# Are these chucks as lousy as their low price leads me to believe?



## Senna

Just wondering if anyone has tried one of these chucks and can report on their quality or lack thereof?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-6-JAW-SEL...1?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item2572232f8f

For $206 shipped I can't imagine them being high quality but are they at least acceptable quality?


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## xalky

It's no Bison, thats for sure. But, I'd bet youd be surprised at how good it is for the money. That one seems very nice, with the 2 piece jaws. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. I bought a 6" 3jaw, one piece jaws, for my SB 9" lathe a couple of years ago and I was very pleased with the bang for the buck.

Would I rather take a chance on a used 20 yr old chuck for the same money? Absolutely not. I'd buy the new Chicom. 

Would i rather buy a fairly new top brand chuck for the same priceor a few more bucks, if i could find one? Yup.


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## John Hasler

Senna said:


> Just wondering if anyone has tried one of these chucks and can report on their quality or lack thereof?
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-6-JAW-SEL...1?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item2572232f8f
> 
> For $206 shipped I can't imagine them being high quality but are they at least acceptable quality?



Are they showing the front of one chuck and the back of another?  The picture on the right appears to show four jaws.


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## darkzero

I'll let you know, I just bought that very same chuck from that listing & it shipped yesterday. As you can see in my avatar I do have the Bison Set-Tru 6-jaw which I absolutely love. These from CME of course are just plain backs but they're the only inexpensive ones I've seen with the 2pc jaws. I'm not expecting much and it does look nice in the pic but I bought it to use with my rotary table.

If you're looking for one for the lathe & want better quality with the adjustable feature I recommend the Fuerda/Gator version, they offer them in both semi steel & steel bodies. The semi steel one has a smaller through hole....Bison does not offer a more affordable semi steel model for tbe 6 jaw Set-Tru.

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John Hasler said:


> Are they showing the front of one chuck and the back of another?  The picture on the right appears to show four jaws.



Good eye, I noticed that too. The listing is stating plain back so maybe they just used an existing pic they had. What I'm wordering is the through hole size which they say is 1.75". 6" 6-jaw chucks usually have a 1.5"- 1.65" through hole and are actually 6.25" or 160mm (6.3") in dia.


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## Senna

darkzero said:


> I'll let you know, I just bought that very same chuck from that listing & it shipped yesterday. As you can see in my avatar I do have the Bison Set-Tru 6-jaw which I absolutely love. These from CME of course are just plain backs but they're the only inexpensive ones I've seen with the 2pc jaws. I'm not expecting much and it does look nice in the pic but I bought it to use with my rotary table.
> 
> If you're looking for one for the lathe & want better quality with the adjustable feature I recommend the Fuerda/Gator version, they offer them in both semi steel & steel bodies. The semi steel one has a smaller through hole....Bison does not offer a more affordable semi steel model for tbe 6 jaw Set-Tru.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> 
> 
> Good eye, I noticed that too. The listing is stating plain back so maybe they just used an existing pic they had. What I'm wordering is the through hole size which they say is 1.75". 6" 6-jaw chucks usually have a 1.5"- 1.65" through hole and are actually 6.25" or 160mm (6.3") in dia.



I very much look forward to a report on this chuck Will.

It looks remarkably good in the pictures and I've been very happy with the vise I got from CME.

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Where'd you order your backplate from Will?


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## darkzero

Senna said:


> I very much look forward to a report on this chuck Will.
> 
> It looks remarkably good in the pictures and I've been very happy with the vise I got from CME.



No problem Ken, will do & I'll post here. I've also bought items from CME & have been happy but never a chuck though. Most of their other chucks look nice too and is another reason why I decided to buy it.

Unfortunately I won't be able to measure TIR off the bat as I don't have a backplate plate for it on hand (unless it turns out to be an actual 6" which I do have) and it's going on a RT. But I'll at least report on fit & finish as I almost always take the chuck about & go through it on asian imports.


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## JoeSixPack74

I am also interested in this as I need a 4 Jaw for my lathe.  If it is decent quality or at least "way better" than CDCO I would be happy.  Also what is the advantage of the 6 jaw over the 3 jaw?  Is it more for not distorting tubing or better accuracy?


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## Senna

JoeSixPack74 said:


> I am also interested in this as I need a 4 Jaw for my lathe.  If it is decent quality or at least "way better" than CDCO I would be happy.  Also what is the advantage of the 6 jaw over the 3 jaw?  *Is it more for not distorting tubing or better accuracy?*



From what I've read it has more to do with the distortion thing than the accuracy thing. I believe I've read that the six jaw does not grip as tightly as a three jaw either.
They look super cool though.


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## darkzero

Yep, and that has been my experience with them too. I've had a few slips but on rare occasions. A 3 or 4 jaw definitely grips much harder. I got into machining cause I used to mod flashlights. Machining thin aluminum & plastic reflectors can be a headache with a 3 jaw, I hated when they flew out of the 3 jaw & were scrapp, some of these small relflectors were $20 ea so that was never a good feeling. I also messed with a lot of thin wall parts & still do. I don't mess with the lights anymore but I still prefer to have the 6-jaw. I also find chucking up short parts can be easier (assuming the jaws are still in good condition).

Knurling titanium is just about the most force I run into & I have been fine. I spin the tool post post before the part in the chuck so for what I do I'm fine. With the Set-Tru my TIR is so low I really never had an interest for using collets except for times working close to the chuck & not busting my knuckles.

6-jaws are one of those luxury items IMO but they do have their advantages & I agree, they sure do look sexy. Definitely not a replacement for a 4-jaw though, everyone should have one of those.


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## george wilson

I like using collets,especially for high speed turning. A chuck acts like a fan when polishing,and blows the crud everywhere. Collets do not. My HLVH is really more of a collet lathe anyway.


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## nobog

You can't go wrong!

The description says:

_Top Quality

)

_JK


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## bptactical

Why spend the 200 bux on ChiCom garbage?
For the same money I just found a lightly used Burnerd at Lost Creek Machine and Blueball Machinery had similar for a good price.
As long as they haven't been abused or crashed I would rather deal with the nuances a used chuck would have.


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## darkzero

Well I got the chuck today, typical China quality...well I've had China chucks they were better out the box. The one I received does not open & close very well out the box. It's very tight & "gritty". Well of course it is, the damn scroll & jaws are covered in grit & tiny shavings! Like any Asian import chuck I've had I always completely disassemble them, clean, & deburr before using.

As I suspected it is 6.25", well 160mm/6.3" to be exact just like my Bison. The through hole is 1.75" which I didn't think it would be. The jaws are able to grip down to 3/16", my Bison 6-jaw only gets down to 3/8".









Here's something that I don't see often, the pinion faces have a bare machined finished (no functional importance of course).




The one I got the jaws don't mesh near as well as my Bison, you can see the two jaws in the lower right corner is even worse. Not sure if it was a grinding issue or if it's because of all that crap inside of it. Hopefully it does clean up & goes away.




Since I bought this to use on a rotary table I have no way of measuring run out since I don't have a backplate for it & I won't be making one for the lathe. My 3 jaw that came with the lathe is 6" so the backplate is too small.

I decided to try something, not something I would trust as there's too much error involved but it gave me a rough measurement with what I had on hand.


I chucked up a piece of Thomson shafting that I use for checking runout in the 4-jaw & indicated. Was going to try clamping the 6-jaw on the end.




Not sure why but I was getting weird readings so I decided to try the same with my Bison which worked better.





I estimate about just under .002" runout, measuring the register on the back & the body was about the same. The register is not machined very smooth. Crappy phillips screws holding the back cover & set screws for the pinion but no surprise there. Typical cheap tiny chuck key which I always just toss in a box anyway. They did include a microfiber cloth with machining related pics on it for cleaning, never seen that before.

So my thoughts on a quick evaluation, typical you get what you pay for with Asian import stuff. Will I keep it? Yes. Would I buy it again knowing what I know now? Probably not, but with some work it might turn out to be a decent chuck, good enough for me to use on the rotary table anyway. We'll see after I spend some time on it to go through & clean up everything, I'm a bit scared to see what it looks like inside.

The Fuerda/Gator semi steel 6-jaw would be a much better buy for a couple hundred more & it's adjustable.


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## Ray C

Good review DZ.

All in all, the chuck seems OK but the real test will be after you clean it up.  Please do me a favor and run at different speeds and check balance.  The backplate may need to be rotated to find the sweet spot (if it has one).


Ray


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## darkzero

Thanks Ray. No can do, it won't be going on the lathe. I'll report back after it's been cleaned up, maybe next week or so, got so.e other things to take care of first.


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## Senna

Thank you so much for the report on the CME 6 jaw.

I guess it's about what I expected given the origin and the low price.
Serviceable but nowhere near stellar.
I'm interested in how well it cleans up.


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## Ray C

Also interested in how it cleans-up...  No hurry now, DZ...  No pressure coming from me :lmao:.

Anyhow, I'd never expect a Chevy Cavalier to perform like a Corvette but then again, the 250% price difference is about the same differential of a Gator 6 jaw.  If you calculate the price difference for every thousandth inch of runout difference, I wonder what the ratio is.  Looking at it in those terms, I think you got a good deal -especially if you get the TIR down around 0.001 or 0.002 without too much struggle.  That's about as good as you'll get from most scroll chucks.  It might cost you a couple hours but you'll keep 500 bucks in your wallet.


Ray


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## darkzero

Spent like 4-5 hrs cleaning up the chuck today, longer than I have ever spent on an import chuck before. Lots of burrs & crap inside. Some of the burrs did not affect anything but I figure I might as well clean them up while I was at it. Took some pics to share.


Here's the back of the chuck. They used philips screws which I hate & one of them is stripped, not threaded in all the way.




They didn't bother to clean up the casting.




Here's what it looked like on the inside. Lots of fine debris mixed in the grease, looks like cast iron dust.







Took the jaws out, completely cleaned out the scoll, pinions, & body, still had very bad binding when turning. Thought is was the scroll as it had some high spots on the front which I stoned out but it wasn't. Turns out it was one of the pinions. One of them was a 7 thou larger in dia than the other two. Threw it in the 4 jaw as it wasn't very concentric. Turned it down to size & it fixed the problem, scroll was rotating smooth now.




Chuck body all cleaned out & added a bit of oil for the scroll.




Cleaned all that unknown dirty crap they used for grease & applied some fresh Gleitmo 805 grease.




Not that it really mattered but the back plate was like 150 thou smaller than the through hole of the chuck. The chuck through hole is 1.77" so I bored the back plate to match. Just got a Starrett 670 ID attachment recently & figured I might as well try it out. I normally just use a DTI but sometimes it's quicker to just use a dial indicator.




Also gave it a chamfer to clean up the ugly casting.




Replaced those cheap philips screws with SHCSs.




There were lost of the burs on the top & master jaws, specifically on the tongue & grooves (forgot to take pics). Most of it didn't affect anything but I spent the time to debur it all. All the bolts for the top jaws are standard thread like my Fuerda 4 jaw & Bison 6 Jaw.




Here it is on my RT. My back plate will arrive tomorrow but I'm going out of town for a week so that'll have to wait.




Overall I'm happy with the way it cleaned up. Unfortunately the gaps in the jaws didn't get any better but I'm not worried about it.


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## Senna

Fantastic writeup DZ.

It looks pretty decent after you did the rest of the manufacturer's job for him.

And did it correctly!!!

Seems that's the price you pay for the price you pay.

Thanks a ton for taking the time to report on your experience. I appreciate it.


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## darkzero

Senna said:


> Fantastic writeup DZ.
> 
> It looks pretty decent after you did the rest of the manufacturer's job for him.
> 
> And did it correctly!!!
> 
> Seems that's the price you pay for the price you pay.
> 
> Thanks a ton for taking the time to report on your experience. I appreciate it.



No problem, it was fun, & I'm glad it was worthwhile. Thanks!


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## flutedchamber

DZ,

Thank you for the review on the chuck.  It seems as though you got your moneys worth, and probably more.  It turned out better than I thought.

As far as the grit mixed with the grease inside of the chuck is concerned, it doesn't only happen on Chinese goods.  My wife bought a new Kimber 1911 pistol for almost $1100.  It came with grit that was mixed in the lube all throughout the pistol.  I wrote to Kimber and never heard a word back.  It's not only Chinese companies that don't care.


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## zmotorsports

WOW!!  Thanks for the post Will.  I just stumbled across this thread after I sent you a message asking about chucks.  You have mentioned the Gator/Fuerda, that is the one I was looking at, Part # 1-103-0600.  This is their PA series Tech-Tru forged chuck.  What is your opinion of this one?  I was also looking at Buck but quite a bit further out of my price range.

Mike.


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## Senna

Mike, you may want to include the Kalamazoo Chuck Manufacturing offerings in your search.
These are 100% American made chucks and from what I've read they are equal to if not a little better than Buck chucks.
I'd expect the pricing to be similar to Buck.


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## darkzero

zmotorsports said:


> WOW!!  Thanks for the post Will.  I just stumbled across this thread after I sent you a message asking about chucks.  You have mentioned the Gator/Fuerda, that is the one I was looking at, Part # 1-103-0600.  This is their PA series Tech-Tru forged chuck.  What is your opinion of this one?  I was also looking at Buck but quite a bit further out of my price range.
> 
> Mike.



I can't say much. I have a Fuerda 4 jaw & I'm happy with it but comes no where near the quality of my Bison. Fuerda is made in China  & it shows that but they are better than any other China chuck I have seen. It's good enough for me.

I think Fuerda is good bang for the buck though. They offer lower cost chucks for those like hobbyists without having to spend the amount for the higher dollar chucks. Like for example the 6-jaw Bison Set-Tru that I have, Bison makes these with forged (all steel) bodies only. Fuerda also makes a similar chuck with forged body for lower cost but they also offer the same type of chuck with a semi steel body for even less. You can tell the Fuerdas apart, the forged has 3 pinions & the semi steel has only 1 pinion.

I have the 6-jaw for specific reasons, having a 5" Bison 6-jaw Set Tru before, I was spoiled & couldn't have any less on my current lathe. I love that chuck. The price keeps going up on them but the same goes for the Fuerda 4 jaw I got too. Not very affordable for hobbyists, I am a hobbyists too but I just had to save for it & have no regrets spending the money on it. Before I got my current Bison I had my eyes on an Pratt Burnerd (made in England) 6-jaw Set-Rite chuck for a while but that was a bit way too expensive for me.


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## Splat

Nice cleanup job! Good luck with it. FWIW, before I'd buy anything off Ebay like that I'd see what Jeff at Tools4cheap has. MOF, IIRC last time I was over there he sells Fuerda chucks. Still, if you can make that chuck work for you then you dun did good.


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## stupoty

Looks like its cleaned up nicely now.

i've just bought a new 4 jaw independant (quite cheep) the general finnish was a bit better than the one you have and no philips screws but the jaws all neaded burs taken off.  I think its made in India.

the most hilarious fault on mine is the beval at the base(where it meets the back plate) is very un even so it looks like the chuck has about a 1/4 inch of runout when its spinning :-0 

i may have to do somthing about that as its quite disconcerting.


Stuart


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## Mark_f

Thanks for this great information. I was looking at that same ebay listing and now have decided I don't want a "chuck kit". I will look elsewhere, heavens i got the time. I was particularly concerned about your photo of the poor jaw fit when closed although it may not be a problem. Any way, thank you for helping me decide what to do.

mark


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## toploader

*Good review!  I was looking at a 16" three jaw. I think I will pass after reading this. *


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