6 jaw scrolling chuck

killswitch505

killswitch505

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Nov 10, 2013
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I think I want a 6 jaw chuck but 1200-1800 is a bit out of my price range. Do any of y’all have any experience with Gater, KBC or the shars brands? All claim .0005 TIR using the fine adjust, tru adjust each brand has a different name are y’all finding this to be true? Would I be money ahead just holding off for a bison or buck? It’s just super hard for me to justify a chuck that’s half as much as the worth of the lathe it’s going on.
 
Easier dialing in to chamber rifle barrels. I don’t really have a problem using inboard and out board spiders to dial in but you know new tool kinda of thing I guess.
 
The only reason to go for 6 jaw chucks is when working with thin wall parts to avoid distortion; for work such as you describe, a 3 jaw "adjust tru" chuck would do the job just fine, at less cost. I have a 8" one on my 19" lathe, and it's just fine for ordinary work, and can be adjusted easily when higher accuracy is required. It is a Buck chuck, bought about 30 years ago, and still does acceptable work.
 
Every gunsmith ought to have a 6 jaw adjust-tru chuck. I have 2. It saves so much time and it is versatile. By removing jaws you can hold odd shaped pieces and even square stock. I can dial a barrel true in less than 2 minutes. I have a Buck and a Bison, so I can't vouch for any others. I don't know how many barrels you plan to do, but over the last 30 yrs, I've done a few thousand and these chucks have definitely paid for themselves.
 
People argue that dialing in on a 4 jaw can cause stress on the reamed chamber that’s why some guys use a 6 jaw I doubt it noticeable enough for what I do plus I wouldn’t really know how to go about measuring it for run out after releasing it from the 4 jaw without moving it and re zeroing to check
 
derf said:
Every gunsmith ought to have a 6 jaw adjust-tru chuck. I have 2. It saves so much time and it is versatile. By removing jaws you can hold odd shaped pieces and even square stock. I can dial a barrel true in less than 2 minutes. I have a Buck and a Bison, so I can't vouch for any others. I don't know how many barrels you plan to do, but over the last 30 yrs, I've done a few thousand and these chucks have definitely paid for themselves.
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Thanks for the reply I figured I would probably be doing 2-3 barrels a year that was 2 years ago I’ve probably done 10 this year for just family and friends I’ve two more to do in the next couple weeks
 
I assume you want a set-true type, although they are usually set up initially and allow repeat work without further adjustment. It does take some finesse to get them dialed in correctly, so not something I would want to do for individual parts. Also if you reverse the jaws, I recommend rechecking the TIR. Ray did get an inexpensive 6 jaw and after some extensive TLC it worked well (see post below). The Shar's 6J has gotten a few good reviews, good bang for the buck if you do not use it often. I use a Bison 8" 4J combination chuck which is very versatile and a number of other members/gunsmiths have been using this chuck. It has a scroll and then each law is on a carrier which allows individual adjustment.

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/ordered-a-6-jaw-lathe-chuck.65884/
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/8-bison-4-jaw-combination-chuck.62323/#post-513366
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/6-jaw-chuck-options.50764/#post-426631
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...tt-burnerd-6-setrite.30758/page-2#post-286162
 
killswitch505, did you get a 6 jaw chuck, and if so, what was your experience?
 
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