Is this a decent chuck?

[ChuckB]

My 12" Atlas Model 3986 that I just got only came with a 3 jaw chuck, so I went on craigs list and found a four jaw:

"Sears independent chuck has 4 jaw type 8 inch diameter 11/2 inch x 8 thread cat. number 9-21581 . brand new still in box ."

The ad was a month old, but the guy still had it. I googled the cat# and read that it was for wood working, which disapointed me.. I went on line and looked at an old Sears catalog and found it. It is clearly for a metal lathe.



Here it the one I bought:





Has anyone ever had one like it?? Feedback appreciated.

 

[ChuckB]

Here you go.. the man himself: TUBALCAIN lining up an 8", four jaw chuck EXACTLY like mine.. Proving it is for metal.. Read what I p0osted about asking if it is for metal.
[video=youtube;npJfKhkS0QE] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJfKhkS0QE [/video]

 

[ChuckB]

The 4 jaw pictured, is considered a light duty chuck.
Not a bad thing for lighter work.
Heavy duty 8" chucks would be solid all the way through the body and pretty heavy in weight.
Here is a photo of an older heavy duty Union brand steel body 8" chuck. It has thick heavy jaws.
http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/...w&current=BrownSharpecenteringtool001.jpg

I have a light duty version " 8" Skinner", that is handy for grabbing odd shaped parts with its narrow jaws.

I think the chuck you have is a nice one.

Yes, I agree with you, but one point I need to make.. Sure it might be considered light duty when installed on a heavy duty industrial lathe, but it is being used on an Atlas, which are considered light duty in their own right, no offense intended to my fellow Atlas owners.. This chuck, when installed on my lathe will exceed the capabilities of the lathe itself. A heavier chuck 8" would be overkill. It's like me showing you a set of tires on my mini van and you making a comment on their shortcomings and then showing me a picture of tires on an off road racer.. see my point? In other words, this chuck, when used on my Atlas, should handle anything thrown at it. Just my opinion based on my limited knowledge of lathes, i'm sure you have forgotten more than I will ever know. ;D

 

[ChuckB]

You Said:

"The manufactures back in the day, made heavy, medium, and light duty chucks.
They all have their uses, and short comings."

The only confusion I have about this is why would the catalog only show this one chuck available in 8", make no mention of it being light duty, on the contrary, boast of it strength, and list it without distinction among the only other diameters available ?? This is the case for all the catalogs back to about 1966.. They mention it as being [glow=red,2,300]" with deep jaw slots for great strength and bearing surface"[/glow] Go see for yourself, PAGE 149:

http://www.roseantiquetools.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/197273craftsman15.5mb.pdf

Not to kick a dead horse, but I stand by my original beliefs

 

[ChuckB]

I see its steel, or semi steel, made in England.
For sure a nice chuck for metal working.
Somewhere I have seen 4jaws of that size. for wood lathes, but, it would not be one just like that, probably just cast iron.
That was a lot of money back then!

Whats so funny is that I purchased it new for 5.00 more than was shown in the catalog.. I'm sure it will serve me well. Perhaps I will push it's limits (when I become more skilled) and see if any slippage or other signs of inadequacy occur

 

[ChuckB]

"You're aware that the Atlas is a light-duty lathe, so it follows that aftermarket devices offered for the machine didn't require much capability "

Randy C, did you read my post(S) and look at the catalog that I referenced ??? This is not an aftermarket chuck..It came new in the box with the Craftsman logo and P/N as shown in the catalog. I give up.. I can't say any more that I haven't already said.. ;D

 

[ChuckB]

Thanks for the info. I never considered different applications for different chucks.

Unrelated to what you said, but in my limited use of four jaw chucks I have notice a difference in how a part to be turned is chucked. My smaller ones have better a feel and the adjustments feel finer. This large one appears to have courser threads and was a little more difficult for me to center the part.

I have another 4 jaw chuck coming in the mail that I bought by accident for not cancelling my phantom bidder. It is a 6" made by Watson and probably heaver than this 8" and I will consider this when using it in my lathe.

 

[ChuckB]

See? I should have asked you guys about this other chuck first.. Got it today, appears to be in good shape. One bad thing though.. Instead of using a wire wheel to clean a little surface rust off the chuck wrench he used a grinding wheel, ruining the fit.. oh well.. no big deal. I guess I will hang on to this new chuck and see how it works. Thanks everyone for the info.. I have learned a lot about chucks in this thread.. even from Randy (hey Randy.. i'm only joking ;D ;D )

 

[ChuckB]

Easy enough to make a new key. in a pinch, take a cheap tap, grind the teeth semi square on the end, mount it backwards in a tap handle. If course, that's if the square end fits. If you have no mill, you could cut the tap off at the teeth and make the rest of the parts on your lathe to make it a nice/permanent one. Probably want to be gentle with it as it's much harder steel than the square sockets, and they are intended to be the other way around.

Or you can do what this guy did.. he just bought a new chuck and wanted to try it out and had no key:




oops... that guy was me.. I probably shouldn't have posted this picture. Sometimes I am my own worse enemy.. poor machining, not to mention dirty fingernails.. :-[

good improvising though