best chuck for a 12 inch lathe

C

Coalman

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I am new at this and I just bought a 12 inch Craftsman (atlas) That came with a 5 in 3 jaw chuck with only one set of jaws. The jaws only open to about 2 3/4 inches I am looking at getting another chuck to do larger pieces. What would the largest chuck That I could use safely and also that would not stress the machine ( was at grizzly today and salesman said anything bigger than a 6 would ruin the bearings?) also 3 or 4 jaw ?Thanks in advance Kevin
 
These days, a new 12" lathe will come with 6 and 8" chucks. You need to be mindful that opening the jaws a great distance might lead to an unsafe condition. A jaw can come out and hit you and the workpiece might be soon to follow. Also the jaw might not clear the ways. Also note that most jaws are reversible and can be flipped the other way to grab the inside of a large diameter pipe for-example.

I tend to think that if you have a lower-powered motor a smaller chuck would be better.

Many 3 jaw chucks are "universal" meaning, the jaws move in unison and you don't need to worry about centering the work because it's done automatically by the chuck. Often times, the 3 jaw chucks are not perfect and cannot perfectly center a piece. Most 4 jaw chucks are "independent". Each jaw must be individually set to evenly clamp the workpiece. It's a manual process that can center a workpiece perfectly. There are times when you want to spin a piece offset and that can only be done with an independent chuck. Also, if you have a thinwall tube to hold, it's better to have 4 jaws (or even 6) to distribute the clamping force.

There are times when a 3 jaw is the only way to go -for example, clamping a piece of triangular or hexagon shaft.

A common combination for folks with lathes that size is to utilize both a 6" independent and 8" universal.

EDIT: Fixed a sentence.
 
"There are times when only a 3 Jaw will work, like when holding hexagonal stock". Not quite true Ray, they do still make 6 jawed chucks. :lmao:

"Billy G"
 
Yeah, and they look really cool -kinda like a piece of aircraft equipment. -Would love to have one for bragging rights but, I'm not sure I'd ever use it. -When I win the lottery!

Seriously though... Do you know if those things are usually independent or universal?


Bill Gruby said:
"There are times when only a 3 Jaw will work, like when holding hexagonal stock". Not quite true Ray, they do still make 6 jawed chucks. :lmao:

"Billy G"
Click to expand...
 
They are scroll chucks Ray. That means all jaws move at once. That narrow the choice down, right? :lmao:

"Billy G" :))
 
-And glad of it! Can't imagine trying to describe to someone how to center a piece with 6 independent jaws. -Yikes.


Bill Gruby said:
They are scroll chucks Ray. That means all jaws move at once. That narrow the choice down, right? :lmao:

"Billy G" :))
Click to expand...
 
Center the piece with 3 of the jaws, every other one, then snug the other three to hold. But then this is hypothetical huh, since they don't exist. I now turn this thread back over to it's owner. My apologies to Coalman.

"Billy G"
 
Coalman said:
I am new at this and I just bought a 12 inch Craftsman (atlas) That came with a 5 in 3 jaw chuck with only one set of jaws. The jaws only open to about 2 3/4 inches I am looking at getting another chuck to do larger pieces. What would the largest chuck That I could use safely and also that would not stress the machine ( was at grizzly today and salesman said anything bigger than a 6 would ruin the bearings?) also 3 or 4 jaw ?Thanks in advance Kevin
Click to expand...
i like the 4 jaw chuck to me its easier to center your work piece but they have scroll chucks that are self centering but since your new at this i would go to a 4 jaw once you learn how to center it good then you can move on to better chucks i have a 11'' sheldon and a 6 is what i got on mine, you might try turning your jaws around to grasp bigger projects and even useing a face plate and drive dogs and use centers on each end, i hope i'm explaining this right but there is more members to help too if i'm not:))mac
 
I agree Irish, once you get adjusting down pat you will love the 4 jaw.

"Billy G"

Welcome back my friend.
 
I've have an import 12x36 & I love my 6.25" 6-jaw Set Tru. I sold the 8" 4-jaw that came with the lathe & replaced it with a Fuerda 8" 4-jaw. The 6" 3-jaw that with the lathe is not as bad as the 4-jaw that came with the lathe so I kept it & use it when I need to sand/polish a bunch of stuff or to hold smaller stuff. I wouldn't want the 4-jaw to be smaller than 8" but I wouldn't want my 3 or 6 jaw chucks to be any bigger than 6.25" which I use the most. I love the 6-jaw Bison chucks but they can't hold smaller diameters like down to 3/16" or so.
 
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