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Best 3-jaw chuck for old Logan lathe?

Graydon

Plastic
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Location
Fenton, MI
Hi Guys,

I bought a 1952 Logan model 950-2 lathe this week (11" swing) It is pretty good but it only has a 4-jaw chuck. I have been looking at Ebay and I see lots of 3-jaw chucks that appear to have the correct 2.25"-8 spindle mount. I suppose too, I could buy a chuck with a flange mount and use a backing plate.

What would be the best chuck to buy for this lathe?

Thanks.

Graydon Stuckey
Fenton, MI
 
I'd suggest a chuck with two-piece jaws. That way you can get spare soft jaws and bore them for near perfect concentricity -- useful when you need high accuracy in repeat turning and also useful for some special chucking situations. Bison makes one that is fairly high quality at a decent price.

While some chucks have an integral thread for your lathe, most will have a bolt-on back plate. There's some advantage to have the bolt-on back plate type -- you can always move it to another lathe with another back plate. However, you'll need to factor in the cost of buying a seperate chuck and backplate.
 
My vote is for Bison too, if they have one for your machine. I've had a few and haven't had any problems. It's middle ranged price wise and well worth it. Enco runs sales on them sometimes. They also have free shipping from time to time.
 
Thanks guys. I'll check out the Bison chucks.

There is a Rohm chuck nearby. Is that a good quality chuck? How about Buck? I've heard that name recently as well.
 
Thr Rohm on ebay is likely mine as I'm in Waterford Mi.
I also have two Buck 6 Jaw adjust tru chucks here, a Pratt & Bernard, and a Buck 3 jaw adjust tru.
I have three Aloris CXA posts and about 25 CXA tool blocks, Two BXA posts and about 5 BXA tool blocks, A brand new Phase II AXA with 5 blocks, about 3 or 4 lantern style tool posts and about 30 tool holders of various sizes for the lantern posts (though I mount them in the QC blocks some times.) I have lots of HSS blanks. I have carbide tool holders here too. I have many MT#2 and MT#3 live centers, Jacobs drill chucks, etc. I have quite a lot of precision measuring and setup tooling (mics, calipers etc.) that I don't really need. To be honest I have zero back plates in 2 1/4 x 8tpi. This means that although I have plenty of exceptional lathe chucks here, none of them will bolt on to your Logan without adding a back plate.
Since your only a few minutes away, if you need any tooling send me an email.
Save me from ebaying most of it.

Thanks,
Eddie

[email protected]
 
Graydon,

Something else I have here in abundance are DC motors and motor controllers. I have some 1HP Pacific Scientific and two new Baldor 2HP DC motors for sure. I think I have two or three other 1-2 HP DC motors but I couldn't tell you what they are at the moment.
These ate all real nice to add true variable speed without having to change belts and such.

Eddie
 
Darn, I was hoping someone would post it.... nobody did...

"Ain't nuthin wrong with a 4 jaw..... use it and get used to it. No sense buyin one of them fancy-pants 3 jaws made fer namby-pambies thet can't center anythin when y' can do anythin you want with a 4 jaw, just as fast, an better.
When y' can center anythin up in 15 seconds, then maybe y' can get yerself a 3 jaw and hev fun lookin at it sittin on t' shelf, cuz y' will hev lost yer need fer it."

;)
 
I would imagine you're probably thinking about an 8" chuck, but keep in mind that one will weight around 40 lbs. When I got my lathe it came with a nice Buck 8" TruAdjust type chuck, but I like to also use collets alot, and the switchover with that heavy chuck was wearing me out. I bought a 5" Bison chuck, which is much easier to switch over, and I only muscle out the 8" chuck when I need its big size, saving a lot of wear and tear on my aging body. A 6" chuck would be a good compromise if you can only afford one.

The Bison chucks are pretty good, but I definitely wouldn't go any cheaper than that. Old Buck chucks can be good if they're not worn out, definitely stay away from anything new or used from China or India, unless you're really tight on $, in which case get the best chinese chuck you can find but still stay away from anything from India. Bison chucks are often on sale at www.use-enco.com but Bob at http://www.brassandtool.com/ will match their prices and will give you good pre-sales advice and post-sales service, give him a shot and say Paul sent 'ya.

Paul T.
 
J,

I would agree that a four jaw can do it all, but I, for one, like having a three jaw also. I use the four jaw where centering is a prime concern and the three jaw when it is not. If I have a rough piece of stock and none of the original surfaces will remain on the finished part or if the remaining surfaces do not matter, then the three jaw is a time saver. Specially if you are making a bunch of parts instead of just one. Frankly I see nothing wrong with using both 3 and 4 jaws.

As for the Tru-Adjust, I made my own backplate with that feature for my new three jaw and I am even thinking of making one for my four jaw. Why for a four jaw? Simple, it has finer threads on the adjustment screws and allows easier and faster final centering.

Call me a namby-pambie if you want, but I believe in using the best, most suitable tool for the job.

On the chucks, I have a Bison 6" with two piece jaws and I love it. I also purchased a Grizzly brand four jaw for my rotary table and found it to be of surprisingly good quality. If the Bucks and Rohms are better, they must be really good.

Paul A.
 
Another vote for the Bison. Came with the 2.25x8 mount for my SB and had less than .001 runout out of the box. I think that I got lucky with it, but it seems like a well made chuck.
 
I recently bought a 12'' 4 jaw from Grizzly. My mistake. None of the six studs could be threaded into the body without cleaning up the male threads and then using considerable force. Fifteen years ago Grizzly sold me an 8'' Taiwanese 4 jaw that was as nice as a 6'' 3 jaw Bison I bought around the same time. Every surface that had been machined on the 12'' had a burr. It took me more than a hour with a Dremel to make it usable. Bisons are a safe bet.
 
Hey J Ttiers,

I can appreciate what you're saying. I've seen how a 4-jaw can be more accurate but I also have done a ton of work on a 3-jaw chuck and as long as I paid attention to the limits of a 3-jaw chuck, I was able to make some good parts. I'm not building a space shuttle here. :D

Eddie, we need to talk. I emailed you.

Thanks all for your replies, thoughts and advice. I really do appreciate it alot.
 
I would agree that a four jaw can do it all, but I, for one, like having a three jaw also. I use the four jaw where centering is a prime concern and the three jaw when it is not.
Oh, jah, sure, I agrees wit dot...... mit spades....

I've got one good 4 jaw, plus one defunct 4 jaw, and I think 6 or so 3 jaw chucks of various quality and vintage, including my favorite little 4" Buck Adjust-tru.

I happily use the 3 jaws for all sorts of general stuff. If I have a piece too nasty to put in a decent chuck, I get out a "beater".

I was just waiting for the inevitable comment, and figured I'd put in a "not-quite-a-quote" for fun.....
 
I know this is a thread from the dead, but my question is the same and wondered what the latest guidance is. I have a 1946 Logan 200 and I need a new 3-Jaw chuck and wondered what the best value. It's really hard to pay more for the chuck than I did for the whole lathe (paid $600, Bison cheapest I see almost $900). Any specific non-Chinese recommendations in between? What ToS chuck would be the 5" 1 1/2 X 8 TPI replacement for my Union U-435 5"? Thanks for counsel.
 








 
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