Making a Backplate for the 618

[MillersvilleProf]

Working on rebuilding what was once a parts lathe for a new hobby machinist. My latest adventure was finding a chuck that would work with the lathe. I had a salvaged 3" three jaw chuck I had sitting on the shelf, think it came off an old Seig 7x10 lathe. Decent quality and not much used. Ended up making the backllate out of aluminum as it was all I had in that diameter. I used a Clausing 13" lathe to rough out the plate, drill, and thread it for 1-10. Everything was left oversized. Once this was done it was machined to size on the little 6". Definitely takes longer on this lathe than the Clausing, but if you take your time it gets the job done. Tomorrow I will drill and counterbore it for the mounting screws.

 

[MillersvilleProf]

Completed it this afternoon. Ended up using a CNC router to make a template to spot the mounting holes. All the info was available on the Little Machine Shop site for bolt ring diameters, this was used with a transfer punch. Once the holes were spotted it was pretty simple to get them drilled and counterbored. Chuck runs nice and true.