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Lathe Chucks: We don't make them anymore.

A

A_Pmech

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Recently, I have been researching lathe chucks as I am in need of a new one. Initially, I was interested in the Buck semi-steel BVC series chucks as I had assumed they were still made in the USA. In fact, I called Buck Chuck to ask about the country of origin of their current products, but have yet to receive a response.

So, I called Jennifer at MSC Industrial supply. Jennifer told me that the flagship forged steel ATSC "Set True" Buck chucks are now MADE IN TAIWAN!. That explains these photos taken several years ago by Jon_Spear of Practical Machinist posted in the thread Is Buck Chuck Still With Us?

Buck is now Chinese Junk at a premium (4x markup) price!

DSC00723.jpg


Jon_Spear said:
Below are some of the replacement jaws that came with the chuck. The paper pieces in which they were wrapped have no English written on them.
Click to expand...

DSC00724.jpg


Oh, and by the way... Buck chuck changed the design of their chucks when they moved production to China. Thus, new Chinese parts will not replace old, worn out USA parts. You have to buy a whole new chuck!

Current Buck Chuck Product Catalog Page 4 said:
The chart to the left refers to the replacement options for
the obsolete AT+ model of chucks. The ATSC was designed
as a replacement for this chuck - the components are not
interchangeable, but the ATSC can be mounted to the
existing adapter plate from your AT+ chuck.
Click to expand...

Not only are Buck Chucks now made in Taiwan, but the Pratt Burnerd chucks listed in the 2006/2007 MSC catalog, such as item# 08573289 (made in UK) have been discontinued. The new MSC item# is 85029205 and they're made in China now too!

In fact, every lathe chuck listed in the 2006/2007 MSC catalog except for the Rohm and Bison brands are now made in Asia!

With last year's closure of the Jacobs chuck plant, we don't make drill chucks here any any longer. Does anybody in this country still make a damned lathe chuck?
 
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Underdog

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Treasure Coast, Florida
A_Pmech said:
Rohm is going to be my first choice if I can't find a US-made chuck.
Click to expand...

Maybe just hunt on the web for a NOS chuck.

This outsourcing of machine and tooling has me worried. If and when we, more "when" go to war someday not talking (Iraq or Afghanistan) but the big one! What are we going use to make armaments with?. I can see it now Uncle Sam calls up China and asks where's our tank bearings? Oh we are having manufacturing problems , maybe in three months we can ship!:mad:
 
C

chevy302dz

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NE
Underdog said:
Maybe just hunt on the web for a NOS chuck.

This outsourcing of machine and tooling has me worried. If and when we, more "when" go to war someday not talking (Iraq or Afghanistan) but the big one! What are we going use to make armaments with?. I can see it now Uncle Sam calls up China and asks where's our tank bearings? Oh we are having manufacturing problems , maybe in three months we can ship!:mad:
Click to expand...

I'm afraid that ship has already sailed, not only do we no longer have the capacity to manufacture what we need but we are now reaching the point where the majority of our population with the necessary skills is getting way up in years without anyone to take their place.
 
M

mcdtommy23

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Detroit Michigan
Underdog said:
Maybe just hunt on the web for a NOS chuck.

This outsourcing of machine and tooling has me worried. If and when we, more "when" go to war someday not talking (Iraq or Afghanistan) but the big one! What are we going use to make armaments with?. I can see it now Uncle Sam calls up China and asks where's our tank bearings? Oh we are having manufacturing problems , maybe in three months we can ship!:mad:
Click to expand...


Just like Hummer being sold to some company in China??? MANUFACTURING IS A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY!!!! Too many college boys who couldn't make a part if their life depended on it. Manual labor???? That's soooooo bad?? Ya if it wasn't for manual labor this country wouldn't be what it was. I said WAS! Too many yuppie scum now who have no ability to do anything with their hands and couldn't help any war effort except to maybe wash clothing, make cards or something. Perhaps they could donate their little China homeowner tool kits to a scrap drive or something. Argggggg. I get so fired up at this ****!

I was at work last week and hear a stuck up ***** tell her little *******; " you need to go to school and stay in college so you don't have to work here like them, no manual labor for you". WTF! Arggggg. What is wrong with this country!?!?!?!?!?
 
F

fomocoforrester

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Jun 13, 2008
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AP - I don't think you should confuse Taiwan with mainland China as you appear to do in your OP.

Unless you can afford to take politics and patriotism into account when selecting your purchases, you can find some excellent items coming out of Taiwan. For example, my little Rong Fu mill is way better in terms of fit, finish and general quality than any of the other clones coming from the mainland.

Another good example would be the Eisen CTL-618DT copy of the Hardinge HLV toolroom lathe.

Having said that, the excellent quality of a hydraulic motorcycle lift that I recently bought from the mainland, is an indicator of a generally improving quality trend that I've noticed in many Chinese products.
 
I

iandh

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Apr 23, 2010
Messages
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Wow, as a machinist by trade, this REALLY pisses me off.


FYI everyone here that isn't a machinist, think of Buck chucks as the Snap-on of machine tools (at least as far as chucks are concerned).

This would be the equivalent of getting snap-on branded wrenches with china stamped on them.
 
M

mcdtommy23

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Detroit Michigan
iandh said:
Wow, as a machinist by trade, this REALLY pisses me off.


FYI everyone here that isn't a machinist, think of Buck chucks as the Snap-on of machine tools (at least as far as chucks are concerned).

This would be the equivalent of getting snap-on branded wrenches with china stamped on them.
Click to expand...

+1 and I'm not a machinist. Plus the fact that the parts don't interchange is a big F.U. to the machinist profession.

As for the Rong Fu and Tiawan.... I agree better than China but still not as good as the american machine they copied.:thumbup:
 
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bonneyman

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chevy302dz said:
I'm afraid that ship has already sailed, not only do we no longer have the capacity to manufacture what we need but we are now reaching the point where the majority of our population with the necessary skills is getting way up in years without anyone to take their place.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.
 
V

Vinko

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mcdtommy23 said:
I was at work last week and hear a stuck up ***** tell her little *******; " you need to go to school and stay in college so you don't have to work here like them, no manual labor for you". WTF! Arggggg. What is wrong with this country!?!?!?!?!?
Click to expand...


Sounds good to me :) I'd settle for skilled labor, but am to the point where I see nothing romantic or even gratifying about manual labor, for the sake of. Of course, Junior is going to go to college so he can work in some white-collar purgatory making less than a skilled mechanic. Soul-sucking, draining job. It's all in Shop Class As Soul Craft.
 
S

speed bump

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**** happens and nobody wants to do anything about it. Hell I would bet 99% of the people bitching in this thread actively have encouraged outsourcing.
 
M

MotecM

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The US discourages production of just about everything now. We have relaxed importation taxes and raised payroll and labor taxes, increasing the cost of domestic goods. The result is cheaper production outside the country and corporations can create greater shareholder returns by moving production offshore :(
 
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Steve V.

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A Pmech,

Why not make your own? Be sure to start a thread and post plenty of pictures. I'll bet you can do it.

Steve
 
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Bolster

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mcdtommy23 said:
...MANUFACTURING IS A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY!!!! ...
Click to expand...

National security? That's so...pre 2008. I guess you didn't get the memo; national security is at the bottom of the agenda these days...we don't need it anymore, we're charming. We don't have enemies, we join them. We're lovers, not fighters.

Kumbaya!
 
Last edited:
H

hofferwood

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May 8, 2010
Messages
922
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DownRiver Michigan
A_Pmech said:
Recently, I have been researching lathe chucks as I am in need of a new one. Initially, I was interested in the Buck semi-steel BVC series chucks as I had assumed they were still made in the USA. In fact, I called Buck Chuck to ask about the country of origin of their current products, but have yet to receive a response.

So, I called Jennifer at MSC Industrial supply. Jennifer told me that the flagship forged steel ATSC "Set True" Buck chucks are now MADE IN TAIWAN!. That explains these photos taken several years ago by Jon_Spear of Practical Machinist posted in the thread Is Buck Chuck Still With Us?

Buck is now Chinese Junk at a premium (4x markup) price!


Oh, and by the way... Buck chuck changed the design of their chucks when they moved production to China. Thus, new Chinese parts will not replace old, worn out USA parts. You have to buy a whole new chuck!



Not only are Buck Chucks now made in Taiwan, but the Pratt Burnerd chucks listed in the 2006/2007 MSC catalog, such as item# 08573289 (made in UK) have been discontinued. The new MSC item# is 85029205 and they're made in China now too!

In fact, every lathe chuck listed in the 2006/2007 MSC catalog except for the Rohm and Bison brands are now made in Asia!

With last year's closure of the Jacobs chuck plant, we don't make drill chucks here any any longer. Does anybody in this country still make a damned lathe chuck?
Click to expand...

Hello,
have ya tried this guy?
http://www.kalamazoochuck.com/?gclid=CJj3_sKvl6ICFaJL5wodbXJ3Ww

Chuck (that's me, I'm not being a smart ***!!)
 
S

Shadowdog500

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Dec 7, 2009
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Down the shore
Underdog said:
Maybe just hunt on the web for a NOS chuck.

This outsourcing of machine and tooling has me worried. If and when we, more "when" go to war someday not talking (Iraq or Afghanistan) but the big one! What are we going use to make armaments with?. I can see it now Uncle Sam calls up China and asks where's our tank bearings? Oh we are having manufacturing problems , maybe in three months we can ship!:mad:
Click to expand...

The scary ting is that people are predicting that the next "Big One" will be with China, so we would not be getting parts from them. They are flush with money, Have enormous manufacturing capabilities, and are starting do develop the engineering resources to design their own stuff. In addition to that their current military has about a million men more than ours, and if they called in their reserves they would have a seven and a half million man army which is more than twice the size of ours. They have been building their military for some time now and are developing long range missiles, Computerized targeting systems, smart weapons, War ships, etc. Some of their military leaders are already discussing war with the US. The US military has been seriously looking at this situation and trying to plan proper defense for at least five years.


Studies have shown that the US may actually loose if we went to war with china right now, and if things continue on their current path, the US would definitely loose in a war with China by 2020.

Chris
 
7

78Bird

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Charlotte, NC
Step 1: Get the design worked up.
Step 2:Retire your day job
Step 3: go pro with USA sourced chucks, hammers, and punches...

Start hiring a few like minded guys and you're off and running.

Of course... you might have to relocate your actual selves to mexico to avoid the taxes and anti-manufacturing sentiment the US has these days.
 
OP
A

A_Pmech

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Following Practical Machinist member Arthur Marks' suggestion, I called Kalamazoo Chuck Company this morning and spoke with the owner, Duane Burnham. I explained to Duane that I was planning to purchase a new Buck brand chuck and that I was extremely disappointed that they were no longer made here, despite the high price.

Duane told me used to own Buck Chuck Company along with three partners and Kalamazoo Chuck Company is now the only American manufacturer of manual lathe chucks. He said he reluctantly sold Buck Chuck when an offer was received to buy the company for more than it was worth and the other two partners pushed for the sale. I think this was the Fokhardt buyout of Buck Chuck, but I forgot to ask. From my reading, Fokhardt later sold to ITW and that's when the manufacturing got shipped to China.

Kalamazoo Chuck Company products are 100% Made in the USA and it's says so on every page of their catalog. According to Duane, their Micro-set line of manual lathe chucks IS the old Buck adjust-true design! Additionally, their prices are very competitive. Here's the quote I received:

Made in USA
Kalamazoo Chuck Company 2083R 3-jaw micro set semi-steel with top jaws: $865.00
Backing plate for above, D1-6 CD209 $275.00
Total = $1,140

I've done a little research on pricing of European chucks that is worth noting here. These prices are based on using the current 25% off coupon select25w good though the end of today.

Made in Germany
3-jaw Rohm adjust-true chuck MSC# 08622979 $933.65
Backplate for above, D1-6 MSC# 93282127 $195.08
Total = $1128.73
Total without coupon = $1267.48

Made in Poland
3-jaw Bison adjust-true chuck MSC#08629927 $733.45
Backplate for above, D1-6 MSC# 08609562 $217.16
Total = $950.61
Total without coupon = $1504.96

It is obvious Kalamazoo Chuck has very good pricing, especially with the current exchange rates to European countries. I told Duane I'd be getting back to him by Monday morning to place an order. I'm also sending him a link to this thread.

So, buying an American product isn't always more expensive.
 
Z

ZRX61

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Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Messages
28,716
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Solar Blight Valley, SoCal
Underdog said:
Maybe just hunt on the web for a NOS chuck.

This outsourcing of machine and tooling has me worried. If and when we, more "when" go to war someday not talking (Iraq or Afghanistan) but the big one! What are we going use to make armaments with?. I can see it now Uncle Sam calls up China and asks where's our tank bearings? Oh we are having manufacturing problems , maybe in three months we can ship!:mad:
Click to expand...

Won't matter anyway, the Chinese already buy up most of our scrap steel so we won't even have the basic material to fight with....even if we had anyone left to make stuff with it.
 
OP
A

A_Pmech

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Update

I just got off the phone with Duane at Kalamazoo Chuck. I ordered a 6-jaw model 2086R with a CD209 backplate. Delivery estimated at 3 weeks. HAAS just called and bought him out of 8" chucks.

Duane knows how to do business. I'm looking forward to it's arrival!
 
D

DavidB

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Feb 6, 2010
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Navarre, FL
A_Pmech said:
Update

I just got off the phone with Duane at Kalamazoo Chuck. I ordered a 6-jaw model 2086R with a CD209 backplate. Delivery estimated at 3 weeks. HAAS just called and bought him out of 8" chucks.

Duane knows how to do business. I'm looking forward to it's arrival!
Click to expand...

Awww, and I was so looking forward to you making a lathe chuck out of a billet of steel. :bowdown:
Congrats on finding a US made chuck!
 
X

X1 Mike

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Dec 4, 2008
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Flagler, Fl
DavidB said:
Uh oh....how about chunk?
Click to expand...

Chunk is better but I always prefer "hunk of iron" regardless of the alloy, it's always iron.... :lol_hitti

No offense intended but billet is the term that people who don't know any better use.

P.S. AP what was wrong with your old chuck that it needed replacement?
 
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