Lathe Chucks: We don't make them anymore.

[DavidB]

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

Ah...well then I should probably keep on using it. How about hexahedron? I know the meaning of that one.

 

[X1 Mike]

Ah...well then I should probably keep on using it. How about hexahedron? I know the meaning of that one.

I try using the term hexahedron at least 6 times a day.......

 

[A_Pmech]

I'll try to answer some of the questions that have accumulated in the thread. It took a lot of time to research chucks and make a purchase decision so I haven't had much time to respond.

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!

Underdog,

Army Aviation is worried about just that, as am I.

Army Aviation Needs Him Now - Where is Billy Mitchell?

The US military has allowed the aviation
industrial base, which is so vital to this country’s interests, to wither away. The US Army has no
strategic reserve and must wait for as many as 34 months for an aircraft to be delivered, even
while we are waging a war in two geographic areas.112 The industries that support these aircraft
have seen a consistent decline in trained personnel for more than 25 years, yet, according to the
Aerospace Industries Association, they imported nearly $2.7B in parts and engines to support the
military, a risk in and of itself.

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

Steve,

The thought did briefly cross my mind... A cheap lathe chuck is like buying cheap parachute cord. You can have the best lathe (or parachute) in the world, but if you install a cheap chuck or use cheap cord, all the accuracy of the lathe and all the safety of the parachute is destroyed.

Uncle Sam paid over $150,000 for my lathe. No way in hell am I putting a Chinese chuck on it!

Hello,
have ya tried this guy?
http://www.kalamazoochuck.com/?gclid...FaJL5wodbXJ3Ww

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

I didn't realize you had also recommended Kalamazoo, Chuck. I see you're in Michigan. Do you work for / with them?

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.

Bird,

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

You never know what I might think up next...

FWIW, the writing is not Chinese; it's Japanese.

Interesting...

Must be where they're sourcing the waxed paper from.

Michelle at Buck Chuck called this afternoon and confirmed that their chucks are made in China.

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

Hi Mike,

Nothing is wrong with it. It's an old Cushman 4-jaw and works VERY well. It's engraved Heavy Machine Shop and U.S. Navy. I suspect it worked a little before I got it.

However, I do not have a small to medium scroll chuck for the Pacemaker. I've been gripping a 4" 3-jaw in the 12" 4-jaw and that's getting old. Interestingly, my 4-jaw Cushman has jaw marks on the outside of it. I wonder what they were gripping it with...

 

[Jononon]

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!

FWIW, that isn't a Pratt Burnerd chuck, it's an Atlas Workholding. Atlas is the imported line of Pratt Burnerd USA. Pratt Burnerd branded chucks remain made in England.

 

[cegreen]

Hi A_Pmech,

Just curious to know how you like your new Kalamazoo chuck. Are you pleased with it?

-Chris

 

[A_Pmech]

Hi A_Pmech,

Just curious to know how you like your new Kalamazoo chuck. Are you pleased with it?

-Chris

Hi Chris,

I am!

Here's an update:

Picking up the chuck

Mjozefow and I made a stop at Kalamazoo Chuck Manufacturing last week on our way to Detroit. We arrived during lunch and had a few minutes to look around before everyone got back to work. The shop is clean and well organized with a mix of old-line manual machinery and fairly new CNC machines. The oldest machine I saw in use was a mid 40's? Cincinnati production horizontal mill, which was being used to rough out chuck jaws. All the machinery appeared well kept.

My chuck was found in the shipping area and I opened the boxes to inspect it. I found I was shorted the cam lock pins, which Duane said was because they were being sent to heat treat that morning. After talking a while I paid up and we left for our next stop.

Here's a shot out the back window as we left:

Installing it on my lathe

Today I received the camlock pins as expected. Like all the other parts of the chuck, they're well made. At least one pin had a Rockwell tester indentation.

Here, I'm installing the pins into the chuck backplate. Once they're screwed in to the same depth, the small Allen screws lock the pins in place. I'm only using three of the six supplied pins as the others really aren't necessary for the work this chuck will see. The backplate is centered on the spindle by the tapered bore:

Here I'm installing the backplate onto the machine. After cleaning everything carefully to ensure no chips get stuck between the spindle and the backplate, the backplate is installed and the camlocks tightened with a 1/2" breaker bar:

Once the backplate is secured, the chuck itself can be mounted to the backplate:

This is an "Adjust-True" style of scroll chuck. This feature makes it possible to dial in the chuck to run perfectly concentric to the spindle axis. Where multiple parts of the same size will be turned, this results in much better runout than with a plain scroll chuck.

Here, I'm adjusting the chuck to "zero it in":

Here's the indicator setup. It was easy to dial the chuck in to better than .001" runout with a ground test pin using this setup, which "roughs in" the chuck for most work. For production work needing the highest accuracy, the chuck must be indicated in to the setup part before each run to mitigate scroll error. Kalamazoo Chuck advertises repeatability of better than .0003" runout on a single diameter.

I'll report back again once I've had a chance to put some miles on it making hammer parts.

 

[danski0224]

Uncle Sam paid over $150,000 for my lathe. No way in hell am I putting a Chinese chuck on it!

What does a $150k lathe look like?

 

[JohnFreeman]

That's a beautiful looking piece of machinery...and I'm a "college boy".....

 

[A_Pmech]

What does a $150k lathe look like?

Something like this:

 

[Stick Figure]

That looks like way more fun than my little Emco bench top unit. Of course i can carry mine by myself if i have to! and yes i'm going to keep telling myself that over and over.

 

[johnnybentwrench]

I am not a machinist but, know alot of older guys that can use a lathe. we are screwed if this country goes to war. I know a guy 91 who makes evrything he made me a 9mm bolt because they do not make on, they make a tapp and die but no bolt?? I would have had to part a vintage motorcycle if that man did not know how to really survive and make things. different times

 

[hofferwood]

Hi Chris,

I am!

Here's an update:

Picking up the chuck

Mjozefow and I made a stop at Kalamazoo Chuck Manufacturing last week on our way to Detroit.

Hell, shoulda stopped by. I'm 8mi. south of metro airport. Coulda filled up your thermos & laughed at my 7x10
Glad ya went with the kzoo guys
Chuck

 

[mjozefow]

Something like this:

I think your tailstock is bigger than my whole lathe! It is a beautiful piece of equipment, and I'm glad the chuck is up to it's standards.

 

[A_Pmech]

That looks like way more fun than my little Emco bench top unit. Of course i can carry mine by myself if i have to! and yes i'm going to keep telling myself that over and over.

I would have had to part a vintage motorcycle if that man did not know how to really survive and make things. different times

I'll be finishing up a couple of discontinued spindle bearing retainers for my lawnmower today. I guess they figure by discontinuing the one part that breaks most often they'll get people to buy a new mower. Not me!

Hell, shoulda stopped by. I'm 8mi. south of metro airport. Coulda filled up your thermos & laughed at my 7x10
Glad ya went with the kzoo guys

Maybe next time! No need to laugh, it works.

I think your tailstock is bigger than my whole lathe! It is a beautiful piece of equipment, and I'm glad the chuck is up to it's standards.

I kinda had to laugh at myself when we were tying down your lathe and I just habitually slide the tailstock back and locked it down. When Dave said "why not remove it?" I had to pause a second to think about it while you were busy unlocking and sliding it off the bed.

I've had the ram out of the tailstock once. The ram is about 125-150 lbs by itself. The whole tailstock is probably around 700lbs if I were to guess.

 

[onewaydave]

First off, A Pmech, thanks for the post and the info.

Secondly, I even enjoyed reading the rants. I agree with every one of them.

And I have more letters behind my name than you could shake a backgear at.

I have 3 lathes and learned to use them. Am still learning. I have a wood shop that I produce plenty of projects out of. I can plumb, wire, frame, finish, mechanic gas and diesel, cook, wash, paint and any damn thing else I set me mind to. And I can do all the stuff the letters give me the right to do, also.

I was indoctrinated by conservative parents to go to college so I wouldn't have to work for a living starting in the 1950s, exactly like a previous poster overheard a mother tell her child. To my chagrin, I have worked my share of hours, 120/week for 15 years and over 90/week for the next 10. I'm slacking off these days, by choice.

But I understand that it is not me that the darts are thrown at and ignore them. And agree with them.