# Gator/Fuerda EA Series 6-Jaw adjustable chucks



## GaryK (Jan 31, 2013)

Can someone tell me how many adjustment screws there are on the Gator/Fuerda EA Series 6-Jaw adjustable chucks?

I found that the PA Series has 4 screws but I haven't found anything about the EA series.


Just for clarity I'm talking about the screws that adjust the chuck to the back plate.

Thanks,
Gary


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## darkzero (Jan 31, 2013)

Not sure about the Fuerdas but it also may depend on the size of the chuck as my 5" & 6.25" Bisons differed. Ironically my 5" had 4 & my 6.25" has only 3. 4 would be ideal but even with 3 I have no problem getting down to .0002".

My Fuerda was drop shipped directly from GTS. They are the US supplier, try sending them an email. http://www.gts-tools.com/contact.html


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## GaryK (Jan 31, 2013)

I guess I should have mentioned that I was looking at the 6". $590.38 w/back plate, shipped.

There's a Bison 6" 6-jaw on ebay for $680 shipped, but I would be spend about $200 for a back plate.

I have heard nothing but good about Gator/Fuerda so saving $300 sounds good to me.

I like the idea of 4 screws like their PA (Steel body) chucks have. They both have the same specs for the most
parts but the number of screws is not listed for the EA series like it is for the PA series.

Gary


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## darkzero (Jan 31, 2013)

Yup, I hear ya, the Bison backplates are also expensive. But the Bison chucks & backplates are blanchard ground nicely so there was no need to take skim cuts, just bolted everything on as is & got excellent results.

When I bought the Bisons the Fuerda chucks did not hit the States yet, I first saw them at Westec. I was originally going to go with a Pratt Bernerd 6-jaw Set-rite on ebay but the wait on getting an adapter was months & much more expensive than the Bison.

I'm pretty happy with my 4-jaw Fuerda so I don't think I would hesitate on getting any other one of their chucks. The 6-jaw Fuerdas look pretty damn nice in person too. That's some good savings right there so it's hard not to go with one. Be sure to post pics of it if you get it! I love chuck porn!


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## GaryK (Jan 31, 2013)

darkzero said:


> When I bought the Bisons the Fuerda chucks did not hit the States yet, I first saw them at Westec.



Westec brings back some bad memories for me. For the 6 years I was at my last job I had to go and setup our booth there. Dealing with the stupid unions.
(it's required to hire at least one of them to help you set up your own booth.) Then spend all day every day standing talking to everyone. Then even more time packing
everything up. Not to mention driving about 2 hours there and back from La Verne in all the traffic. About two weeks of pain!




Glad I quit and moved to Texas!

I have sent a couple of e-mails asking about the screws, so hopefully I will hear back from someone tomorrow. I guess it's not really a deal breaker if there
are not 4 screws, but I just want to know before hand.

Gary


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## darkzero (Feb 1, 2013)

Yup it would be best with 4 screws as I have got to try it with both 4 & 3. It is a bit trickier & doesn't make sense to me why they would only use 3 but it's easy after you get used to it. But hopefully it will also have 4.


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## GaryK (Feb 1, 2013)

darkzero said:


> Yup it would be best with 4 screws as I have got to try it with both 4 & 3. It is a bit trickier & doesn't make sense to me why they would only use 3 but it's easy after you get used to it. But hopefully it will also have 4.



Just got an answer from Jeff at tools4cheap.com. It does have 4 screws. Also it has only 1 pinion, but I guess that will make it more consistent, huh?

I just ordered one. I'll post pictures when I get it.

Gary


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## darkzero (Feb 2, 2013)

GaryK said:


> Just got an answer from Jeff at tools4cheap.com. It does have 4 screws. Also it has only 1 pinion, but I guess that will make it more consistent, huh?
> 
> I just ordered one. I'll post pictures when I get it.
> 
> Gary



Nice! Not sure about the single pinion vs multiple. I only use one anyway, I was taught to pick one & to always use that one. The Bisons have one pinion stamped 0 and I don't use any other to tighten. None of the 3-jaws I've had (all import) were marked so I just picked one & marked them with a center punch.


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## GaryK (Feb 6, 2013)

I got my 6-Jaw chuck today.

Mounted the adapter plate and read  .0005" in all 3 mounting positions so I picked one and took about a .0005  pass. It's now .0000' in that position
but not the others so I marked the position with a center punch. I took it off and on a couple of times and it reads .0000" every time. I do have
to give it a light tap to free it from the spindle though.

I  put the chuck on and put a hard chromed and ground shaft in the chuck  and I got it adjusted down to .0001" to .0002" after taking the shaft
in and out a few times.

One hell of a lot better that the 3-jaw that came with the lathe!

Gary





Here you can see my center punch mark:


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## Ray C (Feb 6, 2013)

Looks good!  Sharp look'n son-of-a-guns they are indeed...


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## darkzero (Feb 7, 2013)

Very nice, congrats Gary!


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## canerodscom (Feb 7, 2013)

Looks nice!  Having no experience with 6-jaw chucks I'm curious, how small an object can be gripped by the six jaws?  Will they close down to 1/8"?  1/16"?

Thanks,
Harry


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## GaryK (Feb 7, 2013)

canerodscom said:


> Looks nice!  Having no experience with 6-jaw chucks I'm curious, how small an object can be gripped by the six jaws?  Will they close down to 1/8"?  1/16"?
> 
> Thanks,
> Harry



With this chuck it's about 3/8".

Anything that small or smaller I would be using a collet anyway.


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## canerodscom (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks Gary. That's helpful information.


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## jmh8743 (Feb 7, 2013)

Hey guys,
I've got a Rohm 4 jaw which was lotsa $, which I bought due to inability of the bundled 4 jaw to repeat. It has several issues; but the most significant is inability of the jaws to contact workpiece uniformly. Manf says that's normal. I don't know what "normal" is.

Further, the D1-4 taper ( no backplate) does not fit my spindle. I have to give it a rap laterally to seat, moves 0.003".

My biggest concern is regarding the jaw contact. By the by, all jaws are same. It's as if they are tapered inward toward the front. Very noticeable with alum, and apparent with SS or carbon steel.

What do you think?

Mike, Remlap Al

ps not meant to snipe your thread. And what is meant by " semi steel" ?


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## darkzero (Feb 7, 2013)

canerodscom said:


> Looks nice! Having no experience with 6-jaw chucks I'm curious, how small an object can be gripped by the six jaws? Will they close down to 1/8"? 1/16"?
> 
> Thanks,
> Harry



That's one of the disadvantages of the 6-jaws, because of the extra jaws they can't grip smaller diameters. But for common fractional sizes I just use a DA collet, or switch to the 3-jaw if really needed.

The smallest diameter my Bison 6.25" 6-jaw is listed to clamp is 0.315", for the 5" 6-jaw it's 0.236". I make brass battery contacts out of 3/16" rod, here's my 5" Bison using a collet.














jmh8743 said:


> And what is meant by " semi steel" ?



Generally for the higher quality chucks there are steel & semi steel chucks. Semi steel chucks have a cast iron body & the steel chucks have a forged steel body. Not sure about the pros & cons of either but cast iron body chucks have a lower max rpm rating. 6-jaw & 4-jaw chucks have a lower max rpm rating than 3-jaw chucks & smaller diameter chucks have a higher max rpm rating than larger diameter chucks. 

My Bison 6.25" 6-jaw Set-Tru chuck has a max rpm rating of 2500 rpms which has a forged steel body. The Set-Tru adapter is also steel & is fully machined (& blanchard ground) which means no additional machining/skimming is required. Bison does not make 6-jaw chucks (solid or two piece jaws) in semi steel so can't compare there. But a Bison 6.25" 3-jaw (plain back) in steel has a max rpm of 4500 & the Bison 6.25" 3-jaw in semi-steel has a max rpm of 3000.

That's what's great about Fuerda, they offer the 6-jaw adjustable (TIR) chuck with two piece reversable jaws in both steel & semi steel. I wish they were around earlier. I don't think there are many manual lathes out there that are sized for a 6-8" chuck that can reach spindle speeds of 3000-4000 rpms.


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## GaryK (Feb 7, 2013)

darkzero said:


> That's one of the disadvantages of the 6-jaws, because of the extra jaws they can't grip smaller diameters.
> The smallest diameter my Bison 6.25" 6-jaw is listed to clamp is 0.315", for the 5" 6-jaw it's 0.236".



As far as not being able to grip a small diameter have you tried to remove every other jaw yet? That would in effect turn in into a 3J chuck.

Gary


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## darkzero (Feb 8, 2013)

GaryK said:


> As far as not being able to grip a small diameter have you tried to remove every other jaw yet? That would in effect turn in into a 3J chuck.
> 
> Gary



No but I have thought of that & I'm sure it would work. It's just so much quicker for me to use a collet & the run out is still more than acceptable. Also with the collet it allows me to still machine very short pieces that would hard to get tru in the jaws if the dia were large enough to fit. I just insert the piece then use another piece of the same diameter & push it forward from the back of the collet. I got the DA collets on ebay for cheap.


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