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Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Thu May 10, 2018 9:58 am
by whateg0
I bought a little 6" Craftsman lathe for parts. The headstock was repurposed, so all that was left is the bed, TS, carriage and a couple other odds and ends. I'm parting it out, but figured it would be kind of fun to clean up and fix some of the stuff that was bad. The crank on the cross-slide is broken, for example, so I will probably make a new one just for fun. I don't know if it really adds to the value of it when listed on ebay.

Anyway, the TS quill lock was missing and the bushing where the feedscrew goes through was buggered. When I tried to take it out, I figured out why it was buggered. It was in there tight, so I ended up milling flats on it to put a real wrench on it. Got it out and modeled, then put the radius turning tool to work. Started by turning the threaded end and boring it out, then turned a female thread in some scrap to hold the part, flipped the part and turned the radius.

The quill lock handle was harder because as you machine away material for the balls, there is little to hold onto. Blued them up and a slight polish with steel wool. Kind of fun.

Also machined a split cotter for the quill lock. All that was left was a slug of aluminum in the bore. I don't think it's original, but I went ahead and used aluminum again as I know it won't scar the quill. Does anybody know for sure what the original part was made of? The top part is what I found in the TS. The bottom is half of what I made. (The other half looks almost identical, of course.)

Like the ball crank, I don't know if it adds enough value to the part to make it worthwhile on something being sold like this, but I enjoyed the process.
screw bushing.jpg
locking handle.jpg
split-cotter.jpg

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Thu May 10, 2018 9:02 pm
by pete
These little 6" lathes were directly aimed at the DIY crowd when they were built. It's at least possible aluminum was used for the cotters. My 3/4 sized BP clone mill seems to use brass cotters for the spindle lock. Either might be correct for yours. My guess is Harold or Spro might know for sure. If that ball handle is the same size as what the Atlas horizontal used last time I checked new ones were still available from Atlas / Clausing, $100 + each though.

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 1:08 am
by Harold_V
Spro might be the man! I know almost nothing about those small lathes except that the Craftsman 109 has an easily bent spindle (speaking from experience).

H

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 8:17 am
by earlgo
The 12" ATLAS cotter is steel. Brass would make a better choice than aluminum because after extended use the aluminum would eventually expand in diameter and jam in the hole.
--earlgo

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:43 pm
by Packard V8
Nice work! The ball crank you made doubled the value of the lathe parts. I was just looking at mine today and it's a crude cast piece maybe 1/10th as strong as yours

jack vines

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:12 am
by Patio
That ball handle you made is beautiful. Can you show us your ball turning tool? Also how did you connected the screw to the handle?

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 3:03 pm
by whateg0
Packard V8 wrote: Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:43 pm Nice work! The ball crank you made doubled the value of the lathe parts. I was just looking at mine today and it's a crude cast piece maybe 1/10th as strong as yours

jack vines
Thanks! I noticed that when taking measurements for other parts. Cast pieces out of pot metal, and not very cleanly cast parts at that. I don't actually know what kind of metal they are, but judging by all of the photos of these machines with broken ball cranks, I'd say something pretty brittle, even as cast parts go. I suppose for what they sold for, and for the market they were after, there was no additional money to be made in cleaning the parting lines up and such.

Dave

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 3:18 pm
by whateg0
Patio wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:12 am That ball handle you made is beautiful. Can you show us your ball turning tool? Also how did you connected the screw to the handle?
whateg0 wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2017 12:35 pm Here's my quick and dirty tool. I've now used it for both internal and external radii. I was pleasantly surprised that it was rigid enough to do the job. I think that it helps to have more material back by the toolpost rather than the little arm that many like this seem to use.
radius_tool-l.jpg
radius_tool-r.jpg
ball_crank.jpg
mach_jacks.jpg
The split cotter has a 1/4" bolt running up from the bottom and the locking handle has a blind threaded hole in the bottom to accept it. You may notice there is also a spacer beneath the locking handle to help with the appearance and spread the clamping force over the whole end of the cotter.

Dave

Re: Making craftsman lathe parts

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 3:26 pm
by whateg0
FWIW, here's the ball crank completed on the 10ee. I used the radius tool to make the head of the retaining screw. I haven't gotten around to shimming it so that the slot lines up with the ball crank, and I doubt I ever will.
new ball crank.jpg
Dave