Are these chucks as lousy as their low price leads me to believe?

It's no Bison, thats for sure. But, I'd bet youd be surprised at how good it is for the money. That one seems very nice, with the 2 piece jaws. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. I bought a 6" 3jaw, one piece jaws, for my SB 9" lathe a couple of years ago and I was very pleased with the bang for the buck.

Would I rather take a chance on a used 20 yr old chuck for the same money? Absolutely not. I'd buy the new Chicom.

Would i rather buy a fairly new top brand chuck for the same priceor a few more bucks, if i could find one? Yup.
 
I'll let you know, I just bought that very same chuck from that listing & it shipped yesterday. As you can see in my avatar I do have the Bison Set-Tru 6-jaw which I absolutely love. These from CME of course are just plain backs but they're the only inexpensive ones I've seen with the 2pc jaws. I'm not expecting much and it does look nice in the pic but I bought it to use with my rotary table.

If you're looking for one for the lathe & want better quality with the adjustable feature I recommend the Fuerda/Gator version, they offer them in both semi steel & steel bodies. The semi steel one has a smaller through hole....Bison does not offer a more affordable semi steel model for tbe 6 jaw Set-Tru.

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John Hasler said:
Are they showing the front of one chuck and the back of another? The picture on the right appears to show four jaws.
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Good eye, I noticed that too. The listing is stating plain back so maybe they just used an existing pic they had. What I'm wordering is the through hole size which they say is 1.75". 6" 6-jaw chucks usually have a 1.5"- 1.65" through hole and are actually 6.25" or 160mm (6.3") in dia.
 
darkzero said:
I'll let you know, I just bought that very same chuck from that listing & it shipped yesterday. As you can see in my avatar I do have the Bison Set-Tru 6-jaw which I absolutely love. These from CME of course are just plain backs but they're the only inexpensive ones I've seen with the 2pc jaws. I'm not expecting much and it does look nice in the pic but I bought it to use with my rotary table.

If you're looking for one for the lathe & want better quality with the adjustable feature I recommend the Fuerda/Gator version, they offer them in both semi steel & steel bodies. The semi steel one has a smaller through hole....Bison does not offer a more affordable semi steel model for tbe 6 jaw Set-Tru.

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Good eye, I noticed that too. The listing is stating plain back so maybe they just used an existing pic they had. What I'm wordering is the through hole size which they say is 1.75". 6" 6-jaw chucks usually have a 1.5"- 1.65" through hole and are actually 6.25" or 160mm (6.3") in dia.
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I very much look forward to a report on this chuck Will.

It looks remarkably good in the pictures and I've been very happy with the vise I got from CME.

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Where'd you order your backplate from Will?
 
Senna said:
I very much look forward to a report on this chuck Will.

It looks remarkably good in the pictures and I've been very happy with the vise I got from CME.
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No problem Ken, will do & I'll post here. I've also bought items from CME & have been happy but never a chuck though. Most of their other chucks look nice too and is another reason why I decided to buy it.

Unfortunately I won't be able to measure TIR off the bat as I don't have a backplate plate for it on hand (unless it turns out to be an actual 6" which I do have) and it's going on a RT. But I'll at least report on fit & finish as I almost always take the chuck about & go through it on asian imports.
 
I am also interested in this as I need a 4 Jaw for my lathe. If it is decent quality or at least "way better" than CDCO I would be happy. Also what is the advantage of the 6 jaw over the 3 jaw? Is it more for not distorting tubing or better accuracy?
 
JoeSixPack74 said:
I am also interested in this as I need a 4 Jaw for my lathe. If it is decent quality or at least "way better" than CDCO I would be happy. Also what is the advantage of the 6 jaw over the 3 jaw? Is it more for not distorting tubing or better accuracy?
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From what I've read it has more to do with the distortion thing than the accuracy thing. I believe I've read that the six jaw does not grip as tightly as a three jaw either.
They look super cool though.
 
Yep, and that has been my experience with them too. I've had a few slips but on rare occasions. A 3 or 4 jaw definitely grips much harder. I got into machining cause I used to mod flashlights. Machining thin aluminum & plastic reflectors can be a headache with a 3 jaw, I hated when they flew out of the 3 jaw & were scrapp, some of these small relflectors were $20 ea so that was never a good feeling. I also messed with a lot of thin wall parts & still do. I don't mess with the lights anymore but I still prefer to have the 6-jaw. I also find chucking up short parts can be easier (assuming the jaws are still in good condition).

Knurling titanium is just about the most force I run into & I have been fine. I spin the tool post post before the part in the chuck so for what I do I'm fine. With the Set-Tru my TIR is so low I really never had an interest for using collets except for times working close to the chuck & not busting my knuckles.

6-jaws are one of those luxury items IMO but they do have their advantages & I agree, they sure do look sexy. Definitely not a replacement for a 4-jaw though, everyone should have one of those.
 
I like using collets,especially for high speed turning. A chuck acts like a fan when polishing,and blows the crud everywhere. Collets do not. My HLVH is really more of a collet lathe anyway.
 
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