Chuck to Rotary Table Options

[negativentropy]

I want to mount my 4 jaw (5") chuck to my 6" rotary table. What options do you recommend:

1. Make a back plate.
2. Drill 4 through holes on the chuck to allow connecting to t-nuts directly

The chuck is about 3" thick. Will I run into problems drilling this? Is there any mechanical bits that I would be drilling through? Its a 4-jaw independent chuck so Im presuming all the mechanical parts are directly beneath the jaws and its safe to drill between the jaws on the outer edge of the circumference?

 

[Richard King]

I would not drill holes into the chuck, I would go with mounting a back plate on the chuck and either use the tee slots / tee nuts or toe clamp it down. That way you can indicate iand tap it in so the chuck so it runs true to the rotary table I would bet there is drilled and tapped holes in the back now? Take a couple of pictures and attach them so we can see. Rich

 

[negativentropy]

So there is 4 threaded holes for the lathe adapter plate. I would use those for bolting to the rotary plate. I cant see how clamping would be possible, there is just enough space for a hex cap screw, but nothing more - hence the drilling through consideration.

 

[8ntsane]

You do have options.
The chucks can be threaded on the back side, or have through holes from the front.
If your R/T has 4 slots, mounting should be as easy as making T nuts, and mount it up.
Really it mostly depends on the chuck at hand. Some have the bolt circle at the outer edge,
other don't. Some with through holes, other with threaded holes from the back. You might want to
choose your chuck carefully because of this. They are not all the same. The pic shows the chuck in the front as is, and the chuck in the back ground has been drilled through. Notice the bolt circle on both.

 

[pineyfolks]

Make a spool out of 2 plates with a center section tall enough to get your bolts in. Bolt the plates and center section together then bolt it to your rotary table and bolt your chuck on. You can make out of 1 piece if you have the stock. Just offset the bolt holes so they don't hit.

 

[Cheeseking]

This is what I did just last weekend....
I had one of those cheapie 3" 5C chucks I rarely use so I decided to mount it to a plate which can in turn be mounted to the rotab. My rotab has a 1.000 dia straight bore center hole so I machined a matching hole in the plate concentric with the recess for the chuck. I have a .9995 pin gauge and use it to align while tightening the bolts to t slots.

 

[bmw rider]

From the looks of it you have exactly the same rotary table as I do and the same chuck I bought to mount to mine. I just made an adapter plate out of 3/4" aluminum. I drilled it to the bolt pattern of the chuck and countersunk the allen bolts. Then I drilled just outside the diameter of the chuck to mount to the T slots of the table. I had to mill down the T nuts a bit to clear the lock clamps on the table. I picked up an MT2 arbor with a plain 1" end to use to center the plate on the table. I"ll try to get some photos of it shortly and post them to help you out.

 

[negativentropy]

From the looks of it you have exactly the same rotary table as I do and the same chuck I bought to mount to mine. I just made an adapter plate out of 3/4" aluminum. I drilled it to the bolt pattern of the chuck and countersunk the allen bolts. Then I drilled just outside the diameter of the chuck to mount to the T slots of the table. I had to mill down the T nuts a bit to clear the lock clamps on the table. I picked up an MT2 arbor with a plain 1" end to use to center the plate on the table. I"ll try to get some photos of it shortly and post them to help you out.

This is what I ended up doing. I like the MT2 idea. I have a dead center I could use to do the same thing. It would save a bit of fiddling around - although I figure with the independent chuck Ill have to zero it in anyway, so the chuck doesnt have to be dead on the RT to begin with.

What I will do tomorrow is add the 3-hole circle for my 3-jaw chuck. In which case having an easy way to quickly center the plate on the RT would be handy.

 

[RandyM]

I am confused as to how you'd mount the chuck directly to the indexer, I mean I how'd you tighten the studs?:think1:

Here is what I did, an adapter plate.

 

[GK1918]

Thats real nice Im working on a different approach. Material 3/4 X 12 X 16 free and been surfaced,
teacher freind in tec. school. another freebe 10" 4 jaw (camlock) that i cant use. Chuck is new.
The chuck bore is about 2or+ inches. So far I turned a short piece of stock just about dead on and
lapped it in the chuck with valve gr.compound. Nice fit no slop. Then I milled to flats on that (stub)
on the shaper. Put the stub in the mill vise indicated that then put the chuck on the stub and didicated
the chuck. Chuck spins with precision. I have to now bore the plate for the chuck stub, put on hold
My boring bars dont fit my boring head gotta buy some. I have already indicated the chuck sitting
flat on the plate and thats good. When assembled the chuck will actually ride on the plate so it will
have a little drag. last, four eccentric threaded pins into the plate when tightened they will lock the
chuck. My biggest problem is These parts are heavy I mean heavy. Oh the chuck is not in the center
lenght wise on the plate I left room for someday, I figure some type of crank for 40:1, could even
be a fan belt-cog belt maybe. For now old school protractor. This is shelved for now I got a first
time for me job comming needs a lot of thought. I shall attempt to fly cut a 6cyl exhaust manifold
never done that, we always sent them out but nobody does that around here anymore. Shame.
got to come up with some serious clamps. gotta get a camara batt todays list should have pics today.