Jacob’s Rubber Flex Chuck, What to do……

[Janderso]

Hey all,
I have this beautiful Jacob’s rubber flex chuck with a D1-6 adapter.
The taper is beautiful and most of the collets are great with a few exceptions but I do have duplicates.
I also have a full set and more collets.

The question is, what do I do with it? I don’t use it now that I have. 5C collet chuck.
The 5c is pretty versatile with a few disadvantages.
The largest size 5C is 1 1/8” right? The range of the collets are limited requiring a full set to facilitate the range of holding options.

The Jacob’s goes to 1 3/8” and has much fewer collets due to the larger range available with the flex collets.

Ebay prices for these have come down. I could probably get $500 or a bit more For the complete set.

What am I missing? Am I not seeing it’s usefulness over the 5C?
Should I keep it?

 

[MrWhoopee]

As soon as you sell it, you will need its larger thru spindle capacity. Besides, unless you have a full set of 64th 5c collets, the Jacobs has capacity for those in between (metric) sizes.

NEVER sell your tools unless you have a terminal diagnosis. Even then, get a second opinion and try to get a firm date.

 

[mmcmdl]

I've had these for all the lathes over the years . Like MrWhoopie said , the larger capacity is nice to have over the 5C . My D1-8s for the big Leblonds had 22J collets , big but expensive . I have an L0 like yours down the basement Jeff , and one of my lathes takes a D1-6 . If I can sell the L0 I'd be interested in the D1-6 .

 

[Ulma Doctor]

As far as tooling goes, it is not usually a question of if i need it- rather when I’m going to need it. So, i buy and hold

 

[markba633csi]

I've heard the rubber on the Jacobs collets can deteriorate after a long period, so there's that to consider. It's an older technology but still good.
Keep them out of the sun and clean they should last a lifetime
I'm a packrat so I'd probably keep both sets

 

[Jimsehr]

You could sell the extra collets. And buy more tools with what you get for them.

But some day you will get a job where you need need the extra size capacity of the rubberflex collets.

 

[Janderso]

As far as tooling goes, it is not usually a question of if i need it- rather when I’m going to need it. So, i buy and hold

I hear you Mike. Getting rid of any tooling is really difficult.

 

[mmcmdl]

Still have the chuck Jeff ?

 

[Dabbler]

Same question here: self interest in my case. I'm looking for a collet setup for my lathe (smiley face emoticon)

 

[Illinoyance]

The extended gripping range is its big advantage. 5Cs have only a few thousandths gripping range. Say you have a part .385" diameter. You would not find a standaard 5C to hold it. The same applies to ER collets vs R8.