Thread: Where do you buy decent quality lathe chucks?

Originally Posted by variant22

I am struggling to find a reasonable quality 160mm lathe chuck (d1-4). I am considering a 3 jaw, with thru-set type adjustment. I checked out the usual suspect (hafco) and noticed they do not have much on offer. The nearest thing I can find is a Gator 3 jaw with thru adjustment shipped out of the US.

Who stocks what here in Australia?

First question is, what do you want to do with it?

If it's small stuff up to the size of your spindle bore, a collet chuck is a lot better IMO.

If it's short production runs a chuck with soft jaws you can skim to size would be my choice.

The set-true chucks need to be reset for each different diameter anyway unless you're dead lucky. If you really want one of these, of known & guaranteed quality, you'll probably have to import it and it will be expensive.

There are a number of articles on turning a 3 jaw chuck into a set-true type. Basically a thicker backplate and 4 adjusting screws bearing on the chuck register combined with oversize stud/bolt holes to clamp the chuck down tight when dialed in.

Too much screwing about for me, first choice is a collet if the workpiece will fit, 2nd is a 4 jaw, 3rd is a 3 jaw with soft jaws if I'm making a number of things the same OD.

PDW

Hare and Forbes sell Gator chucks, which all they are is the chinese Fuerda brand anyway...

If you want real quality, you have to spend big money...

Even buying a second hand quality name brand chuck off ebay is just a gamble...

I get away with chinese 3 jaws on my lathes... I also have an ER40 D1-6 collet chuck... that gets occasional use...

Personally i don't think owning a really nice 3 jaw is high on the priority list. A good 4 jaw is far more important IMHO, as is a collet chuck, which your making anyway.....
If i'm doing short runs of stuff i either use the collet chuck or put my 5" 3 jaw in my 4 jaw. Those D1-4 pins where done completely in the collet chuck.
PDW might be able to suggest somewhere in Tas that will get you good chucks?
My local engineering shop can get any of the good brand chucks in, PB, Buck, Tos, Bison. They are chasing up a European maker that copies the PB slim chucks for me now. I get the feeling it may be a sub-continental European maker though.....

Cheers,
Ew

If you are going to go to the trouble of importing a chuck I would go for something like this one:

Pr

A Rohm or a Buck is aint and no doubt it's of cheaper manufacturing origin but for the price I reckon it's got to be worth the gamble.

A lot of people reckon 6 jaw chucks are less susceptible to excessive run-out than 3 jaws and grip the work more firmly without having to reef them up which is ultimately one of the causes run-out in a previously good chuck.

I've never used one myself and am simply paraphrasing what I've read in books and seen on the interweb but it makes sense to my puny brain and I have thought about getting one of these in my darker moments of frustration with the three jaw.

As mentioned by others, if I want tight repeatability I go with a collet or 4 jaw but it's the 3 jaw chuck that spends the most time on my lathe.
80% of what I make is either completed without removing the work from the chuck or the run-out is just not so critical that I want to spend a couple of minutes dicking around with the 4 jaw every time I remove it and put it back.

Cheers,
Greg.

Originally Posted by Ueee

PDW might be able to suggest somewhere in Tas that will get you good chucks?

The only place I know in Tasmania you can get high quality chucks is off me, and I haven't died yet, so your chances aren't great.

There is *nowhere* in Tasmania that carries high quality chucks. In fact you'd be lucky to get H&F Fuerda ones except by special order through Nubco. Might as well buy direct.

Mick Moyle had at least 1 new 6 jaw and I think a set-true type when I was there the other week, but Chinese makes and I'd expect Chinese quality ie a crap shoot. I certainly wouldn't recommend them as high quality. That said I've no complaints about the 8" D1-6 3 jaw with reversible hard jaws I bought a couple years ago. Its concentricity is plenty good enough for me, but keep in mind that I have low expectations of 3 jaw chucks anyway. The only one I would count on to hold concentricity is a P-B 125mm 3 jaw that some butcher welded soft jaw blocks to and re-machines as required..... amazing what you can weld together using E309 rods.

PDW

What about this one...

I can't post a url, for some reason it screws up...
so go to
Buy Workshop Equipment & Machinery Online | Asset Plant & Machinery and enter 486 into product search box

I have a chinese 6 jaw from them, that I'm pretty happy with..
Buy Workshop Equipment & Machinery Online | Asset Plant & Machinery and enter 544 into product search box

Ray

G'Day
After being stuffed around by Hare & Forbes, I purchased my 6 1/2" 3 jaw and 8" 4 jaw Bison chucks from Boyar Tool Co, not particularly cheap, ( about $700 the pair) but their service was excellent. They are high quality chucks and will probably see me well and truly into the bone yard.
Regards,
Martin

My main purpose for the thread was to understand what is available here in Australia. I currently own 3 Furdera chucks. The quality is a bit questionable. I will drop Boyar Tool Co a line and see what they stock.

ER Collet chuck is in progress as Ew mentioned.