So I decided to make a spider chuck...

[TonyBen]

I ordered a lathe spider from Grizzly, but I was skeptical about its robustness and longevity, being aluminum. I decided to replicate it but in steel. I ordered a 5" diameter 1" thick steep plate from ebay and went to work.

I got to work facing it and boring a hole with a 1-1/4" drill bit.

I got to work boring out the center to be about 2.25". I originally went with 2" but it was too small for my 3-jaw chuck to fit. I'm not sure of the size, but I had to re-mount it in my 4-jaw chuck and realign it and keep boring it until the 3-jaw fit.

I also made a groove to mark the mid-point of the remaining steel. I also used the 4-jaw chuck edges, a straight edge and a sharpie to mark the four mounting hole locations.

Although not necessary, I mounted it in my 3-jaw chuck and cleaned up the outer circumference as it had a wavy edge. I probably took about 1/4" off the diameter to get it all uniform.

Using the sharpie marks and the reference groove, I punched the locations for the mounting bolts.

That's it for now. I ordered some 1/2" brass tipped set screws and the right drill bit to tap the screws. I still need to drill the backplate mounting holes and buy some screws to mount it to the backplate, then tap those holes as well.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Tony.

 

[xr650rRider]

Just drill and tap the backplate for the brass tipped screws, no need to add anything else.

 

[TonyBen]

I considered that, but one of the four set screw holes would interfere with one of the three cam lock inserts that's threaded deep into the backplate.

 

[xr650rRider]

I considered that, but one of the four set screw holes would interfere with one of the three cam lock inserts that's threaded deep into the backplate.

Yes, you really need the thick back plate or your going to have same problem with the 4 holes in face.

 

[TonyBen]

I can through-hole three of the face mounting screws and go with a shorter screw for the one that will crop into the cam lock screw. Or I can move the mounting screws out farther toward the edge and alleviate the problem all together. I have lots of room on the face but I might have to go with four 3/8" screws instead of 1/2" screws on the face.

 

[Pevehouse]

Very cool. Been thinking of doing the same thing