Thread: GMC Lathe

I too have a GMC Lathe which languishes in the shed. The thread size is 3/4" 16 threads per inch. The cheaper scroll chucks and maybe the dear ones have inserts which convert this thread to the chuck thread usually about $10.00. I also had an adaptor made for a pen mandrel. Just a nut with a smaller thread for the Mandrel.

You think the GMC has a weird thread try my Wadkin it is 1 3/8 " 6 TPI not seen it listed anywhere.

Cheers

Tuggerah Bunnings have the GMC chuck for $34.

Cheers,
Andrew

Originally Posted by stuart_lees

Don't know what you call it, but all jaws move together as you rotate a ring, so it can easily hold something in them, or expand to hold inside a ring turned in the base of an object. I'll let the real woodturners explain what the hell I'm talking about

A scroll chuck. The de-rigeur standard in woodturning nowadays, even if a cheap version.

Oh... and a live centre is basically one that's mounted on a bearing so it spins with the wood. A dead-centre is becoming more'n'more uncommon, but there once was a time when it was all that was available.


On another note, if you have a faceplate for your GMC don't get rid of it if you upgrade to a "better" lathe. Remove the rails & tailstock and bolt the headstock to a bench, fit the faceplate with a largish ply disk and line it with sandpaper. Bingo! An instant linisher of acceptable quality. Best conversion kit for a GMC lathe I've ever come across.

Course, there is also the Wasp upgrade as well..... Never passed up the opportunity to modify a piece of equipment yet!

In fact, I have an old GMC sawtable (one of the benchtop models, that are now sold as tile cutters) from years ago, that I upgraded with the triton sanding disk - has been a great tool for many years now.

Cheers for the terminology - scroll chuck. Guess I better remember that, so as not to appear as a complete novice (yet again )

I'm pretty sure the GMC has a live centre then - it spins, so by definition........

Originally Posted by derekcohen

At present I want to add a 4 jaw chuck. I have been warned off the GMC one that was designed for this lathe. What other makes will fit and which are recommended (plus price range)? I have no idea what features to look for, or the expected cost.

I'd get in touch with Jim Carroll and ask whether there's a suitable insert to fit a Nove Precision Midi chuck to the GMC. He'd know. I wouldn't go any larger than this chuck, it'd stress the headstock bearings.

This chuck is as accurate as the best, of damned good quality and will take any of the jaws available for it's larger bros, with one or two exceptions. $129 for the chuck, $25 for the insert, jaw sets in the $30-$60 range. Oh, it comes with 50mm jaws included as standard.

May seem expensive, esp. compared to the cost of the GMC in the first place, but they are quality and with appropriate insert can be fitted to another lathe in a matter of seconds. ie. a pleasure to work with and a good start on the upgrade path.

There are cheaper chucks out there, sure, but it really is a case of chalk and cheese. They may be only a fraction of the price but they're of even less quality... and you can not normally fit other jaws.

About 5 years ago i got a dynalink lathe for my #2 son for his birthday. its almost identical to the gmc but the bed is one-piece, think it cost about $150 back then. i made a stand for it out of some very solid metal.

i got him a vicmarc chuck a few months later for xmas and a few better chisels and yes it was useable, within limits of course