Need a Decent Four-Jaw Chuck

[wrmiller]

I finally pulled out the four-jaw that came with my 1340GT years back to use it and spent most of the day yesterday trying to get the thing into decent shape to use it. This thing is not close to the same quality level as my lathe and suspect it's China sourced. Anyway...

I could use some recommendations for a decent quality (Taiwan?) four-jaw that isn't going kill me funds-wise. Thanks.

 

[darkzero]

Not Taiwan but Gator/Fuerda chucks are pretty nice. The VP of operations left Bison & went to Gator. I'm pretty happy with my Gator 4 jaw. It's the only chuck I own that is not a Bison or other high quality name brand (well besides the stock 3-jaw that came with my lathe that I use only for sanding/polishing). Gator stands behind their products, I had a problem with one of their 3-jaw (cosmetic) & they replaced it no questions asked. I ended up selling that 3-jaw Gator but only cause my salesman at my local MSC gave me a smoking deal on a Bison 3-jaw Set-Tru.

The Gator I got has 2 piece jaws which is not common on a indy 4-jaw. I chose to get direct mount cam lock, no need for a backplate on an indy 4-jaw, less weight & less over hang. I got my 8" Gator from Ajax for $350 shipped but the price has gone up a bit over the years. If I hadn't got the Gator I would have kept searching for something used.

 

[darkzero]

Someone mentioned Chandox chucks recently. I had never heard of them until then but they are Taiwan. They seem to look nice but no idea & no idea where where to buy them.

www.chandox.com

 

[wrmiller]

Not Taiwan but Gator/Fuerda chucks are pretty nice. The VP of operations left Bison & went to Gator. I'm pretty happy with my Gator 4 jaw. It's the only chuck I own that is not a Bison or other high quality name brand (well besides the stock 3-jaw that came with my lathe that I use only for sanding/polishing). Gator stands behind their products, I had a problem with one of their 3-jaw (cosmetic) & they replaced it no questions asked. I ended up selling that 3-jaw Gator but only cause my salesman at my local MSC gave me a smoking deal on a Bison 3-jaw Set-Tru.

The Gator I got has 2 piece jaws which is not common on a indy 4-jaw. I chose to get direct mount cam lock, no need for a backplate on an indy 4-jaw, less weight & less over hang. I got my 8" Gator from Ajax for $350 shipped but the price has gone up a bit over the years. If I hadn't got the Gator I would have kept searching for something used.

View attachment 290287

After almost dropping my 8" 3-jaw PBA set-rite on the floor, I'm seriously considering selling it and replacing it with a Bison or Gator 6" set-tru and a decent 8" four-jaw. It's a great chuck, but I'm not exactly getting any younger...

 

[mikey]

Bill, not sure what size you need but I just checked on ebay and found a Kitagawa 10" 4 jaw independent for $300.00! I'm sure you're familiar with the brand and the chuck looks clean. You will need to mount it to a back plate but its a Kitagawa! Kitagawa has a page on this chuck here. What's cool is that Ebay has a 15% off coupon today so you're looking at $255 for a premium chuck. Weight is 21kg/46# - you can handle that, right?

 

[darkzero]

After almost dropping my 8" 3-jaw PBA set-rite on the floor, I'm seriously considering selling it and replacing it with a Bison or Gator 6" set-tru and a decent 8" four-jaw. It's a great chuck, but I'm not exactly getting any younger...

I hear ya. I originally wanted an 8" Set-Tru but Set-Tru chucks are even heavier than plain back chucks. I have back issues now so I'm glad I went with 6.3" chucks. The 8" Gator cause it's a direct mount doesn't weight a lot

Holy crap, sorry n/m about the Gator, I just checked the current price & Ajax is selling them for $550 now! Some places sell them for $650! That's way to too much money for them.

If you're buying today, ebay has a 15% sale going today, ends at 7pm PST, max $100 off (need to use the Ebay app). PSAVETODAY

Not sure what size you are looking for but here's an 8" Bison plain back new for $517 shipped. With today's sale it'll be $480.

BISON 7-850-0800 8" (200mm) 4-Jaw Independent Chuck ***NEW*** 12 MONTH WARRANTY | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for BISON 7-850-0800 8" (200mm) 4-Jaw Independent Chuck ***NEW*** 12 MONTH WARRANTY at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[mksj]

I hear on the weight, I was getting my 8" 4J combo up on the lathe the other day and it was not cooperating, pushing 85+ lbs leaning over the bed is not fun. I need to make a sliding cradle like David Best has. You probably have the original Chinese 8" 4J independent chuck that came with the earlier models. I couldn't get it past 300 RPM because of imbalance and the jaws were pretty gritty. I do have the newer 8" 4J Taiwanese D1-4 direct mount sold by QMT and it is very well made and ran smoothly at speed. At $380 probably the best bang for you $ for this size chuck. The Chandox offered by QMT is a 6" Set-Tru 3J.

8″ High Precision 4 Jaw Lathe Chuck, D1-4 Mount – Precision Matthews Machinery Co.

www.precisionmatthews.com

Bison are nice but will run another 3 bills and I doubt it will be any better than the QMT one.

 

[darkzero]

Bill, not sure what size you need but I just checked on ebay and found a Kitagawa 10" 4 jaw independent for $300.00! I'm sure you're familiar with the brand and the chuck looks clean. You will need to mount it to a back plate but its a Kitagawa! Kitagawa has a page on this chuck here. What's cool is that Ebay has a 15% off coupon today so you're looking at $255 for a premium chuck. Weight is 21kg/46# - you can handle that, right?

Oh wow, smoking price for a Kitagawa! If wrmiller doesn't buy it I will! J/K, 10" is too much chuck for me.

 

[wrmiller]

A 10" 4-jaw is a bit much for my 1340.

@mksj: I checked PM's site this morning and those chucks are backordered. Which is OK as I haven't the funds ATM so I can start saving for one in the future.

I didn't see any 3-jaw chucks on PM's site.

 

[mikey]

A 10" 4-jaw is a bit much for my 1340.

Timing is everything. If I see a nice 8", I'll let you know.