# Overlooked a gem



## Eyerelief (Aug 14, 2022)

When I bought my lathe off my mentor years back, included was a 3 jaw and a 4 jaw chuck as well as a 5C collet holder.  He had told me many times that the 3 jaw was a "hi dollar" chuck.  By the time I got them, both chucks were laying in his shop on the floor, heavily rusted, froze up and covered up.  They had become too heavy for him to move.  The collet holder was in the spindle (stuck, but that's another story).
When I got them home, I freed up both chucks, but the 3 jaw was showing about .006 runout.  I set it aside thinking I wanted a set tru anyway. Been using the 4 jaw ever since.  I didn't realize that Pratt Burnerd was making "set tru" or "set rite" chucks back in the 70's and 80's. Last night I looked up the model number of mine online to see what it might be worth.  That model number was listed as a "set rite" chuck. The adjustment screws were seized but a little penetrating oil and they popped free.  Once free, I could see predictable movement on the indicator.  

Soooo, I spent the day with a scotch brite pad and some brake fluid cleaning it up to see what I could do with it.  Once cleaned up, , indicating against the Kalamazoo collet holder I was able runout to less than a .001 with very little effort.  The brake fluid did a fantastic job of getting under the rust.  Loaded it up with some fresh grease and will run it for a while and see how it does.
I didn't take a before pic as I didn't think this project was going anywhere.  The chuck was a decoy to put me in the shop with an abundance of ice cold adult beverages performing some mind numbing task to keep me from doing anything relevant.
Here is both of the chucks sitting on the pallet the day I hauled them off.



Here is the 3 jaw today:


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## 7milesup (Aug 14, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> The chuck was a decoy to put me in the shop with an abundance of ice cold adult beverages performing some mind numbing task to keep me from doing anything relevant.


That was the best part.  LOL

Awesome job on that.  I have a 6" Pratt Bernard sitting in my shop that bought at an auction a couple of years ago.  I have never used it nor even looked at it that close.  I guess I should go see what mine is all about.


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## Dabbler (Aug 14, 2022)

I own a couiple Pratt Bernerd chucks and I *love* them.  I'm lusting over a 10" 6 jaw set-tru universal chuck, but I just can't pull the trigger on a 3500$ CDN purchase.  One day I'll find a used one.


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## WhyW8 (Aug 14, 2022)

That is awesome --- Man that thing cleaned up nice


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## Eyerelief (Aug 14, 2022)

Dabbler said:


> I own a couiple Pratt Bernerd chucks and I *love* them.  I'm lusting over a 10" 6 jaw set-tru universal chuck, but I just can't pull the trigger on a 3500$ CDN purchase.  One day I'll find a used one.


Hate to say this, but I have literally been watching this buck chuck for well over a year.  Price has dropped from $850 plus shipping to $750 plus shipping:








						USED Buck 10" 6-Jaw Universal Lathe Chuck with D1-6 Backplate #5106 (KM)  | eBay
					

It is their Ajust-Tru model that has the set screws on the side of the chuck to adjust to very tight tolerances on lathe operations. It has six one piece jaws and there is no label saying it is a Buck chuck, but it does have their part number of 5106 on the face of the chuck.



					www.ebay.com
				



I need for someone to buy it so I don't.


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## Braeden P (Aug 14, 2022)

That chuck cleaned up really well!

I got a 6” 3 jaw bison set tru chuck for $200  (online auction where you could bid at the shop) with a hardinge taper mount backplate, was very clean and smooth but I looked at the taper and it looked like someone has put a handful of chips in there before putting it on the lathe, used a round stone and got the dings out and about 0.001” runout, looked to good to be true and it was.


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## mmcmdl (Aug 15, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> The chuck was a decoy to put me in the shop with an abundance of ice cold adult beverages performing some mind numbing task to keep me from doing anything relevant.


I have a whole garage and 2 basements and a Kubota tractor I use as decoys , and sometimes the zero turn actually does some real work .  That PB chuck turned out great , and they are expensive chucks if you can even find them .


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## mattthemuppet2 (Aug 15, 2022)

Very nice! I got a 6" PB set tru at an auction a couple of years ago, essentially for free after selling the other stuff in the lot, and like it a great deal. Good grip and very little runout.


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## pontiac428 (Aug 15, 2022)

I love my little PB 6-jaw.  I haven't decided whether to keep it and try and find a d1-6 back plate to fit the new lathe, or just let it go down river.  I'd probably regret it later, it's the best chuck I have.

Thread title reminds me of this little moment:


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## tjb (Aug 15, 2022)

Nice work!

I fell into a 'New-Open Box' 6" Pratt-Burnerd 4-jaw about a year ago.  Had to completely dismantle, clean, and make a backing plate for it, but what a chuck!  I use it much more regularly than my 8" 4-jaw.  Yours cleaned up better than mine, but I have no complaints.  Here are some before-and-after pic's, and one showing one of the two chuck keys I made for it.

Regards


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## mattthemuppet2 (Aug 15, 2022)

pontiac428 said:


> I love my little PB 6-jaw.  I haven't decided whether to keep it and try and find a d1-6 back plate to fit the new lathe, or just let it go down river.  I'd probably regret it later, it's the best chuck I have.


Depending on what you mean by little, I'd be interested in buying/ trading for it if you do decide to let it go. If you have a Niles 36" swing lathe in your workshop, "little" might be a bit too big though


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## wachuko (Aug 15, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> When I bought my lathe off my mentor years back, included was a 3 jaw and a 4 jaw chuck as well as a 5C collet holder.  He had told me many times that the 3 jaw was a "hi dollar" chuck.  By the time I got them, both chucks were laying in his shop on the floor, heavily rusted, froze up and covered up.  They had become too heavy for him to move.  The collet holder was in the spindle (stuck, but that's another story).
> When I got them home, I freed up both chucks, but the 3 jaw was showing about .006 runout.  I set it aside thinking I wanted a set tru anyway. Been using the 4 jaw ever since.  I didn't realize that Pratt Burnerd was making "set tru" or "set rite" chucks back in the 70's and 80's. Last night I looked up the model number of mine online to see what it might be worth.  That model number was listed as a "set rite" chuck. The adjustment screws were seized but a little penetrating oil and they popped free.  Once free, I could see predictable movement on the indicator.
> 
> Soooo, I spent the day with a scotch brite pad and some brake fluid cleaning it up to see what I could do with it.  Once cleaned up, , indicating against the Kalamazoo collet holder I was able runout to less than a .001 with very little effort.  The brake fluid did a fantastic job of getting under the rust.  Loaded it up with some fresh grease and will run it for a while and see how it does.
> ...


Please share how you were able to get it looking so pristine.

I need to do the same with the ones I got with the Logan…


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## pontiac428 (Aug 15, 2022)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> Depending on what you mean by little, I'd be interested in buying/ trading for it if you do decide to let it go. If you have a Niles 36" swing lathe in your workshop, "little" might be a bit too big though


It's a little one, 6" only.  Closes on 3/8" stock neatly.  The backplate is fit to a Atlas/Logan spindle.  The backplate I bought new from PB and cost me more than the chuck.  The chuck is awesome, just a pleasure to use, but I should move up to a 8-10" version to get the most out of it.  If you're interested, send a PM.  Trades are welcome.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Aug 15, 2022)

that is a beauty, gulp


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## Eyerelief (Aug 15, 2022)

wachuko said:


> Please share how you were able to get it looking so pristine.
> 
> I need to do the same with the ones I got with the Logan…


Hey Jamie,
I'd like to tell you it was a lot of work, but it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating.  Basically, I used some Dot 3 brake fluid from an unsealed container and a brown scotchbrite pad.  I would pour a puddle the size of a quarter on an area, and start working it with the scotchbrite pad.  Interestingly, it seemed like the first pass did very little, but following passes would cloud up the brake fluid instantly.  This chuck is 10" and I knocked it out in a couple hours.............Well, the wife says I was out there all day but that is because she wanted me to change out all the batteries in the smoke detectors..........every room..........with a ladder and everything.......that is just asking me to spill my beer.

Anyway, depending on the level of rust, sometimes I went over an area 4 or 5 times.  When I was done, I mounted the chuck back up without the jaws in it and ran the lathe slow while holding a fresh scotchbrite to the chuck to kinda straighten out the "grain".  When I finished, I cleaned it up with WD40 then put a heavy smear of WD40 on it and let it sit.  I didn't see any flash rust anywhere so I think I am in the clear.

You know, the wife keeps asking me why I drink every day.  I told her, "one of us has to...."


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## Eyerelief (Aug 15, 2022)

pontiac428 said:


> It's a little one, 6" only.  Closes on 3/8" stock neatly.  The backplate is fit to a Atlas/Logan spindle.  The backplate I bought new from PB and cost me more than the chuck.  The chuck is awesome, just a pleasure to use, but I should move up to a 8-10" version to get the most out of it.  If you're interested, send a PM.  Trades are welcome.


Yeaaaah, 6 jaw.  When I grow up that's what I'm gonna have.


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## wachuko (Aug 15, 2022)

Too bad I can’t do two different smileys… so doing it here…

First   for the information on how you did it…

Second  for your brave reply to your wife, lol


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## pontiac428 (Aug 15, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> Basically, I used some Dot 3 brake fluid from an unsealed container and a brown scotchbrite pad.



What made you decide to use brake fluid for this job?  The results clearly speak for themselves, but I wouldn't consider brake cleaner (mostly because I hate the way it feels on my skin) for rust.  The penetrant in penetrating catalyst is actually part of brake fluid's chemistry, albeit a different species and done for a different reason- the glycol ether base oil in brake fluid (and particular hydraulic oils) is there to bind water.  In a penetrant, it is used to reduce surface tension, which makes it creep.  It doesn't dissolve rust, but might help lift it away.  I'm partial to acids (tannic, chromic, phosphoric) and I'm too lazy for mechanical removal, but sometimes you just need something that you can buff on and wipe off without disassembly (try that with acid dip or electrolysis).  This really worked out for you, I may give it a try yet.


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## Eyerelief (Aug 15, 2022)

Hi John,
I can not tell a lie (sitting here eating cherries, go figure).  I had read a post from way back written by Richard King @Richard King 2 on a different forum.  He mentioned in passing, using brake fluid as a quick way to clean up a milling machine table (at least I think that is what it was).  I gave it a try on my old Excello table, see pics below.  The before picture was after steel wool and WD40.  Brake fluid was night and day above any solvent, compound, rust remover or anything else that I had tried.  It even picked up where other products left off, leveling out the look of the table.  It got under the oxidation and staining quickly and left me with a pretty respectable finish.  
Oddly enough, I had used brake fluid about 45 years ago when I was repairing and refinishing a fiberglass bass boat.  It worked really well in regards to surface prep.  The new gel coat stuck to the brake fluid prepped finish like crazy.  I don't pretend to know what you know about chemicals, but I have seen brake fluid get into paint and soften other materials so to me it stood to reason that it might work on oxidation. Evaporust is probably safer in the long run, but the brake fluid worked right now.  You are correct, it does feel weird to touch tho.


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## Eyerelief (Aug 15, 2022)

wachuko said:


> Too bad I can’t do two different smileys… so doing it here…
> 
> First   for the information on how you did it…
> 
> Second  for your brave reply to your wife, lol


Alright Jamie, I gotta come clean.  My wife is an angel.  I'm playing way above the rim in the companion department.  She puts up with me even when I wont put up with me.  I could go on for days..............


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