5C Collet Chucks that are not Set-Tru

[erikmannie]

I bought both of my 5C collet chucks (I have 2 lathes) before I owned a Set-Tru (6J) lathe chuck.

I got my 5C collet chucks dialed in very nicely, but I sort of lament the lack of option to fine tune it. I wish that I had bought Set-Tru 5C collet chucks.

I know that I cannot convert these to Set-Tru. What do I do if I find them annoyingly out of zero?

I take my lathe chucks on & off a lot. I don’t have a lot of faith that my .0005” zero will always be there. At what point (.0025”?) do I stop work & try to re-zero the non-Set-Tru 5C collet chuck?

Do people with non-Set-Tru 5C collet chucks somehow re-zero these lathe chucks from time to time? If so, how?

In order to get one of my 5C collet chucks zeroed, I *slightly* loosened two of the three 5/16”-18 socket head bolts that pass through the collet chuck body & thread into the adapter. Is this right? Should I have used a shim (between the chuck body & backing plate) instead? Is a cigarette rolling paper a suitable shim?

 

[davidpbest]

I'm not sure what specific 5D collet chuck you have, but if it has a removable back plate, you can probably adapt it to a set-tru configuration by making a spacer between the chuck and the back plate that incorporates a set-tru adjustment mechanism. I did that with my ER40 collet chuck - this was before a Set-Tru version was commercially available. Details are shown here. In my case I was also interested in relocating the collet face toward the tailstock, so the spacer is extra thick.

 

[gerritv]

I have been eyeing this method of converting a chuck : http://www.hemingwaykits.com/acatalog/Adjustable_Backplate.html

 

[RJSakowski]

One way to correct for minor runout is to machine the radial registration surface of the backplate slightly smaller, allowing some runout adjustment. The chuck is mounted to backplate but the mounting screws not fully tightened. A few blows with a brass hammer will bring the chuck into alignment and the mounting screws are tightened. This isn't a perfect solution as the chuck can be knocked out of alignment during use,requiring repeating the process.

I had made an adjustable backplate for my Atlas/Craftsman 6 x 18 years ago and it worked OK but I wasn't happy with the additional stickout from the spindle so I just used the alternative described in the above paragraph.

 

[Nutfarmer]

I have given up on collet chucks and went to the old style collet draw bar type. With out spending big dollars on something like a buck chuck ,my three jaw chuck was as accurate as any of the chucks I purchased. With the old style it's always on and never had to be recentered . The only use I could find for the 5C chuck was a door stop.