I have a few of these that came in a large batch of tooling I bought some time ago. I've never used one. They seem ideal for some of the work I'd like to do on my DV59, such as drilling and facing disks in the 2-4" diameter range. Thickness of the disks varies from .1625 to .5"

They don't have closers, which I do see for sale on ebay sometimes. Now, I've never used a step chuck, but it seems that using one without a closer would be, umm, stupid. At least to hold a disk. Maybe it would be ok for tubing or bar that was secured by a tailstock center? Seems like the closer would still be a good idea.

Anyway, can the closer be made relatively easily, or is it a purchase sort of thing? I have a 4-jaw chuck for my Logan which can turn the larger diameters.

Also, any general comments on the usefulness of step chucks. I'd sure like to take advantage of some of the DV59 tooling and the ease of using 5Cs on work slightly larger than the 5C nominal sizes allow.

A search found this thread that mentions the dangers:http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...ght=step+chuck

I've used the step closers a lot, we eventually managed to gather the full range of normal depth and extra depth over the years. Some of the step chucks had/have the normal 5C taper on the outside and will work without the closer.... they are ok within certain limits... rpm, length of part hanging out vs. the amount clamped.

You will have better results with the tapered closer. These could be made, but you would have to make the tapered section that fits your spindle nose, figure out the pin placement and then turn the opposite side that meets up with the collet.... somehow I doubt you'd save any money over finding a used one on ebay... over Hardinge new prices, maybe.