Chuck question

[woodchucker]

My question was is there any advantage to having a 5", 6", and 8"

there is an advantage of having another chuck. If you are working on something that you are not finished with, you take the chuck off with the part in it. Then you mount another chuck do your work, and switch back to the other chuck when you are ready to resume. That keeps your concentricity.. I have done it with my 3 and 4 jaw. But I ran out of chucks... wish I had another one time recently I was working on two mating parts, and something else came up. How many do you need, 2 how many would I like... at that moment 3.

 

[jwmelvin]

there is an advantage of having another chuck. If you are working on something that you are not finished with, you take the chuck off with the part in it. Then you mount another chuck do your work, and switch back to the other chuck when you are ready to resume. That keeps your concentricity.. I have done it with my 3 and 4 jaw. But I ran out of chucks... wish I had another one time recently I was working on two mating parts, and something else came up. How many do you need, 2 how many would I like... at that moment 3.

This is such a good point; I’ll try to keep it in mind because it would pay dividends in certain circumstances.

I like having multiple size 4-jaws even just because I fairly regularly use collets, so I’d rather move a 6” chuck on and off (usually a 3-jaw, admittedly). I have used my 10” four jaw but not often.

OT: I’ve also enjoyed having a spindle plug for my rotary table (should mount to dividing head too) and could see how I might want to keep the 4-jaw on the mill some of the time.

 

[woodchucker]

This is such a good point; I’ll try to keep it in mind because it would pay dividends in certain circumstances.

I like having multiple size 4-jaws even just because I fairly regularly use collets, so I’d rather move a 6” chuck on and off (usually a 3-jaw, admittedly). I have used my 10” four jaw but not often.

OT: I’ve also enjoyed having a spindle plug for my rotary table (should mount to dividing head too) and could see how I might want to keep the 4-jaw on the mill some of the time.

what's a spindle plug?

I made a tailstock spindle plug, it's to keep the chips out of my small mt2 tailstock when empty. But I'm not sure I know what you are talking about.

 

[rabler]

My question was is there any advantage to having a 5", 6", and 8"

Smaller chucks *may* be able to grip smaller material, larger chucks tend to have larger jaws that won't close down as far as smaller chucks, much like drill chucks. Of course, variations exist.

 

[mickri]

You can never have too many chucks. My chucks range from 3" to 8" for my craftsman 12x36 lathe. Have both 3 and 4 jaw chucks. The only thing that I am missing is an 8" 3 jaw. Some have the normal jaws where you are clamping down on the outside of the work and others have the jaws reversed that clamp against the inside of a tube. All have their uses. I also have an ER32 spindle chuck. Not hard to make. If I can make one anybody can. I also have a drill chuck that screws onto the spindle. Then there are the 3c collets. And while you are at it you need drill chucks and an ER32 chuck for the tail stock.

 

[jwmelvin]

what's a spindle plug?

I made a tailstock spindle plug, it's to keep the chips out of my small mt2 tailstock when empty. But I'm not sure I know what you are talking about.

I just meant a spindle replica so a chuck can come off the lathe and go on the rotary table, centered. My lathe is an L00 spindle, so the “plug” is a taper and key.

 

[jwmay]

You can never have too many chucks. That said, I don't think I'd ever buy an 8" chuck for an Atlas machine. Unless it was just like a plate with adjusting screws. The 6" chuck I have sits in the drawer mostly. The 4" is always mounted. Depends on the work you do, but the Atlas isn't a hefty machine. An 8" chuck seems to be asking alot.

 

[mickri]

I have two 8" 4 jaw chucks. They get used for odd shaped pieces where I need a hole that is not centered. I could do this on my mill/drill but like using the lathe better. It all depends on the project that I am working on. I also have the ability to swap my chucks between the lathe and the mill/drill without loosing concentricity. I made a backing plate that fits on the swivel base that came with my Shars 4" vise. Very handy especially for drilling and tapping a bolt circle. The second picture besides showing the swivel base with the backing plate also shows my set up using a dial indicator to bring the head back into alignment if I have to move the head to change tooling. The swivel base is permanently mounted on the table and I have the x/y coordinates written on the head so I can quickly center the swivel base under the spindle.