These are useful little lathes that you can do a lot with if you work
within their capabilities.

NOTE ... I say capabilities, not 'capacity'. This thing is rated at,
IIRC, 6" swing. DON'T count on it! The spindle is VERY undersized for a
lathe of the rated capacity ... it's downright delicate. This is the
weak point of these lathes. One of the first things you should check is
spindle runout, to see if it's already bent. If not, you're home free.

If it is bent, a new one can be fabricated on a larger lathe. Used parts
sometime show up also. These lathes were built in Ann Arbor, MI under
the nale 'AA', and also sold by Sears as the smaller of the two
Crafstman 6" lates offered. The considerably larger, and a true 6", was
made for them by Atlas.

If you consider the 'AA' as a 3" or even a 4" lathe, and treat it
accordingly, you'll likely have little trouble. If you get to thinking
it's a real 6" lathe, you're inviting disaster!

There is (at least) a Yahoo group devoted to craftsman lathes groups.yahoo.com/group/atlas_craftsman

A Google (or similar) search for any combination of "Crafstman, Sears,
AA, 109 lathe" will bring up a bunch of hits.

Good luck, think small, and have fun!

Dan Mitchell
==========

"drew j." wrote:

hi

i just bought a used craftsman 109.20630 mini lathe, and was wondering
if any of you guys could offer any advice about restoring/using it. i
am a complete metalworking novice, and could use any advice you could
offer or resources you could point me toward.

i'm specifically interested in getting a manual, threading chart &
assembly/exploded drawings of it, if possible.

it seems basically sound, although the original finish is gone & it's
kinda rusty. has a 4-jaw chuck & is missing the tailstock center.

also, can any of you please tell me how you go about centering a
workpiece up in a 4-jaw chuck that has independently moving jaws? do
you have to use a dial indicator on the bed to check runout & then
putz around with adjusting the jaws
individually in & out until there's no runout?

thanks very much!