Inch-Keyed/dp/B00002NBJF


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## abracadabra (Feb 21, 2017)

Good ideas.  
I have thought of just finding a Jacobs chuck with 1/2-20 threads, this seems like it would work.
I like the idea of the smaller 3 jaw chuck however,  I'm really trying to keep this cheap! 
The idea about holding a drill chuck with the 4 jaw I like...but for me the hollow shaft is almost necessary, so it would only work some of the time.
Mk


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## MrDan (Feb 22, 2017)

abracadabra said:


> for me the hollow shaft is almost necessary


Hollow? As in the stock through the spindle? I don't think any of the suggestions except the little 3-jaw chuck would provide that. The drill chucks don't have a through-hole, at least mine (Jacobs Super Chuck) don't. The Morse-to-Jacobs taper shank is likewise a solid piece.


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## wawoodman (Feb 22, 2017)

In every case I'm familiar with, you put the drill chuck in the tailstock and spin the workpiece in the headstock. Am I woefully backwards?


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## MrDan (Feb 22, 2017)

True. But I think he's trying to come up with a poor-mans 3-jaw chuck to hold small stock, like 1/4" or smaller. A drill chuck would work, although unless it was an expensive one it will likely have significant runout.


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## wa5cab (Feb 22, 2017)

The AA lathes that Sears sold came with one or the other of two spindle nose threads - 1/2"-24 on the WW-II vintage 109.0703 and 1/2"-20 on all of the postwar ones.  The latter is far more common.  

The Jacobs 6B, 7B, 30B, 32B and 33B were all available with 1/2"-20 threaded mounting.  CAUTION - each was also available in at least one other thread, so check that in addition to model number and condition.  The various models have various chucking capacities from 0"-1/4" up to 5/64"-1/2".  As nearly as I can tell from the Jacobs catalog, none have a through hole.  However...  In the catalog paragraph on removing tapered arbors from chucks, the text says that the chuck body is soft (that's relative soft, of course) and it is acceptable to drill a hole through the body in order to use a press to remove the arbor.  So you can drill through the chuck the same diameter as the spindle through hole.  Which should be 1/4".  If your work pieces larger that 1/4" dia. only need another inch or so of length, on a 0-1/2" capacity chuck, you should be able to drill through up to about 7/16" dia.


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## dontrinko (Feb 22, 2017)

mine has 1/2-20 threads and is MT0 on both the head and tail stock.  1/2-20 chucks are easy to find and many use them on the spindle for small work, Don


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## abracadabra (Feb 22, 2017)

wa5cab said:


> The AA lathes that Sears sold came with one or the other of two spindle nose threads - 1/2"-24 on the WW-II vintage 109.0703 and 1/2"-20 on all of the postwar ones.  The latter is far more common.
> 
> The Jacobs 6B, 7B, 30B, 32B and 33B were all available with 1/2"-20 threaded mounting.  CAUTION - each was also available in at least one other thread, so check that in addition to model number and condition.  The various models have various chucking capacities from 0"-1/4" up to 5/64"-1/2".  As nearly as I can tell from the Jacobs catalog, none have a through hole.  However...  In the catalog paragraph on removing tapered arbors from chucks, the text says that the chuck body is soft (that's relative soft, of course) and it is acceptable to drill a hole through the body in order to use a press to remove the arbor.  So you can drill through the chuck the same diameter as the spindle through hole.  Which should be 1/4".  If your work pieces larger that 1/4" dia. only need another inch or so of length, on a 0-1/2" capacity chuck, you should be able to drill through up to about 7/16" dia.




This is good info and the direction I was going . For some reason I though drill chucks were usually hollow but that shows what I know.  I my end up getting a Jacobs 7B or something similar and drill it out.  I see these can be had fairly cheaply.   I think I understand things better now, glad I asked.  Seems like there are numerous options.   Down the road I could always upgrade to a good/small 3 jaw chuck.   

Mk


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## MrDan (Feb 22, 2017)

wa5cab said:


> In the catalog paragraph on removing tapered arbors from chucks, the text says that the chuck body is soft (that's relative soft, of course) and it is acceptable to drill a hole through the body in order to use a press to remove the arbor.



I did not know that. Great info!


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## Charles Spencer (Feb 22, 2017)

If the spindle thread is 1/2-20 then you should be able to buy a plain back 3 jaw chuck and make a back plate using a tap for the threads.  You can hold it in the 4 jaw chuck to drill it and then turn it to the finished diameter(s) right on the spindle.  That should go a long way to ensuring that it is fairly concentric.  1/2-20 taps are common and you could buy a chuck something like this:

http://www.shars.com/products/toolh...self-centering-scroll-lathe-chucks-solid-jaws


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## The Liberal Arts Garage (Mar 8, 2017)

T Bredehoft said:


> I have a Jacobs keyed chuck that came with my Clausing MK2 lathe, its No. 56B, screws on the spindle, made for this operation. I holds from 0 to 17/64ths diameter work. It says on it 1" by 10 P.
> Perhaps you can find a similar chuck.


I have a 1/2"capacity Jacobs keyed
chuck with a 1/2 - 20 thread, bought on E- bay long ago.........BLJHB.


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## Round in circles (Mar 9, 2017)

Buy a couple of cheap  dead centres that will fit the tail stock & a sleeve to adapt the head stock taper to the same size.  Then turn down the point off the centre to same size needed for doing the thread of a decent chuck off a meaty power drill .   I tried to turn the taper of a Jacobs drill press chuck ,  but it was not a pretty sight nor was it really accurate so I tried the above , on a chuck that screwed on a meaty burnt out electric drill I got from a repair shop as it was going to be scrapped .

 Sometimes in the tools you may get with an Atlas lathe there is a short length of threaded bar about 3 inches long , the threaded end of this bar fits  the three jaw tailstock chuck that comes with the lathe so you can run it from the  head stock chuck . Can't remember if it'sfor  both sizes of chuck & I'm not going outside to my man cupboard to check as it's peeing it down like stair rods . .
  .

 I made up a simple holder for a " Button " threading die a bit like an extra deep socket for a large nut with a 1 & 1/2 " long 3/8 " dia shaft tapped into a tight turned hole then a blob or three of weld to keep true & it fixed in place  .  It can be inserted either in the head stock chuck or the  tail stock one .   I can slip it in the tailstock & put an accurately aligned  thread on any rod held in the chuck ... by turning the lathe chuck back & forth , giving it a few drops of thread cutting oil & gently advancing the tailstock ram till the thread is formed on three full turns , then I just slacken off the tailstock enough for the new thread to draw it along as I make more threads.  When I want a thread right up to a shoulder I thread as close as I can then take th button out & reverse it *& make the last bit oif thread ever so carefully 1/6 tho of a turn at a ti=me before backing it off to clean the new thread & remove the little bit of swarf produced before & moving on to the next 1/6 th of a turn . 

 When I get round to it , the Mk 2 version will be set on a  long turned down dead centre in the tail stock taper size as I have several adapter sleeves for the head stock tube .


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## Round in circles (Mar 9, 2017)

wawoodman said:


> In every case I'm familiar with, you put the drill chuck in the tailstock and spin the workpiece in the headstock. Am I woefully backwards?



  Partly .  
Occasionally I've used  a sleeved up tailstock chuck with a straight shanked drill in the head stock spindle when I've had something clamped on the side or the top of of the saddle that would not sit easily under my small table top drill press.  On more than one occasion when drilling out holes up to a 1 & 1/4 " hole in some thick Delrin clamped down on the saddle the large taper drill held in the spindle tube was not  sleeved  & for the others above 1/4 to about 9/16 " I 've used sleeves to bring up the morse tapers up to the headstock spindle taper size .


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