Got my Pratt steel chuck

mikey said:
If I am ever in GA, I will definitely give you a call. I happen to custom roast coffee, grind it in a Mazzer Mini and pull it in a Quick Mill Andreja Premium. It may not have the Georgia juju in it but I pull God shots all the time and will think of you when I drink the next one!
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Wow Mike I'm impressed. I fiddled with roasting my own beans for a while, but found a micro-roaster in OR that roasts and ships the same day. I've stayed with them even since moving to CA. Their beans work really well in my Quickmill Vetrano. Unfortunately the Vetrano is on the fritz and I haven't gotten around to tearing into it. I can definitely pull shots better than 90% of restaurants and bars in the US and Europe. Wife says I'm a coffee snob. I like to think I'm discerning.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
 
ACHiPo said:
Wow Mike I'm impressed. I fiddled with roasting my own beans for a while, but found a micro-roaster in OR that roasts and ships the same day. I've stayed with them even since moving to CA. Their beans work really well in my Quickmill Vetrano. Unfortunately the Vetrano is on the fritz and I haven't gotten around to tearing into it. I can definitely pull shots better than 90% of restaurants and bars in the US and Europe. Wife says I'm a coffee snob. I like to think I'm discerning.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
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As I told my sister, coffee is not a beverage; it is a lifestyle! The fact that you own a Vetrano speaks volumes for you, Evan.

I have found that unless I roast my own, I cannot be assured the roast is done right. So much of the flavor is dependent on the roast. If the roaster does not directly measure the bean temperature then he cannot know when the bean mass hits the Maillard Reaction point so he can stop the roast. In my experience, most commercial roasters don't do that and the coffee from one guy tastes much the same as that from the next guy. Trust me; the best coffee comes from your own roaster, done with your own profile and pulled at exactly the right moment, then ground in a good burr grinder and pulled with a good espresso machine.

My cousin lives in Seattle and is somewhat of a coffee snob. She visited one time, drank my coffee and is forever ruined. Now when she visits Hawaii, she is at my house within an hour of landing! So yes, I totally believe that your coffee is better than just about anyone else's coffee. I mean, you own a Quick Mill Vetrano ... how could it be otherwise?

Edit: meant to say that my Andreja was in dire need of cleaning. I tore it down completely, replaced the boiler and cleared all the lines. It was a LOT of work but my baby is back up and pulling God shots regularly. If you have to do a tear down, do it. It is worth the effort!
 
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Will, do you have a link for Pratt information, I'm finding all PB stuff?
 
No not really. Was just going by the info on their About page. I believe PB is still owned by the 600 Group. Well that's what I remember, not sure if that has changed. I could of sworn there was a wiki page on the 600 Group but I can't find it. I remember seeing all this when I searched about Crawford years ago.

www.600group.com

Portfolio - 600 Group PLC

Our Portfolio Industrial Laser Systems The Group operates through two brands, TYKMA/Electrox and Control Micro Systems (CMS), providing high-margin, specialised laser solutions including marking, drilling, cutting and welding. TYKMA Electrox TYKMA/Electrox produces over 600 laser units per year...
www.600group.com www.600group.com

About
Pratt Burnerd America, located in Kalamazoo MI is in the business of supplying quality Workholding products throughout North America. In Kalamazoo we are equipped with a full service shop to repair, rebuild and perform manufacturing and warehousing. Our main manufacturing facility is in Heckmondwike, England. In Heckmondwike they manufacture all Pratt Burnerd labeled products.
Pratt Burnerd America also markets Workholding products labeled Atlas Workholding. Atlas Workholding is Workholding products sourced from around the world, including the USA, and are built to our specifications for the North American market.
Combined we have one of the largest varieties of Workholding products in the world, with Power Chucks, Manual Chucks, Collet Chucks, Collets, Special Chucks, Rotating Cylinders, and Workholding Accessories. We can provide you with the best Workholding solution.
History
The original company, F.Pratt was incorporated as a LLC in 1897. The company had been functioning since before 1850. Then in 1953 the F.Pratt & Company became publicly traded.
In the early days, the company mainly manufactured machine tools and factoring others. The manufacturing of lathe chucks didn’t commence until a few years before the First World War. During this time the 4-jaw Independent chuck was the primary product made. In 1915 the decision was made to start manufacturing the American design 3-jaw Universal type chucks.
Following the First World War the company continued to manufacture both types of manual operated lathe chucks. This period between the wars the company continued to add more types of manually operated chucks and a new designed power chuck that was operated by compressed air.
The Second World War brought a period of difficulties with shortages of material and labor. Female labor was introduced on a large scale in both machining and assembly work.
The termination of the Second World War saw a reorganization of activities. A second factory was set up to cope with the increasing demand for lathe chucks. At this point the name Pratt had become recognized for quality and was respected throughout the world. In 1953 F. Pratt Company became a public company and in 1954 acquired the business of F.Burnerd and Company Limited, also lathe chuck manufacturers. The merging of the two companies resulted in our becoming the largest supplier in the world for these particular products. This also brought the addition of our multi-size collet and collet chuck system. A further period of development then commenced when the Hydraulic operation of chucking was introduced.
In 1961 further reconstruction of the organization took place. A holding company — F.Pratt Engineering Corporation Limited was formed with Subsidiaries F.Pratt and Company Limited, F. Burnerd and Company Limited and Pratt Precision Hydraulics. In 1967 a merger took place with the Arnott and Harrison Engineering Group which manufactured forgings and special machines; one of these being Crawford Collets which strengthened the range of products offered.
In 1974 a major restructuring event took place. F. Burnerd & Company Limited became Pratt Woodworth Limited, concentrating solely on N.A Woodworth Equipment. F. Pratt & Company Limited became Pratt Burnerd International Ltd. to promote the rapidly expanding international chucking business and serve the interests of 48 agents and distributors throughout the world. A number of new products ensued, the Front End Hydraulic Chuck, the High Speed Quick Change Chuck and the Opto-Coupled Gripmeter, all of which were ground-breaking innovations.
The High Speed Quick Change Chuck later developed into the Gripfast, still the market leader in centrifugally counter-balanced rapid jaw change chucking, with many invaluable features. The Opto-Coupled Gripmeter was later replaced by one transmitting the data by radio frequency, the Radio Frequency Gripmeter, or RFG as it was more commonly known.
And the story continues with products currently being trialed; the RFG is soon to be replaced by the Gripsafe with its user-friendly communications direct to your iPad or mobile phone, and new versions of Gripsafe with larger bores and even 5 jaws, to reduce distortion on thin-walled parts.
Whilst here in America our imminent move to new premises will take place this July. More to follow…
 
Thanks Will, I'm wondering if there is any parts interchange, maybe PBA has info :dunno:
 
Aukai said:
Thanks Will, I'm wondering if there is any parts interchange, maybe PBA has info :dunno:
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Worth a try sending PB an email with your chuck's s/n. Would be cool if they had any info on it. Why, does it need parts?
 
No, it looks, and feels fine, I was wondering about soft jaws, and the eventuality of it needing anything. I don't think I can wear it out in my lifetime :)
 
I had an Ontrac driver drop a $600 package (6 feet long, 135 lbs) on my sidewalk at 9:00 at night a couple weeks back... or so my neighbor says. It sure as hell wasn't there in the morning. I had no way to contact Ontrac, no (800) number. So I ate the cost and am empty handed. Next time I see a Ontrac driver, I'm throwing rocks at his windshield. Don't care who it is, if they wear that company's name, they owe me money, any way I can get it.
 
Aukai said:
No, it looks, and feels fine, I was wondering about soft jaws, and the eventuality of it needing anything. I don't think I can wear it out in my lifetime :)
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Normally soft jaws are for 2 piece jaws. They do have steel soft jaws that are one piece but they're not very common these days & I imagine they'd be expensive & only available from the chuck manufacturer if they were.

I could be wrong but I believe machinable soft jaws aren't really commonly used on 4-jaw indy chucks. Just line the jaws with copper or aluminum if you want to protect the part. That's what most of us do
 
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