Ever since I upgraded from my MicroMark 7x14 mini lathe, to the PM1236. I was disappointed with the size of the chuck. I had a 5-inch chuck on the little MicroMark, but only a 6" on the 1236. I don't do a lot of bigger parts, but I do have some parts that I sell, made from 6" O.D. UHMW, that I wasn't 100% comfortable with in the 6" chuck. I used to have some.....interesting.....methods of chucking it up on the little 7x lathe. lol. I also really missed having the reversible jaws like the lathe I used to use back in the Navy.
For those that are wondering, I got the chuck on ebay, and the backplate came from Grizzly. The chuck was "new, unused stock", and was an even $1000. It's a Bison 8" 6-jaw Set-Tru. They had it listed at $1549, but I offered $1000 and they accepted it. I found later that Grizzly sells it here (http://grizzly.com/products/8-6-Jaw-Set-Tru-Chuck/T10421) for $1065 shipped, and that's the absolute best price I could find anywhere. Grizzly also had the best price on the backplate here (http://grizzly.com/products/8-D1-4-Back-Plate-for-Set-Tru/T10429) for $297 shipped. I think I found a 5% off coupon too for some holiday.
I was a little worried about it possibly hitting the chuck guard, but with the jaws extended as far as I would ever comfortably extend them, I still had plenty of room.
Anyway, here's some pictures, cuz we all love the 6-jaw chuck porn..... Sorry they're not very bright, and the lathe is pretty messy. I do a lot of Delrin and UHMW work, and that stuff gets everywhere. The shop vac usually cleans it up pretty well, I just haven't done it for a while...
Also, I forgot to take any pictures dialing it in with the Set-Tru adjustments, but I went ahead and made an excuse to buy a new Noga mag base, and an import .0001" indicator. I got impatient waiting for the indicator to come in, so I ended up borrowing one from another user on here: Morgan_Redhawk. Thanks, Morgan!
The backplate.
The Bison 8" 6-jaw Set-Tru chuck.
For those that are wondering, I got the chuck on ebay, and the backplate came from Grizzly. The chuck was "new, unused stock", and was an even $1000. It's a Bison 8" 6-jaw Set-Tru. They had it listed at $1549, but I offered $1000 and they accepted it. I found later that Grizzly sells it here (http://grizzly.com/products/8-6-Jaw-Set-Tru-Chuck/T10421) for $1065 shipped, and that's the absolute best price I could find anywhere. Grizzly also had the best price on the backplate here (http://grizzly.com/products/8-D1-4-Back-Plate-for-Set-Tru/T10429) for $297 shipped. I think I found a 5% off coupon too for some holiday.
I was a little worried about it possibly hitting the chuck guard, but with the jaws extended as far as I would ever comfortably extend them, I still had plenty of room.
Anyway, here's some pictures, cuz we all love the 6-jaw chuck porn..... Sorry they're not very bright, and the lathe is pretty messy. I do a lot of Delrin and UHMW work, and that stuff gets everywhere. The shop vac usually cleans it up pretty well, I just haven't done it for a while...
Also, I forgot to take any pictures dialing it in with the Set-Tru adjustments, but I went ahead and made an excuse to buy a new Noga mag base, and an import .0001" indicator. I got impatient waiting for the indicator to come in, so I ended up borrowing one from another user on here: Morgan_Redhawk. Thanks, Morgan!
The backplate.
The Bison 8" 6-jaw Set-Tru chuck.