Sears Lathe-Model 109

1/2"-20 threaded spindle?

Handle it carefully, and don't try parting. The spindle is prone to bending with very little encouragement. Sorry, can't help with the needed information, I sold mine back in the late 50's.

Harold

Hi Darrell, There is a Yahoo group all about these lathes. They have copies of the manuals on line as well as lots of other info about these machines. There are even a few guys on there that are making replacement parts for them. try here:

hope that helps.

Al A.

Here is where I started researching that type of lathe.

If you need any spare parts, I have (what remains of) a 109.21270. some of the change gears are still in quite useable condition.

If you wish, you can contact me at -jozef-at-mts-d-o-t-net- (anti-spam: remove the dashes, and substitute the appropriate symbols)

BK

There's a copy of the manual in the dropbox archives. Sorry I don't remember the year. I think it's listed under AA so is near the top.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

A more appropriate group is

you can find the manual in the files section.... and more.

-Bruno

The manual for this lathe is regularly sold on eBay. Just go on eBay and do a search for Atlas Lathes.

Harry C.

It's also a vailable for free download from the files section of this Yahoo group.

See here:

They have manuals, parts, etc. for the 109 lathe.

What?????

Hold the phone here a sec.

Harold admits to having OWNED a AA Products 109 lathe!???

No *wonder* you are always going on about the virtues of solid, production machinery!

:^)

Jim

I heard that Harold only bought it because he felt sorry for the original owner. No, that's not it. He found it in the alley and only used it for a door stop. And why do you say don't try parting? You admit you parted with yours in the late 50's. Cheers Harold, ERS

I must admit to owning a 109 for a while. I bought it to resell and that's exactly what I did after minimal cleaning. Managed to make a little money on it despite not having a decent digital camera at the time (sold it on ebay). The final buyer actually came down and looked at it before buying it.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

You got it!

Chuckle!

You guys don't cut an old bastard like me much slack, do you! :-)

OK-----the truth. I was a young lad of either 13 or 14 (don't really remember now) when I bought my lathe, directly from Sears. Believe it or not, I bought the lathe, 1/2" Jacobs drill chuck, 3" three jaw chuck, 4" four jaw chuck, 1/3 horse motor, two sets of drills, numbers (1-60) and fractions (1/64"-1/2"), a pre-ground set of 1/4" HSS toolbits and the book they sold at the time, and two calipers, inside and outside, all for a grand total of $180.00. My dad signed for me so I could buy it on credit. I washed dishes at Harry's Cafe in Midvale, Utah to pay it off. When I bought it I thought I had everything. When I sold it I knew I had almost nothing. Damned things don't even have dials.

Eric: No, I didn't part with mine........

Wait.---------------

Let me re-phrase that.

I didn't take a parting cut (successfully) with mine, but I did part with it when I sold it. That was the good part .:-)

My caution was due to attempting to part with a narrow parting tool (likely very poorly ground----I knew almost nothing at that point in time). Maybe I screwed up putting the 1/3 horse motor on the machine, for when I tried parting, all I managed to do is bend the spindle. There's no way in hell that light duty machine will handle a reasonable cut. That's why I cautioned Darrell to not attempt parting. The spindle is very fragile, what with the 0 Morse taper it contains within the 1/2" threaded portion. They made a different model with a larger (3/4" as I recall) spindle, but I don't believe it was the model 109.

Having said all that, both of you ------- remember, all of us screw up occasionally! :-)

Harold

But it got you started, and at 14 you had better equipment than I had at 40, and could make chips even if they were small. What I tell people is that "it's my sh*t and I get some satisfaction from having it to use." Sure, I'd like to drive a Porche, but my "geezermobile" gets me where I want to go and brings me back. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Indeed so! I made a few small cannon, which I fired with home made black powder, and even rebushed the shifting linkage in my buddy's '40 Chev. later on. The bushings in the linkage were so badly worn that it would hang up when shifting. It was, indeed, a good learning experience, not only in making things, but getting a better understanding of what machine tools can do, and what they can't.

Yep! All very true, Gerry. " I got lit up when I went to the movies and saw "The African Queen". The steam launch was mesmerizing, at least for me. After seeing the movie, I wanted to build a steam engine, which I eventually did, later, in high school. Never did quite finish it, and eventually tossed it when I moved, which I now regret. It was made from solids, not a kit, and not very well made. I was very early in the learning curve, with little instruction.

At any rate, it was the reason I purchased the lathe, and was also how I decided what I'd do with my life as an adult. My desire to build steam models resulted in my becoming a machinist. Not a very energetic goal, perhaps, but I wasn't the type to go to college, although I now have regrets for not having done so.

As much as I joke about that old lathe, I wouldn't do one thing differently, except, maybe, keep the lathe. I have fond memories of those days.

Harold

LOL. Slack? What's that? You did forget one part of the story, where you had to walk uphill both ways in the snow to pick it up, and carry it back home 10 miles. :)

I've looked after a few of those. One was re-painted and fussed over. I replaced the spindle on it with a much sturdier version and put oilite bushings in the headstock.

Also a real crossfeed dial! What *were* they thinking?? There's just enough meat in the casting to install a compound dial from a 9" southbend. Which might be spare if one replaced the existing one with a large dial one, like I did.

Another one was a *real* old AA products, no planetary back gears. That I used as a testbed for practicing hand scraping.

And a third that I cleaned up for a friend so he could sell it.

Almost every AA products lathe comes complete with a 'spare' spindle. Just straighten and use.

:^)

Jim

I owned one also. I think I gave it away.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

I still use my 109 lathe occasionally for drilling small, deep holes, and I don't care so much about abrasive sanding dust on it as on the hardened-bed South Bend. The 1/2" Jacobs chuck that's usually on it is very handy for quick polishing or filing jobs.

jw

That's a given. And it wasn't 10 miles. It was 20. With ice covered sidewalks. And bears. :-) Did I mention it was steep-----very steep, not just uphill--------- both directions?

Uh huh! Indeed! What were they thinking? But then, if you think about it, dials weren't all that necessary for those that worked with calipers. :-)

Really? No planetary? Any idea how old?

Harold

The AA series by dunlap goes way back. The machine evolved a lot over its lifetime. Started out with an open headstock, and no gears to run the leadscrew at all. No planetary gears, and the only way to drive the carriage was via the crank on the end of the leadscrew. The tailstock didn't even have a proper ram, the casting was threaded and the ram threaded into it. Crank on the outboard end to operate.

My personal guess was sometime in the late 30s or early 40s.

It was similar to the first one on this page:

but the headstock was even *more* flimsy if you can imagine that.

Jim