As I was tinkering about in the shop, I decided to finish off a little job I should have done ages ago, purely because I hate four jaw work. Having just one good arm and hand to work with, four jaw setting up really is a PITA for me now.
Nothing too strenuous or mind numbing, just a few 8mm holes drilled and tapped in a logical pattern into my faceplate.
By doing this, it allowed me to bolt on my Keats angle plate.
IMHO they are a lot easier to set up than a four jaw. Maybe not as versatile as a 4 jaw independent with regards to size holding, but if you are making more than one of the same thing, it can save you hours of setting up.
Once you have tapped the Keats plate into it's final resting place for doing the job, and tweaked it up tight onto the faceplate, if you need to do another of the same thing, just slacken the two clamp screws, put in a new piece part, and away you go. With a four jaw, your have to reset the jaws every time you slacken the jaws off.
Holding a bit of square bar.
Then a bit of small round.
My four jaw is massive and too heavy for me to lift safely now, and until I get my new smaller chuck mounted up, this will do me just fine.
If you can fit one of these onto your faceplate, for the price, they really are a sound investment.
These people ship all over the world at reasonable rates, and the Keats is featured on their opening page
http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/
If you wanted to knock up something similar yourself, in the US, the Rike vice is a near enough alternative. Drawn up the the late Bill Reichart, the plans are available here.
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2304&category=
Another good thing about them is that they can be used on your drill press, mill or even a surface grinder, in fact anywhere where you want to stand something on end for machining.
John
Nothing too strenuous or mind numbing, just a few 8mm holes drilled and tapped in a logical pattern into my faceplate.
By doing this, it allowed me to bolt on my Keats angle plate.
IMHO they are a lot easier to set up than a four jaw. Maybe not as versatile as a 4 jaw independent with regards to size holding, but if you are making more than one of the same thing, it can save you hours of setting up.
Once you have tapped the Keats plate into it's final resting place for doing the job, and tweaked it up tight onto the faceplate, if you need to do another of the same thing, just slacken the two clamp screws, put in a new piece part, and away you go. With a four jaw, your have to reset the jaws every time you slacken the jaws off.
Holding a bit of square bar.
Then a bit of small round.
My four jaw is massive and too heavy for me to lift safely now, and until I get my new smaller chuck mounted up, this will do me just fine.
If you can fit one of these onto your faceplate, for the price, they really are a sound investment.
These people ship all over the world at reasonable rates, and the Keats is featured on their opening page
http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/
If you wanted to knock up something similar yourself, in the US, the Rike vice is a near enough alternative. Drawn up the the late Bill Reichart, the plans are available here.
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2304&category=
Another good thing about them is that they can be used on your drill press, mill or even a surface grinder, in fact anywhere where you want to stand something on end for machining.
John
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