Working on watch parts

One way to hold small parts on a lathe is to mount round stock in the chuck and drill a hole for as close to a fit for your shaft diameter. Mark the position of the chuck jaws on the bushing, remove the bushing and slit it. Remount the bushing, matching up the witness mark(s) previously made and insert your part. Tighten the lathe chuck to hold you part. With reasonable care, you should have minimal runout.

Not my idea; I believe that Joe Pieczynski did a video on the process.

Edit: Sorry, @Eyerelief, I missed your post on the same idea.
 
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WarrenP said:
Hi Everyone, I am trying to repair a pocket watch gear but the part is so small my chuck in the lathe wont hold the part. I was thinking I could get a something like a drill press chuck with a small closing hole and a bar that would come out of the back to tighten in my lathe chuck then use the smaller drill press chuck to hold the part. Does anyone know where I can get something like that? Thanks for any help. Warren
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I would put a piece of aluminum in a chuck, and carve out a spot for your gear, then glue it to the aluminum using C/A... remove it with heat, and / or acetone.

A drill chuck is not an accurate holder, or it can self tighten and lock on.. By cutting your own pockets on the aluminum it's concentric.

That's the way I would do it. wish I could have seen the part. pictures are worth a thousand words, we get a better understanding.
 
Looks like I need to go down to 022,5 thousands, unless im wrong thats about 1/64th of an inch. Im probably not going to need this many times so I didnt want to spend to much on it. I dont have a setup for collets so am hoping I can find a chuck that will go down to that. I will try the places that were mentioned here, if anyone see's one please let me know and thanks for everyones help.
 
Dhal22 said:
Actually, my Albrecht chuck is 0-1/8".
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I also have an Albrecht chuck, 0-1/8" . It is more accurate than my collets. I love it and use it in my mill and my lathe. It would work great for the op. I work on clocks.
 
Take a look at Joe Pie's site. He has been doing some small work. Run out on very small work will be a bigger issue. A "set true" collet chuck will help. You can also make your own collets to hold a specific size.
 
By the way, if interested , here is a pic of the part I am working on. I need to cut the shoulder of the shaft down a little so it will be the correct length. The thicker part of shaft is appx 1/64 inch thick.
Warren
 

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Best thing to do as others have said is make your own sleeve to put into your chuck. Best bang for your buck bc you shouldnt need much material to make it.
 
I found a good used albrieght 0 -1/8 on ebay, bought it and received yesterday. It is in perfect condition, so i will see soon if it will do the job. Looks very good. Saw new ones on the net for 400 to 500 each, got this for about 100.00, Hope it works out. Thanks everyone for your help.
 
WarrenP said:
I found a good used albrieght 0 -1/8 on ebay, bought it and received yesterday. It is in perfect condition, so i will see soon if it will do the job. Looks very good. Saw new ones on the net for 400 to 500 each, got this for about 100.00, Hope it works out. Thanks everyone for your help.
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Does it have the hand bump?
 
Dhak22, not sure what a hand bump is. Can you explain it?
 
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