New lathe chucks?

[Ox]

I just got an e-mail that says that all new chucks - except Bison (Poland) are made in China now.

I only update my MSC catalogue every other yr - but the one that I am looking at has Prat Bernard as made in England, Rohm as made in Germany, and a Buck/Forkardt as made in USA.

Is the guy on the other end of this e-mail not with the program - or have these manufactures also went out of business since the printing of this book?

(I am looking for a chuck BTW)

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[Ralph_P]

If you got it on the internet, it has to be true.

 

[BigDel]

I work for Toolmex (Bison), I can assure you that is not true. There are still some chucks made here in the USA (some may have some off shore content). Plus the Czech Republic, Russia, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy....all over.

BigDel

 

[ztarum]

It's BS. I just bought a Rohm. Made in Germany. Top notch. Not cheap, but highly recommended.

 

[Ox]

I guess I should add the assumption that I mean scroll chucks, not power.... I know that there is a heck'uv'a power market out there yet.


Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[dennh]

Ditto Ztarum's comment. Bought a Rohm this past year, made in Germany and absolutely beautiful craftsmanship and performance.

Thank goodness not all countries are (fully) run by bean counters yet ! Den

 

[JRouche]

Are the Rohm lathe chucks comparable in quality to American chucks or are they more along the lines of nicer Asian stuff?

The reason I ask is because I bought a Rohm drill chuck thinking it would be similar in quality to an Albrecht.

I was wrong, the Rohm chuck did not perform as well as I was hoping and the fit/finish was on par with some Asian chucks.

I imagine just because it says made in Germany does not automatically make it top notch. Just as we (USA) have some real crap being made also.

JRouche

 

[GregSY]

You can buy an American made chuck from KMC in Michigan.

 

[Milacron]

I was wrong, the Rohm chuck did not perform as well as I was hoping and the fit/finish was on par with some Asian chucks.

I agree that many of the Rohm drill chucks are not hittin on much. But they have many differnent grades of drill chucks and perhaps you got one of those meant for portable drills. The Rohm lathe chucks are top notch, esp the forged steel body ones.

It is true that just because it's made in Germany doesn't mean it's great...Mercedes cars being a good example of that !

 

[Ox]

KMC?


Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[tnmgcarbide]

I agree that many of the Rohm drill chucks are not hittin on much. But they have many differnent grades of drill chucks and perhaps you got one of those meant for portable drills. The Rohm lathe chucks are top notch, esp the forged steel body ones."

exactly...

just as jacobs makes the multicrap 1/2" ($7.00)
and the ball bearing superchuck1/2" ($150)

those cheap rohm drill chucks are for oem on
hand drills and drill presses. they make nice
drill chucks, but they're....you guessed it ,
about $150

 

[Mike W]

Does anyone know the history of Cushman chucks? I have one that came with my Clausing.

 

[tnmgcarbide]

i have an older(1960's) , well worn 10" 3 jaw
that came on my sbl , 2 sets of 1 pc jaws...
good chuck, just worn out .

i recently bought
a n.o.s. 6" cushman , made in japan, from early
1990's ... an absolutely first rate chuck -
2 pc jaws... it will repeat within 0.0015 easily,
and is silky smooth...

i haven't heard much about cushman's later
manual chucks , just power chucks.

 

[Mike W]

The Cushman I have is an 8" with two piece jaws. It has a recessed round tag that says Cushman Chuck Division. It also has 1862 printed and 2w stamped. There is also the number 21 on the front of the body. I haven't taken it apart yet. It works very smooth. There is also a grease fitting recessed on the front.

 

[Dave A]

Ox asked about KMC chucks - My understanding is the initials stand for Kalamazoo Chuck. Buck used to be made in Kalamazoo, MI and it appears they closed the plant there. Local management of the company bought the plant and now makes chucks under the new name. Appears they offer about the same product line.

 

[metlmunchr]

Considering how long Cushman made chucks and how much of the market they had at one time, I've always wondered why they didn't figure out it would be a good idea to use serrated jaws when they started making power chucks. I've got a Cushman on one chucker, and it seems to work as reliably as the Kitagawas on the other lathes, but because of those damn jaws a Cushman will bring about as much money in the used market as a well used set of soft jaws.

 

[ztarum]

I can't comment on the Rohm drill chucks.

As far as lathe chucks go, I have a Buck-Forkardt Adjust-Tru in the same size and I think the Rohm is the better chuck of the two. Although the Buck weighs less and has less overhang, which is nice.

 

[C9]

I have an older Cushman 5" three jaw that works very well.
Came with a lathe I bought and it was so nice I kept it.

I have five Bison chucks purchased new.
3", 4" and two 6" three jaws along with an 8" four jaw scroll chuck.
For an amateur shop fwiw and they are very nice chucks for the money.

The 4" chuck was for my small 6 x 18" lathe
I originally bought what I thought was a nice 4" Chinese made chuck.
When I got it home and took a close look at it I found it operated roughly and the jaws were out of parallel about like you'd find on a 40 year old well worn chuck.
Took it back and ponied up the extra cash for a 4" Bison.

Incidentally, the 3" three jaw is set up for my 12 x 36" lathe.
It's really handy for some jobs.

It does look a little strange sitting on a 12" swing lathe, but it works for me....

 

[Norman Atkinson]

well Mr Thomas, Sir, you don't like Mercs, do you?

My wife and I owe our lives to a C250 diesel.
It seems odd that the local Professor of Rheumatology here saw my mangled wife after going down a 50 feet vertical rock wall, then somesaulting 5 times before ending up in the river at minus 10C. Oh, yes! He guessed that the car was either a Volvo or a Merc.

I did a thing called a City and Guilds in Motor Vehicle Restoration- double distinctions and that
Would it surprise you to learn that the headling of a Beemer is part of the structure? The BMW that day had dead occupants.

Today, we have another C270 CDI Estate and a 230 SLK Kompressor. We also have a Skoda Fabia and a Panda.

Could it be that we bought Friday afternoon cars- that actually worked?

Now my family have been in the car business since little Miss Mercedes was in her pram.

Maybe you have got outside of three standard deviations of the mean- or just bought a lemon.

Norman

 

[Norman Atkinson]

Maybe there is a continued problem with your Edit system- I have reported if before.

It was a head lining that I was referring to.
That's the soft bit of ****ty plastic above the windscreen.

Now I could give a lecture on the use of high strength low alloy steels in the construction of vehicle bodies- and demonstrate how to laser align- but like the headlining- it would be above most peoples heads.

Comment- I spend quite a time just south of Stuttgart. 90% of the street cleaners in Austria can't be wrong! I'm quite happy to agree.

Norman