craftsman 109.20630 mini lathe -- my first lathe!! yay!!
 

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!

craftsman 109.20630 mini lathe -- my first lathe!! yay!!
 

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!

craftsman 109.20630 mini lathe -- my first lathe!! yay!!
 

craftsman 109.20630 mini lathe -- my first lathe!! yay!!
 

On 20 Nov 2003 12:03:26 -0800, (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 had one of those- the company that built it (AA Products in Ann
Arbor MI) went out of business years ago. Sears doesn't carry any
parts for it.
Try eBay for parts- I parted out mine when the bed wear became
excessive.

As another poster pointed out, the AA has a very weak spindle.
Don't try any hogging cuts.
The chances are good that the rear spindle bushing is worn out- they
usually are. Replacement is a snap- drive out the old bushing and
drive in a new 3/4 in X 1/2 in oillite bushing and then hand ream the
hole to 14 mm.

The front bushing is adjustable- I used to set mine after cleaning and
reinstalling the spindle by chucking up a piece of bar stock (to use
as a handle) andsetting up a dial indicator on the edge of the chuck
body. Wiggle the chuck while slowly tightening the spanner nut for the
front bushing. Tighten until you get a total runout of about one
thousandths of an inch.
Make sure the oiler for the front bushing never runs dry- check it
every five minutes.

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

Try a google search on 'AA lathe'- someone made up blueprints for the
lathe and accessories and posted them in pdf format. I used to have a
copy- I'll see if I can find it.

-Carl

craftsman 109.20630 mini lathe -- my first lathe!! yay!!
 

Making parts for the AA 109 series lathes was covered, in some detail,
in either HSM or MW. Check their indexes - I can't get to mine at the
moment.

Regards,

Marv

Carl Byrns wrote:
On 20 Nov 2003 12:03:26 -0800, (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 had one of those- the company that built it (AA Products in Ann
Arbor MI) went out of business years ago. Sears doesn't carry any
parts for it.
Try eBay for parts- I parted out mine when the bed wear became
excessive.

As another poster pointed out, the AA has a very weak spindle.
Don't try any hogging cuts.
The chances are good that the rear spindle bushing is worn out- they
usually are. Replacement is a snap- drive out the old bushing and
drive in a new 3/4 in X 1/2 in oillite bushing and then hand ream the
hole to 14 mm.

The front bushing is adjustable- I used to set mine after cleaning and
reinstalling the spindle by chucking up a piece of bar stock (to use
as a handle) andsetting up a dial indicator on the edge of the chuck
body. Wiggle the chuck while slowly tightening the spanner nut for the
front bushing. Tighten until you get a total runout of about one
thousandths of an inch.
Make sure the oiler for the front bushing never runs dry- check it
every five minutes.


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


Try a google search on 'AA lathe'- someone made up blueprints for the
lathe and accessories and posted them in pdf format. I used to have a
copy- I'll see if I can find it.

-Carl

craftsman 109.20630 mini lathe -- my first lathe!! yay!!
 

"drew j." wrote:
... tell me how you go about centering a
workpiece up in a 4-jaw chuck that has independently moving jaws? ...

First, you should check the chuck. Chuck up a piece of stock "pretty
close", with 4" or so protruding. Turn this the whole length to clean
it up. Measure the diameters close to the chuck and at the "loose"
end. The difference between them represents the extent to which the
axis of the work/chuck is not parallel to the spindle axis. On the
chuck that came with my lathe this difference was .015, due to a sprung
chuck. (I spent as much for a new chuck as I did for the lathe!)

To chuck a piece "pretty close" to centered, take an eyeball guess at
where it should be and snug it up. Turn on the lathe and bring a pencil
up the the stock so it just hits the "high" spot. Turn it off and
adjust the jaws to move the high spot toward the center. Repeat as
necessary.

To chuck accurately does require a dial indicator. But does not require
much "putzing", once you get the hang of it. Here is the platinum
standard technique from The Master, Teenut:

Quick tip for setting work true in a 4 jaw in two revolutions!

(I learned this, setting up roll turning lathes with 108" swing and a jogging
speed of two to four MINUTES per revolution.)

1. Revolve the work through one revolution..noting the TOTAL swing of the
indicator needle. Bring the spindle to a halt at the MIDPOINT of the swing and
ZERO the dial to the needle.

2. Revolve spindle to bring jaw one to be "on the plunger". Adjust jaw one and
jaw three to ZERO the needle again.

3 Rotate 1/4 turn and adjust jaws two and four to re-zero needle.

Job is done!

Robert Bastow

Thanks, Robert, wherever you are.