My First Lathe - HF 9" x 20"

You might want to confirm the thread. Surprisingly, a lot of chucks come imperial, even for asian machines. If you have a thread gauge, (if you don't, you need one!) check the pitch. It might be a 1.5" 8TPI thread. My chinese dividing head 5" chuck uses this thread. Why? Because they copied the original B&S design, which was imperial.
 
You might want to confirm the thread. Surprisingly, a lot of chucks come imperial, even for asian machines. If you have a thread gauge, (if you don't, you need one!) check the pitch. It might be a 1.5" 8TPI thread. My chinese dividing head 5" chuck uses this thread. Why? Because they copied the original B&S design, which was imperial.
Good point... I was just going by the specs of the Grizzly G4000 since I could not find the specs in the documentation from the HF lathe...

Specs.JPG
 
Oh... I see... looks like everything will be a project... I would have to get a backplate and modify it to fit the 4-jaws chuck.... ha! Here I thought it was going to be easy to find something that would be a direct fit.
 
Obviously true for the Grizzly part. As they say, "trust but verify". Would stink mightily to buy the wrong part, especially with your wife scrutinizing your purchases. Measure it carefully with a caliper, or better yet a micrometer. Measure the thread. Measure once, get it right.

As I was looking at chucks, I did notice one needed to get a semi-finished backing plate. As you say, another project. :)
M39-4 are not as common as 1.5"-8, at least that's what my preliminary searches show. Good luck with your search.
 
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I think that I have a thread gauge in the toolbox... recently dedicated a small toolbox just for anything thread related. There should be one in there...
 
Obviously true for the Grizzly part. As they say, "trust but verify". Would stink mightily to buy the wrong part, especially with your wife scrutinizing your purchases. Measure it carefully with a caliper, or better yet a micrometer. Measure the thread. Measure once, get it right.

As I was looking at chucks, I did notice one needed to get a semi-finished backing plate. As you say, another project. :)
M39-4 are not as common as 1.5"-8, at least that's what my preliminary searches show. Good luck with your search.

Yeah, when I bought mine since it was an older Enco I was under the impression it was 1-1/2"-8 as some were... apparently not by 1994 though. I have a lot of 1-1/2"-8 tooling for my Logan so thought they could share. Then I tried to thread on one of the chucks, nope mine is metric. :(

The Jet are apparently 1-1/2"-8, some old Grizzly's are as well. Not sure about the HF ones. M39-4.0 is very close to 1-1/2"-8 in appearance so you can't tell by eye.

The only source I've found for new M39-4.0 chucks is Grizzly, it seems to be a thread only used on these 9x20 lathes. I'm sure they turn up used on ebay from time to time. Grizzly does sell a good 4 jaw for these, but it isn't cheap. The 4 jaw these usually come with is a joke, more like a wood turning chuck. The 3 jaw seems to be ok though.

Since you have the PM lathe coming I wouldn't go too nuts buying more tooling for this one unless you decide to keep it as a second lathe, then you can go crazy.
 
Since you have the PM lathe coming I wouldn't go too nuts buying more tooling for this one unless you decide to keep it as a second lathe, then you can go crazy.

I am not getting rid of it... that is one of my illness... I just can't let go of any tools... I will find a corner for it somewhere in the new house when we move in a few years.

As I watch the videos, the more I am convinced that I will need a 4-jaw chuck for it... The wait for the PM lathe is a long one... 4-5 months... lots to learn and practice during that time. But not going crazy either. I need to find a budget 4-jaw chuck that is good enough to learn with.
 
I was going to quote the same phrase from Aaron_W, but you beat me to it. If you do decide to get rid of it, I call dibs. It's still more capable (size) than what I have. (7x mini-lathe) It would be worth a road trip for me.

You will find an ok 4J on eBay with patience. Harder to find the backplate. It is also likely you will need to machine the backplate. It's a good skill to learn. Since M39-4 and 1.5"-8 are so close, still very worthwhile to measure. 39mm = 1.535" 4mm = 0.1575", vs. 1.500" and 0.125".
 
We got to Ocala last night... so I will not be able to measure anything until Monday when we get back to Orlando...

I did find an HHIP 3900-3339 M39X4 backplate on ebay and ordered it... worst case scenario, I wasted 28.00 and it will end up as another decoration on the wall of shame... best case, the threads are a perfect fit.
 
I think that I have a thread gauge in the toolbox... recently dedicated a small toolbox just for anything thread related. There should be one in there...
Sometime in the 1990s, Grizzly changed vendors. The earlier model was G-1550, which is what I have. When they changed over, the new part number was G-4000. They are essentially the same machine, the G-1550 having a 1-1/2X8 TPI spindle nose and the G-4000 having the M39X4. There are some minor differences, fasteners being Imperial versus Metric, things of that nature. That and the source, the G-1550 being made in Taiwan and the G-4000 made in Mainland China.

There are many different importers of this basic (standard?) design. Most of them I will avoid, with the exception of Enco and the JET BD19. Not too sure of the number, it doesn't ring true to my ears. But close, just follow it up until you find a similar number. The Jet is a very well built machine, with a history similar to the Griz G-1550. I don't know if they changed to the cheaper version or not. Jet seems to market to a slightly different field than does Grizzly. And is priced a little higher. All in all, the color of the paint is the biggest difference. Enco is directed more to the metal working market, Jet and Grizzly mainly woodworking.

Now, in reply to your post above, there are three(3) thread forms you need to be aware of up front. Those being Imperial (USS, SAE, others). Metric (and SI), and Whitworth. There are many more, but these three are so easily confused. Each will have a different guage, what is in your tool box will probably cover just one. If you use an Imperial guage and a leaf almost but not quite fits, it is likely metric. Whitwirth is a now archaic English thread that will show up on older English equipment. They are today metric. Imperial and metric are a 60 degree thread form, Whitworth is 55 degrees. The rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper. . . Sorry I am being so verbose, I dropped into lecture mode.

As far as a four(4) jaw chuck goes, I learned on a four jaw 'way back when. The 4 jaw is still my preference for any "precision" work, although I mostly use the 3 jaw. My 4 jaw came from Grizzly without a backing plate. I had to make one to fit. The big advantage there is that when you go to a different machine, the backing plate is the only change. Mine is a 5 inch, a 6 inch would have been better but the 5 inch costed less. For a novice, the 4 jaw will require you learn to mount the work. Well worth the effort, but not critical. The 3 jaw will serve you well until you learn to do serious work. I would say to put a 4 jaw on the options list and keep it near the top. Had I had a 3 jaw early on, I would have used it more. But learning on the 4 jaw has paid off from time to time.

EDIT: A good purchase at this point would be a copy of "Machinery's Handbook". At about 3 inches thick, it contains most information necessary for the novice. It is updated regularly and contains much information useful to a practising machinist. My recommendation would be to look on eBay for a copy from the '40s or so. Much better for the hobby machinist without all the leading edge automation. It sells high from booksellers, but can be found for much less if you watch and wait. I have a very early copy(1933ish) and a recent copy(2005ish) as well. Both have a place on my bookshelf but gather dust. The one on my bench is a 1944 edition, the one with the most useful information.

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