Gator/Fuerda EA Series 6-Jaw adjustable chucks

GaryK

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Can someone tell me how many adjustment screws there are on the Gator/Fuerda EA Series 6-Jaw adjustable chucks?

I found that the PA Series has 4 screws but I haven't found anything about the EA series.


Just for clarity I'm talking about the screws that adjust the chuck to the back plate.

Thanks,
Gary
 
Not sure about the Fuerdas but it also may depend on the size of the chuck as my 5" & 6.25" Bisons differed. Ironically my 5" had 4 & my 6.25" has only 3. 4 would be ideal but even with 3 I have no problem getting down to .0002".

My Fuerda was drop shipped directly from GTS. They are the US supplier, try sending them an email. http://www.gts-tools.com/contact.html
 
I guess I should have mentioned that I was looking at the 6". $590.38 w/back plate, shipped.

There's a Bison 6" 6-jaw on ebay for $680 shipped, but I would be spend about $200 for a back plate.

I have heard nothing but good about Gator/Fuerda so saving $300 sounds good to me.

I like the idea of 4 screws like their PA (Steel body) chucks have. They both have the same specs for the most
parts but the number of screws is not listed for the EA series like it is for the PA series.

Gary
 
Yup, I hear ya, the Bison backplates are also expensive. But the Bison chucks & backplates are blanchard ground nicely so there was no need to take skim cuts, just bolted everything on as is & got excellent results.

When I bought the Bisons the Fuerda chucks did not hit the States yet, I first saw them at Westec. I was originally going to go with a Pratt Bernerd 6-jaw Set-rite on ebay but the wait on getting an adapter was months & much more expensive than the Bison.

I'm pretty happy with my 4-jaw Fuerda so I don't think I would hesitate on getting any other one of their chucks. The 6-jaw Fuerdas look pretty damn nice in person too. That's some good savings right there so it's hard not to go with one. Be sure to post pics of it if you get it! I love chuck porn!
 
When I bought the Bisons the Fuerda chucks did not hit the States yet, I first saw them at Westec.

Westec brings back some bad memories for me. For the 6 years I was at my last job I had to go and setup our booth there. Dealing with the stupid unions.
(it's required to hire at least one of them to help you set up your own booth.) Then spend all day every day standing talking to everyone. Then even more time packing
everything up. Not to mention driving about 2 hours there and back from La Verne in all the traffic. About two weeks of pain!

AIM-Westec-1.JPG

Glad I quit and moved to Texas!

I have sent a couple of e-mails asking about the screws, so hopefully I will hear back from someone tomorrow. I guess it's not really a deal breaker if there
are not 4 screws, but I just want to know before hand.

Gary

AIM-Westec-1.JPG
 
Yup it would be best with 4 screws as I have got to try it with both 4 & 3. It is a bit trickier & doesn't make sense to me why they would only use 3 but it's easy after you get used to it. But hopefully it will also have 4.
 
Yup it would be best with 4 screws as I have got to try it with both 4 & 3. It is a bit trickier & doesn't make sense to me why they would only use 3 but it's easy after you get used to it. But hopefully it will also have 4.

Just got an answer from Jeff at tools4cheap.com. It does have 4 screws. Also it has only 1 pinion, but I guess that will make it more consistent, huh?

I just ordered one. I'll post pictures when I get it.

Gary
 
Just got an answer from Jeff at tools4cheap.com. It does have 4 screws. Also it has only 1 pinion, but I guess that will make it more consistent, huh?

I just ordered one. I'll post pictures when I get it.

Gary

Nice! Not sure about the single pinion vs multiple. I only use one anyway, I was taught to pick one & to always use that one. The Bisons have one pinion stamped 0 and I don't use any other to tighten. None of the 3-jaws I've had (all import) were marked so I just picked one & marked them with a center punch.
 
I got my 6-Jaw chuck today.

Mounted the adapter plate and read .0005" in all 3 mounting positions so I picked one and took about a .0005 pass. It's now .0000' in that position
but not the others so I marked the position with a center punch. I took it off and on a couple of times and it reads .0000" every time. I do have
to give it a light tap to free it from the spindle though.

I put the chuck on and put a hard chromed and ground shaft in the chuck and I got it adjusted down to .0001" to .0002" after taking the shaft
in and out a few times.

One hell of a lot better that the 3-jaw that came with the lathe!

Gary

IMG_1553.JPG IMG_1554.JPG

Here you can see my center punch mark:
IMG_1555.JPG

IMG_1553.JPG IMG_1554.JPG IMG_1555.JPG
 
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Looks good! Sharp look'n son-of-a-guns they are indeed...
 
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