Newbie question about "Millport" lathe.

Chucks... well... kinda!

A three jaw lathe chuck. What I assume are a MT5 drill chuck, and a MT3 drill chuck. I do know they are drill chucks, but unsure about the taper ;)

I read somewhere that the manufacturers ship machine tools with drill chucks because they have a surplus of them, and they are basically useless. So... I have a three jaw chuck. It did come with a second set of chuck teeth (jaws? What do you call them?). I asked him about a four jaw chuck, and he said he never had one. Oh well. I did take the chuck off to transport it because we moved it into the truck and the shop with a special lubricating compound I like to call... elbow grease! Four people can lift half of this lathe at a time! I took everything I could off... How do I choose a four jaw chuck if I end up needing one?

Yes, my initial assumption of some sort of hybrid drive was based on what you referred to as a backgear. Which I'm totally okay with, especially with this basically unknown maker, because I can get belts... gears... probably not so much. I know it isn't as convenient, but I'm okay with it for now. Then I'll have to talk my wife into letting me get a bigger one ;)

I did have a question about the power feed thing. Is it okay to run it with the power feed in neutral, or is it dangerously close to breaking off teeth like that? I think I'd rather run it in neutral unless I'm using the power feed for something, right?
 
Yes. You can and should run it in neutral when you're not feeding. The spindle should be stopped when you move the lever. You don't have to remove the chuck from the plate to take it off. Its threaded on the spindle.
 
My lathe has the original 6in 3 jaw chuck and 8in 4 jaw chuck and a 10in faceplate. The adapter plate you mention may be the backing plate for the Shars Adjustable 3 jaw chuck which is presently mounted on the lathe. This is Shars version of other chucks which have a backing plate with 4 screws to adjust the chuck to get it centred. Works well, just needs to be adjusted every time it is mounted on the lathe.
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a belt drive lathe. I had a monarch that could be ran belt drive or gear drive. The only time I used gear drive was during threading. Belt drive gives a better finish.
 
Mauser lover said:
So... I have a three jaw chuck. It did come with a second set of chuck teeth (jaws? What do you call them?).
Click to expand...

It sounds like you have a chuck with two sets of jaws, one intended for gripping the stock internal and one intended for gripping the stock external as in gripping inside a hole in the work.

Post some pictures of the jaws so folks can confirm.

My original 3 jaw chuck was like this. The chuck presently on the lathe has what is called two piece jaws. The lower section engages with the scroll. The upper section can be used internal or flipped to be used external.
 
Dave Paine said:
My lathe has the original 6in 3 jaw chuck and 8in 4 jaw chuck and a 10in faceplate. The adapter plate you mention may be the backing plate for the Shars Adjustable 3 jaw chuck which is presently mounted on the lathe. This is Shars version of other chucks which have a backing plate with 4 screws to adjust the chuck to get it centred. Works well, just needs to be adjusted every time it is mounted on the lathe.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'm not sure if you are referring to "Shars" as a type or a brand (total newbie here remember ;) ), but I googled it and from what I can tell, yes, the back plate is what is still on the machine. I guess I probably should have left the chuck on, because it really isn't all that heavy anyway... Although, if I had that attitude for everything on it...

So... how does one adjust it?
 
Shars is a company which sells tools and tooling for metal work. They also have some tools and tooling which they sell under the Shars name, such as my chuck.

Shars adjustable 3 jaw chuck

This chuck has a backplate which has screws to move the chuck body to get it centred. May only allow something like 30 thou of movement but this is sufficient to get the chuck running true. Shars copied this design from other manufacturers like Bison.

This picture shows measuring runout as I tweak the adjustment. 6 bolts on the outside of the front face are loosened then partially tightened.

Shars_chuck_re-mounted_some_runout_5299.jpg

This picture shows one of the 4 screws on the back of the chuck. The screws engage a boss on the back of the chuck. Adjust opposite screws at the same time to move the chuck in or out. Once the chuck is a close to true as you can get, then the 6 face bolts are tightened.

Grizzly_check_runout_headstock_4270.jpg

If your chuck does not have this feature, you may be able to get some adjustment from the diameter of the mounting holes being slightly larger than the diameter of the bolts. Not as much adjustment as my chuck, but you should be able to minimize runout when you re-install the chuck.
 
I think I would remount it and check it with an indicator before before enlarging the holes. Unless you scribed it before removing it from the plate, you may have to try it in all positions to find the best orientation.
 
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