# So, I Have This Rather Large Chuck......



## Olddaddy (Dec 21, 2015)

When I bought my Craftsman 12" lathe it came with some boxes of bits and pieces.  Among them are drills, morse taper parts, and this great big chuck.  It looks too big to ever fit my lathe, it's about 8" in diameter and quite heavy.  Anybody know?  I'd like to see it go to someone who can use it if I can't.  Over time  I'd like to trade off all the stuff that seems like I can't use for stuff I can use.


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## kd4gij (Dec 21, 2015)

You got some nice tooling there. As for the chuck, I have been running an 8" chuck like that on my craftsman 12x36 for about 10 years now. Some times I wish I would of got the 6" But then I need the 8" and all is good. I would hang on to it. But that is just me.


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## Olddaddy (Dec 21, 2015)

No harm in your opinion or advice!  I figured it was too big and heavy for the lather to turn it, but if you use one it must be ok.  I wish I knew more about the tooling.  Some I can figure out and have used.  Some of it baffles me.


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## Andre (Dec 21, 2015)

I have a 9" chuck on my 13" lathe. It's a nice size, although if it were any heavier I'd really want a crane or some way to get it onto the spindle nose with some care.


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## Olddaddy (Dec 21, 2015)

Just curious what you guys turn that you need a chuck that large?  Does the rotating mass help with the turning somehow?   All that weight spinning against the tooling?


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## Bob Korves (Dec 21, 2015)

Try the chuck on the lathe and see how it works.  See how far the jaws can open without hitting the ways and how big and small work you could hold with them.  Turn the jaws around and see what that offers you.  Those jaws are two piece as well, and you can remove the top jaws and make custom soft jaws to fit on them for special projects.  Test it for runout.  It might turn into your go-to chuck.

I find that disassembling, cleaning up, lubricating, and reassembling tools is usually a bonding process.  You become part of it, and it becomes part of you...


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## Bob Korves (Dec 21, 2015)

Olddaddy said:


> Just curious what you guys turn that you need a chuck that large?  Does the rotating mass help with the turning somehow?   All that weight spinning against the tooling?


It is a 12" lathe.  You can turn things up to 12" diameter with your lathe.  It might only be a 1/2" aluminum plate you need to turn, but 12" in diameter.  You have a machine that can do that!  Make sure you have a chuck that can hold it.


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## Chipper5783 (Dec 21, 2015)

Hang on to that stuff.  Over time you will collect all sorts of items that are useful / interesting.  Occasionally I (and nearly everyoneelse here) end up getting miscellaneous boxes of stuff that are thrown in with a machine, come up at auction, yard sales - you may find a use in the future, you may be able to gift it to someone getting started, you may be able to trade it for something that works for you - but don't be in a hurry to get rid of things.

How large a chuck is useful?  That totally depends on the tasks at hand.  I have a 15" lathe.  I picked up a large ugly 14" 4 jaw - cleaned it all up, made new jaw screws (it is probably 100 years old).  I don't use it very often, but it is great for those certain jobs.  Granted, the "proper sizes" are the 10" 4 jaw and 8" 3 jaw, and the get used more often.

I also have a smaller lathe (11"), which has the same spindle mount (D1-4).  This machine came to me needing quite a bit of tender love and care - took a couple years to get running.  However the chucks were quick to clean up - so I adjusted the cam pins and for a while would mount them to the 15" lathe as needed:  an 8" 4 jaw, which is a nice little half height chuck with narrow jaws that will close down small and let me hold in small bores and a 6" 3 jaw that will also close down pretty small (and get into small bores).

The point being, it is helpful to have lots of work holding options.  You can definately use that drive plate as a face place (or even a drive plate).

The big drill bits?  They would clean up very nicely.  They cost a fortune, and you never know when you'll be able to make something of them.  I had a very nasty 1-1/4" drill bit - someone had turned down the shank and welded a MT4 sleeve on, not real straight as the outer end had 0.16" runout when the drill part was held in the chuck (then it was left to rust for many years).  I had it kicking around for about 30 years and finally decided to fix it (it took me that long to get a machine that could crank it!).  Anyway, I straightened the shank, and recut the taper (with such a shallow taper, when you take off just a little you lose a lot of length) - it cleaned up very nicely.  The runout is bang on, the taper nice and sticky.  Sure it is a bit short, but for occasional use it should be fine.


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## wrat (Dec 22, 2015)

Bob Korves said:


> It might turn into your go-to chuck.
> 
> I find that disassembling, cleaning up, lubricating, and reassembling tools is usually a bonding process.  You become part of it, and it becomes part of you...



True!  ^^ Bob is right.
The only reason to get rid of it is if it interferes.  Even then, it might fit on your *next* lathe <LOL>


"I've just got TOO MUCH tooling!" said no machinist, ever.

Wrat


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## Tony Wells (Dec 22, 2015)

I never met a tool I didn't need.


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## Bob Korves (Dec 22, 2015)

Get some Evaporust and disassemble and clean up that chuck.  Then oil everything well.  You will be amazed at how nice it will look and operate afterwards.


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## Olddaddy (Dec 22, 2015)

I just figured out you guys are a bunch of hobby machinist enablers............thank you!


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## Andre (Dec 22, 2015)

Olddaddy said:


> Just curious what you guys turn that you need a chuck that large?  Does the rotating mass help with the turning somehow?   All that weight spinning against the tooling?


Today I got to work facing a flange surface of a 7" long slice of A36 structual H-beam. I needed every inch of my 9" chuck, too!


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 24, 2015)

I've had to get rid of tooling and material and it pains me to this day. only if you can get something for it that you REALLY need, then it may be worth considering, but even then it has to be thought through from many angles


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## Olddaddy (Dec 24, 2015)

My only reason for maybe selling or trading it off was that I thought it was too big for my lathe.  Now that I know it is fine I will hold onto it.  I still need to sort out all the larger bits and the taper stuff, but time will take care of that.


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## Glenn Brooks (Dec 24, 2015)

Second the opinions of others, I would hang on to the chuck.  From what I have heard from old timers, certainly with light to moderate size lathes, a chuck one size under your maximum swing would be the largest size chuck you might want to turn. For example, I have a 7" Dalton built in 1919.    The Dalton Gang members recommend a 5" 4 jaw max size chuck for the lathe, because of weight on the spindle.   So for your 12" lathe, probably a 10" chuck is the maximum weight you would want to mount.  Your 8" chuck would be perfect for larger work holding.  Just clean it up nice and put a coat of oil or wax on it to keep rust at bay - keeps the contact surfaces smoother and more tightly citing with your work...


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## pineyfolks (Dec 25, 2015)

I have a large 16" Chuck that is even to large for my bigger lathe. I keep it and use it on my mill for parts that won't fit in my vise. I've also used it on my welding table as a fixture. You may find a lot of uses for it other than on your lathe.


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## Bill Gruby (Dec 25, 2015)

The chuck on my 9X20 is a Cushman 8 inch 4 jaw. Please define too big?

 "Billy G"


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## wa5cab (Dec 25, 2015)

Depends upon circumstances, including the weight of the chuck.  I would probably define the largest chuck that one should use on a given size machine as the smallest one whose jaws strike the bed before they get farther out than it would be safe to run.  Anything larger is too large.  On a 12". the largest is probably a 10".  However, some 10" might be heavier than you would want to run.  That might depend upon whether the spindle bears were sleeve, babbit, ball or tapered roller.  And also on the effective diameter of the bearings.


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## Olddaddy (Dec 29, 2015)

Curiosity got the best of me.....so I swapped out the small chuck for the large one and it turns fine, egads what a beast !
What I can't figure out though is how to swap the jaws around.  My small chuck jaws just thread out till they release and can be turned and re-installed for inner/outer holding.  The big one stops short and won't go any farther than the edge of the chuck diameter.  I pulled the two screws out of one jaw thinking it would release, but no dice.  Can anyone enlighten me?


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## wa5cab (Dec 30, 2015)

Normally, two screws like those going through the jaw indicate a 2-piece jaw.  Although socket head screws are more common.  If they are, you remove the screws and the portion of the jaw clear of the front of the chuck comes off.  You just turn that around to switch between outside and inside (actually larger diameter versus smaller diameter but they always seem to be referred to the other way) work piece.


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## Olddaddy (Dec 30, 2015)

That is what I figured, but when I removed the screws the piece I thought should come off would not budge.  Perhaps it is dirty or stuck from age....will try again today.


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## wa5cab (Dec 30, 2015)

I can't in the photo actually see a parting line but I also can't think of what else the screws could be for.  I would loosen but not remove two screws in any one of the jaws and tap both sides pretty soundly with a brass or soft face hammer.


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## Olddaddy (Jan 16, 2016)

So,  I mounted the chuck and did some cleanup on a set of Volvo hubcaps for my 89 245 wagon.   What a nice surprise to find use for something I assumed was not meant for my lathe!  Appreciate all the good advice as always!!


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## chevydyl (Jan 21, 2016)

I have a Bison 8" chuck, with the back plate it's about 50 lbs, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to heavy for my atlas 12" commercial, it causes instant chatter. I've tried snuggling up the bearings to no improvement. I'm only out  $100 bucks for the chuck which can be used for setups on the mill, so I think you lucky to be able to use the bigger chuck. I even turned the back plate with no hub to keep the weight as close to the bearings as possible. 
Get some gray scotch Brite and shine that thing up a little, then tear it down and clean all the guts.


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## TLW (Feb 14, 2016)

Those jaws look to be reversible. Remove the twp screws on the face of each of the jaws and they can be flipped around. You may have some rust holding them tight. I would try some penetrating oil and at least an over night soak to see if they will break free. Tap lightly with a brass hammer.
   If your "small" chuck is a 4 jaw, the process is not the same. with a scroll chuck (your beast) the jaws remain in the chuck body and only the jaw caps as they are sometimes called are flipped.


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