AA/Craftsman 109 upgrade

[Jack Welch]

Greetings,

I am new to the Hobby-Machinist.com group. I just kind of stumbled in after a google search. My hobby is restoring pre-war and post-war british rally and race cars.
I had been using my machinists lathe with his direction, and I thought the time was right to purchase a smaller lathe and try out some work on my own. I have, many many years ago used a Atlas/ Craftsman 101 for smaller engine parts, to good effect.

So I purchased a good condition Craftsman 109. 6" metal lathe. I posted this on the welcome board and basically I was told to forget the Craftsman 109 as it was a toy.

Well I don't want to scrap the Craftsman 109 so I have a question. Can the Atlas 101/ Craftsman Headstock be made to fit onto the Craftsman 109 metal lathe bed?

Sincerely,

Jack

 

[vtcnc]

Well if your objective was to practice on your own with some small parts then I can’t say you made bad choice. Most machinists dismiss them as “toys” but that dismissal is born of perception not reality.

I had a 109 and properly taken care of, it is quite capable of matching quality of a basic Sherline or Taig hobby lathe. Some machinist may chime in here and say that those are toys as well. The one advantage I had with mine was that it was modified to a 3/4” spindle at some point in the past. That allowed me to cut stainless with it…although with a lot of care.

All that is to say if you need to practice then use the 109. As you progress you will want to do bigger and more difficult things which then help you relate to why the 109 can be dismissed in the way that it is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[markba633csi]

The 109 Dunlap has a v-way bed vs. the flat way bed on the Atlas machines, so I think you'd be in for some carving to fit one to the other

 

[Aaron_W]

I have one of these, and it is true they leave much to be desired. I also have a Craftsman 101.21400 (aka Atlas 618) which is far superior despite the similarity in size.

There are certainly much better lathes available, however this is the lathe you have. Use it to learn with, and make small things with it.

I look at these as more of a crafting tool, than a machinists tool. I would have no issue using mine to make pens, chess pieces, decorative items etc, but it would not be my choice for a project like a small steam engine. They have been used to make small precise parts, so it isn't a can't as much as just more effort.

I wouldn't invest too heavily into improving this lathe, as I feel that money and effort are better spent on just buying a better lathe. If the spindle is damaged, as is common, there are people selling solid spindles. That will address one of the biggest flaws of the design.

If you find it does what you need, great. You may find it works just fine for your needs, you would not be the first person to be happy with a 109. If you find it lacking, look for something better, but in the meantime, use it and learn with it. One area where these actually do well is threading, and they offer a rather large range of threads.

These do have a pretty large following, so parts and information is available. If you replace it down the road, don't scrap it, they are surprisingly popular little machines, just not within machinist circles.

 

[ericc]

I agree. Give it a try. I had a huge amount of fun from mine. It was a little weak for turning steel, especially larger pieces, like 1/2" or greater. The spindle is very delicate. It will not be stressed, though, when turning a hole attachment for a Starrett 196 dial indicator, since these involve pretty thin material.