Ordered a 6 Jaw Lathe Chuck

Ray C

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I've been thinking about a 6 Jaw chuck for a long time and finally ordered this one today. It should be here in a few days. I'll let you know how it goes and maybe do a write-up on it. Like all my chucks, it will probably need a little TLC. I've always wanted to get some really high-end chucks but, just can't justify it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07523QQDR/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Does anyone out there have this same chuck? What do you think of it?

Ray
 
I'll be curious to see what sort of runout you get once it's mounted.

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I’ll be watching for you write up. I’ve given thought to a six jaw also.
 
that looks like a great deal.When you mount it, can you please chuck up something around 1/2" and 2" and let us know the runouts? The grinding of the scroll is everything in a good lathe chuck, and I am super curious as to how well they are making it! An 8" might be in my future!

thanks!! good luck!
 
I seem to recall a posting a while ago who I believe purchased this chuck, and it needed a fair amount of TLC. I recall something to the effect that it ended up on his rotary table. I think it was Darkzero, might shoot him a PM if no response here. The other 6 jaw that is in the middle of the pack price wise, and there were a few positive reviews on in this forum many years ago was the Shar's 6J Set-True chuck. One review is at the end of this post: https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm1340gt-with-a-3-jaw-pratt-burnerd-6-setrite.30758/page-2
 
All,

Rest assured, I'll measure it for runout at a few diameters and check balance at different speeds before taking it apart for inspection or adjustment. My current 3J holds about 2-3 thou over it's useful range and parts can be bumped and re-positioned to improve that a little. The issue is that I'm a fan of carbide inserts which requires greater cutting pressure and therefore, greater jaw pressure to hold the work. I'm hoping the 6J will cut down on the visible bite marks.

On more than one occasion, I've boxed myself in a corner using the 3J and in a mad effort to improve runout, took an allen wrench, loosened the bolts on the back and tapped things around to squeeze some extra accuracy out of the setup. Hey... All's fair in love and war...

I was eyeing the Shars set-tru chuck for a while but can't justify the cost even though it is priced attractively. I remember when Will got his but don't remember how it all turned-out.

Dabbler... This same style chuck is available in 8" from CME. FWIW, I've purchased a lot of stuff from CME over the years and I've been very satisfied with them and their products. They are like a smaller version of Shars.

Ray
 
I started to buy a chuck from them but instead bought another one out there. I've bought a couple of L-0 and L-00 back plates from them. They were nice and very accurate. They could have done a little more deburring to the back plates, some sharp edges, nothing a file and some emery wouldn't fix. My advice, as many have said, when you get the chuck, take it apart, clean it, put a little grease with moly on the gear side of the scroll, dab the same grease on the teeth on the jaws and assembly. Don't over grease the chuck. If you do, you will wear excess grease as a racing stripe on the left side of your shirt for months on end until depleted from the chuck.
 
Plenty of eye candy today...

Well, it seems CME wasted no time shipping this. It arrived much faster than I imagined possible...

So far... It's impressive. I've been inside quite a few chucks and this is really quite a surprise. It has not been spun on the machine yet but will in a day or two.

It arrived as two items, the backplate and chuck. They are not pre-fitted and, in my opinion, it's not reasonable to expect they would be. BTW, the proof shaft on the table is one I made a few years ago. It's 1" diameter, 1045, TGP and varies no more than +/- 0.0003 over 2 feet. I'll check the chuck with this when the time comes. Unfortunately, I do not have a proof shaft of say 2 or 3" diameter but, there are other tricks up my sleeve.

Anyhow, the chuck came packed in heavy cosmoline-like shipping oil. Anytime you get something packed in grease, it's a sign it should be somewhat disassembled (or at least flushed-out) and lubed properly. As it arrived, it's stiff to spin with the wrench but, I would expect that given it's still in the packing oil and needs to be flushed out.

IMG_20180124_185652.jpg


Here's a few more pics of the guts. Everything looks fine (once you get past the smell of gritty cosmoline) and is a very nice design. I did a quick nondestructive hardness test (LEEB type) and just as I thought, it's hard... -really hard... RC 62.

IMG_20180124_190029.jpgIMG_20180124_190111.jpgIMG_20180124_190227.jpg

The Jaws are very uniform and they took the time to number and serialize them. There are burrs on some areas but, I've seen a lot worse. All of them weighed 437 grams -exactly.

IMG_20180124_190720.jpgIMG_20180124_190742.jpg

Every possible dimension was measured and compared to the same dimension of a different jaw slot. Amazing... Basically, dead-on everywhere I checked with no variances greater than 1 thou -anywhere. The machining is bright and clear in all the areas where bright and clear machining is needed. The thickness of the spiral thread was measured in about a dozen places. -Dead-on everywhere. I do not have a means to measure the the spiral itself however. The proof will be in the pudding.

IMG_20180124_191757.jpgIMG_20180124_191901.jpgIMG_20180124_192102.jpgIMG_20180124_192201.jpg

And best of all, the wrench is decent quality too (no idiot spring on there).
IMG_20180124_192249.jpg

Pleasantly surprised so far. I'm going to deburr a few areas, flush this thing out and get some proper lube in there, slap the back on (as-is) and give it a spin soon. I'll check it on a static balancer beforehand as a measure of caution. I've mounted and tuned a couple dozen chucks and never had a generic backplate that didn't need some tweaking so, there's no doubt this will come apart again for fine tuning. Also, I will probably do a more detailed job of deburring the second time around and am also thinking of converting this to a set-tru type chuck. At quick glance, it should be possible.

Ray
 
Can you document your process on converting it to a set-tru? I've never done one, nor had to, but I am quite interested!
 
Converting to set tru? Yes I would sure like to see that.
 
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