NEW/Old lathe

[Nank Brown]

Hey guys, after getting pissed off at my 1920's buffalo drill press (not sure if thats when it was made but looks it) I called a friend who called a friend who rounded me up a Craftsman metal lathe 109.21270 so the price was fair enough and he came to help me set it up. I dont have pics yet but it is in good condition just needs re-painted. So, the question is, was this mini lathe a good invesment? Or did I just purchase a light duty lathe that all I can do is turn pipe tamps on???

Thanks,
Nank

[smokindawg]

To start with, while it only has a 6" swing, it can be used to drill stummels. This is however (If I'm correct) is one of the lighter duty lathes made with either the 1/2" x 20 or the 3/4" x16 thread. These spindles have a reputation for being easily bent if you get the work in a bind. (If you are still thinking of getting it, make sure and check the runout on the spindle) I have a friend that I found one for and he is using it for drilling blocks but it has the bigger 1"x 8 thread.

If you get this lathe you are however limited as too how long a pipe, including shank, that you can drill. Other than that, it will work for what your going to do with it.

I myself had one of the beefier 6" x 18" and while it worked well for drilling, I found that I wanted a bigger lathe soon after getting this one. I moved up to a 9x20 and am very happy.

Some of the older 109s had bronze bushings rather than tapered roller bearings, but I'm not sure which this one has.

If it were myself, I'd save my money and look around for something bigger and invest in that. The tooling will cost about the same to get either this lathe or the bigger 9" x 20" set up for pipe making. Once you tool the bigger lathe up, you would have a lathe that would work well for a long time and for more than just pipe making.

[smokindawg]

Ooops, Guess I should have paid better attention to your post before answering. I see now that you already got the lathe. This being said, I don't think that I'd spend too much tooling it up for pipe making, as you will most likely soon want something bigger. If it were me, I'd probably set the smaller one up for working on stems and as you said, tampers. Then I'd start looking again for something bigger.

I was able to pick up a barely used 9"x20" Jet on Craigslist with lots of tools and accessories, including the factory stand for $600, so there are some good deals out there if you just watch and wait.

Also, you have to remember that the lathe is only the initial investment. You can plan on eventually spending about as much on tooling for pipe making as the lathe cost. You can save some money if you can make some of the tooling yourself and also take your time and purchase used tooling as it becomes available. I also have repurposed some tools for my own uses and save some dollars that way too.

[Nank Brown]

Thanks Smokindawg for the response, I paid 100 bucks for the lathe with motor and a few tools included so I figured if I could at least make some stems out of it, it would be worth the cash, and like I said the gy even brought it and set it up for me!!