Nearly pristine old Skinner 6" 4 jaw chuck

In another post I mentioned I discovered the 6" Skinner 4 jaw chuck that came with my 1948 SB 9A was cracked.

I had been looking for a replacement, and recently got lucky (I think) and bought a nearly pristine duplicate of that chuck from a guy on eBay. He advertised it as "New." It wasn't new by eBay's definition, but very nearly so. I found many small chips embedded in grease under the jaws, so I presume it had been used at least once.



I was astonished when I received it to see not one speck of rust! The chuck was apparently in its original box, which was in pretty rough condition. I asked the seller if it had been wrapped in oil paper and/or cosmoline when he got it, but he said it was as I received it when he bought it at a flea market.

I have read the last digits of a Skinner number indicate the chuck size, but I don't know what the two digits after the hyphen represent. If they are the year of manufacture, 1952, then I'm doubly amazed at the chuck's condition! Does anyone know if -52 does indicate the year of manufacture?

Like the other 4 jaw chuck, I had to burnish the threads on this one to get it to fit on my spindle. This seems to be unusual, because I haven't read of anyone else having to do it. As you may be able to see, this backplate is stamped with an older South Bend logo, so I'm confident it was intended for a SB lathe.

Is this an unusual find, or are old chucks in like new condition frequently available?

Thanks,

Jon

I have the same chuck except in 10". Some moron tightened the jaws on the last 1/2" of threads on the jaw and stripped them on mine so don't extend then too far on yours.

Hey, I have a 6" Skinner, model 4006-52 and I need a new screw for one jaw.

You interested in selling your cracked one?

Steve

SteveM said:

Hey, I have a 6" Skinner, model 4006-52 and I need a new screw for one jaw.

You interested in selling your cracked one?

Steve

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Good idea, you are the reason I opened this thread

Like the other 4 jaw chuck, I had to burnish the threads on this one to get it to fit on my spindle. This seems to be unusual, because I haven't read of anyone else having to do it

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Perhaps a shop-made spindle? It wouldn't be hard to modify the threads, since it's the spindle of a thread-cutting lathe. I wouldn't do it under power, until I was convinced I had all the adjustments exactly as needed, and even then, since all you are removing is a slight amount of metal, turning the spindle by hand would still be my first choice.

SteveM said:

Hey, I have a 6" Skinner, model 4006-52 and I need a new screw for one jaw.

You interested in selling your cracked one?

Steve

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I could use a screw also. I have a 4006-60 with a worn one(only one)
Ted

thermite said:

Nope.

Did the first two for our HS Shop, somewhere around 1960-61. Both lathes were still practically 'virgins', a SB 10" 'toolroom' and a lesser Logan, same spindle thread. Among their first tasks was fitting another set of backplates to add additional chucks.

They shipped with the backplate threads a tad tight in case the target lathe was a tad worn. VERY little work to clear that if it was not (as above), and it was the safer choice.

Bill

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thermite

My understanding is the Southbend and Logan spindal nose are not identical. A South bend made backplate will fit tight on a Logan. I've had only one opertunity to confirm that, but so far, true.

Yan Wo,

Nice Skinner 4-jaw. I have two. Even when old and beat up they are still better than some of the new stuff.

These chucks must get dropped all the time. I too have a 6" skinner with a crack in the outside rim. It's from a '78 10K, that I bought a few years ago. It's original equipment, shown on the SB invoice that came with the lathe. It limits me to the lowest non-back gear speed, since I'm too nervous to run it any faster...

Does anyone have any feedback on reasonably priced alternatives for replacing the skinner? My skinner weighs 12 pounds. The alternatives from other sources seem to be extremely heavy for a light lathe like this. Enco's Interstate is 33 pounds according to the catalog. Shars must be selling the same chuck design, as it is 33 lbs as well. Wholesale tool sells a couple of plain backs at 20 and 23 lbs, but you are back into that >30 lb range with a back plate. MSC sells the backplates for more than the chucks, and are again in the same weight range.



P.S. Saw this briefly on MSC's web site: "Metalworking Mania: Save up to 40% off MSC's Metalworking product offering on orders over $249. ENTER CODE: MWMANIA40H"

SteveM said:

I have a 6" Skinner, model 4006-52 and I need a new screw for one jaw.Steve

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SBLatheman said:

I could use a screw also. I have a 4006-60 with a worn one(only one)Ted

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Steve and Ted, PM your address and I'll send a screw to you.

thermite said:

They shipped with the backplate threads a tad tight in case the target lathe was a tad worn. Bill

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Thanks for the explanation, Bill.

Jon

Yan Wo said:

Steve and Ted, PM your address and I'll send a screw to you.

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PM sent.

Thanks!

Steve

"Is this an unusual find, or are old chucks in like new condition frequently available?"

It's a four jaw chuck. Most hobby machinists don't know what to do with one of those!

Hey, the chuck is back in operation.

The new screw is the clean one at 12:00 :-)

Thanks!

Steve

I received my screw today, too.
Thanks, Jon. You are a scholar and a gentleman, and there aren't many of us left
Ted