Chucks??

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Rifleman1384

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Happy Monday everyone
I am just about done agonizing over ordering a PM Lathe and getting ready to just pull the trigger. 1440GT, I'll be getting the VFD conversion through Mark.
I would like your opinions on chucks please:
8 inch 3 jaw set-tru

Bison, made in Poland
TMX, made in Poland
PBA, confused here from what I have found some are made in England and some are made in Czech Republic
Buck, Looks like these are now made in Taiwan
Gator, China
I would your input on these, as of now I'm just about thinking to suck it up and get the Bison but the TMX looks good as well with just a minor amount of additional TIR, I have done a little price shopping and if the chuck is less the plate is more and vise versa.

One more: Aloris or Dorian??

Thanks for any input you will share.
This is an awesome site and I have found a wealth of info here.
Steve
 
Not a direct answer to your question, but:
The 3 jaw I received with the upgrade package on my PM1440gt runs out .0005-.0015, throughout all of its range that I have used, which tops out at about 3.5” diameter or so.
 
From your list I would take the Bison, but I also took the upgrade package on my PM1440gt and I am happy with it. I also got his
8″ High Precision 4 Jaw.
 
From your given choices, my opinion on order of preference would be:

1. Pratt Burnerd
2. Bison
3. TMX current (older TMX chucks were China)
4. Gator
5. Buck

1. Dorian
2. Aloris

Buck quality should be much better than Gator but Buck moved production overseas & their prices still stayed the same. Gator/Fuerda used to be great bang for the buck but their prices have gone way up even before tarrifs. But then again everything has gone up in prices. Gators are basically copies of Bison.

Both my Set-Tru chucks are Bison & I'm happy with them. I had purchased a TMX 3-jaw adjustable once, long before they switched to Polish made. That thing was junk, sent it right back. I then purchased a Gator 3-jaw Tech-Tru. Never had a problem with it but later my salesguy at the local MSC gave me a smoking deal on a Bison 3-jaw Set-Tru that I couldn't pass up. I do still have one Gator chuck which is my 4-jaw, prices were very low on them back then. I have no plans to replace it but if a killer deal comes up on something better I just may.

I hear Shars premium chucks are decent. Might also want to consider used. Rohm chucks are very nice but don't pop up on the used market that often. PB, Bison, & Buck USA chucks come up quite often.
 
I ordered upgraded chucks from PM when I bought my PM1340. The 8" 4J is fine - nothing special, but I'm glad I got the upgraded version. The upgraded 3J is a Set-Tru type made by Chandox in Taiwan and it is very close to the quality of the 6" Bison I have on my rotary table, and TIR between the two are equivalent. My recommendation is to not pay too much attention to the published runout specs and concentrate instead on other aspects that are important such as 2-piece reversible jaws and Set-Tru adjustability. Of the brands you mentioned, Bison is probably what I would choose, or if you wanted to save money, get the Chandox from PM. Here is a link that shows all three of my chucks and my upgrades to them (click on the photos for detailed descriptions).

I have the Dorian BXA tool post and am happy with it. I prefer it to the Aloris that I had on a previous lathe - it's a bit more rigid and definately more repeatable for tool position. DO NOT buy the Dorian starter kit with a collection of tools included with the tool post - most of the tools in that kit are not very useful. One of the best things I did to my PM1340 to improve rigidity and the ability to turn to repeatable tolerances was to implement a solid tool post mount that interchanges with the compound - link here and thoroughly discussed here on the HM forums. In the past 2 years I have only taken off the solid toolpost once to reinstall the compound to do a taper. Now that I understand that I use the solid tool post mount 99 percent of the time, I would prefer to have Multifix tool post instead of the Dorian, but I'm not about to switch at this point since I have almost 40 dedicated BXA tool holders.
 
I'll go along with darkzero and vote for the PBA. Because I have the 8 1/4" setrite on my 1340GT and it's the best darn chuck I have ever owned. Smooth, accurate, and repeats really well. So I might be a bit biased. :D

Edit: I too have the Dorian BXA tool post with a few Aloris holders and the rest import. I bought everything while I was waiting on my lathe.
 
I think chucks are like milling machine vises. They are what determines the accuracy of your work so you may was well use a good one. I own chucks from Pratt Burnerd, Yuasa, Rohm and used to own a Samchully chuck and all are excellent chucks. I do not own Chinese or Taiwanese chucks so I have no idea how good they are. If I could only have one chuck it would be either a Pratt or a Rohm chuck. Either will likely last you a lifetime.
 
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