Did I Goof Up?

[Steven57]

First off, long time since working a lathe. Was looking at mounting a lg dia piece and went to reverse jaws. 1st mistake, different jaws needed. I had them, but didn't realize.
2nd mistake, removed jaws before noticing the were numbered 1-3.

So, I found a reference mark on the chuck head. 3-looked like u's on chuck,plate, and lathe head.
I put that at 12 o'clock put one at 6 o'clock, two at 2 o'clock, and three at 10 o'clock.

Held them in with one hand and backed chuck out till number one bounced on the thread, then tightened and they all grabbed and met at the center ok.

Did I goof?
Did I get it right together again?
Tips?

 

[TomS]

First off, long time since working a lathe. Was looking at mounting a lg dia piece and went to reverse jaws. 1st mistake, different jaws needed. I had them, but didn't realize.
2nd mistake, removed jaws before noticing the were numbered 1-3.

So, I found a reference mark on the chuck head. 3-looked like u's on chuck,plate, and lathe head.
I put that at 12 o'clock put one at 6 o'clock, two at 2 o'clock, and three at 10 o'clock.

Held them in with one hand and backed chuck out till number one bounced on the thread, then tightened and they all grabbed and met at the center ok.

Did I goof?
Did I get it right together again?
Tips?

You got it right. If they were installed out of numerical sequence you would definately notice it.

Tom S.

 

[RJSakowski]

As long as you start with #1 first, then #2, and finally #3, you can start with any slot.

BUT there may well be one starting slot that will minimize runout so you may want to check the runout for all three possibilities. Once you find the staring slot which has least runout, mark it so you can always put the #1 jaw in that slot. You can use a prick punch to punch one, two, and three dots adjacent to the slot for jaws 1, 2, & 3 respectively.