Magnet lathe chuck - Eclipse from UK- ?

Milacron · Feb 6, 2008

5 inch diameter Eclipse AX475C made in England...probably about 1980. Works ok but has a very strange shape to it's "on/off" screw internal hole...not a hex and not square...but rather a circle with one small flat ! Except the "flat" is not really a flat ..

There is a closeup in below eBay ad that shows the strange shape I'm talking about.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROUND-MAGNETIC-...522244QQihZ023QQcategoryZ104240QQcmdZViewItem

Any idea why they did this and where I can get a replacement key ?

Mark McGrath · Feb 6, 2008

Here maybe.
http://www.eclipse-magnetics.co.uk/product/workholding/premier-magnetic-chuck/premier-circular-chuck
I bought one of an Ebay shop here for less than $200 new.They don`t have any listed at the mom,ent but have had them on for a few years.Not eclipse though,probably far east.

SchneiderMachine · Feb 6, 2008

Milacron,
The ebay pic looks like a "D" shape with corner reliefs and it looks flat but the pics could be deceiving. Maybe yours is worn? Really wouldn't take much to make a new one if you can't find one.
Dave

aboard_epsilon · Feb 6, 2008

Are them things any good ?

Can you trust them . ?

What sort of weight will they hold ...?
What would you trust them with ?

I know a guy up here in north wales that has a dozen or so, brand new ones .,...think he wants about £100 each for them .

That's magnetic lathe chucks I'm talking about ...

All the best...markj

Milacron · Feb 6, 2008

aboard_epsilon said:
Are them things any good ?

Can you trust them . ?

What sort of weight will they hold ...?
What would you trust them with ?

All the best...markj

Dunno...never used one before. Seems plenty strong for it's intended purpose in this case...which is light face grinding on a Myford cylindrical grinder. I placed a 3 inch diameter, 1 inch thick gear on mine and I tried to remove it but couldn't budge it with magnet on.

Brian@VersaMil · Feb 6, 2008

Milacron- Maybe you could get TWO chuck keys when you figure out how and where. I have the same chuck that I received with my Jones and Shipman CNC cylindrical grinder. Same weird D shaped hole. Probably designed to kind of lock the key in place, but then easily removed. Funny you want the key right now. I've had my grinder for a year, and just two days ago, realized I didn't have a key.

Milacron · Feb 6, 2008

Brian@VersaMil said:
Shipman CNC cylindrical grinder. Same weird D shaped hole. Probably designed to kind of lock the key in place, but then easily removed. Funny you want the key right now. I've had my grinder for a year, and just two days ago, realized I didn't have a key.

Maybe it was designed that way to sell keys to all the folks that lost their key !

L Vanice · Feb 6, 2008

Here is mine. It is stamped "Eclipse Magnetic Lathe [not grinder] Chuck Made in England." The chuck body is 4.777 inch diameter by about 1.74 inch thick. The magnet is off when the flat is toward the word "off." I note that the chuck on eBay is not stamped with "Eclipse" or anything else, so it may be one of those Asian copies mentioned above. It has more magnetic segments and different guide grooves, also.

The key hole is a plain flat on a circle. I made my key to fit. The diameter is .235 and the diameter across to the flat side is .200. In other words, make a .235 inch bar and mill off .035 from one side. It takes very little torque to turn the control, so the key can be soft steel.

By the way, can anyone tell me what my arbor is for? The cone is a perfect fit in a 5C spindle, but the straight stem is 1.000 diameter with a 20 tpi thread and 3.5 inches long with no keyway.

Larry

Milacron · Feb 6, 2008

aboard_epsilon said:
I know a guy up here in north wales that has a dozen or so, brand new ones .,...think he wants about £100 each for them .

Nearly meaningless statement without stating what they are exactly and where they are made. $200 each for Eclipse round magnet chucks of any size would be a screamin deal, but for Chinese ones...just normal pricing for 5 inch size.

FWIW, a new Eclipse 5 inch magnetic chuck is $1,296 (i.e. about 650 BPS)

Milacron · Feb 6, 2008

L Vanice said:
The key hole is a plain flat on a circle. I made my key to fit. The diameter is .235 and the diameter across to the flat side is .200. In other words, make a .235 inch bar and mill off .035 from one side.

Larry

Interesting as the hole on mine appears just like the one on eBay...where the flat is not exactly "flat" In contrast, your flat is flat, in which case making a new key is a no brainer indeed.

Just got a quote on a new key from Newman Tools in Ontario... $62.55 ! :eek:

aboard_epsilon · Feb 6, 2008

Milacron said:
Nearly meaningless statement without stating what they are exactly and where they are made. $200 each for Eclipse round magnet chucks of any size would be a screamin deal, but for Chinese ones...just normal pricing for 5 inch size.

FWIW, a new Eclipse 5 inch magnetic chuck is $1,296 (i.e. about 650 BPS)

I'll look into it next time I'm there

cant ask him directly ...

he's a "right one "

if he knows you want something, its twice the price ..

so it's a case of asking him if he has any lathe chucks ...
and he says no ...but i got these ... (happened like that last time )

then you get the decent deal.

they were British made ...that's all I remember ....its two years ago .......but I'm sure he will still have them.

All the best.....mark

boslab · Feb 6, 2008

i have a 250mm aka 10" eclipse, it originated off a big cylynder grinder [churchill i think] got it set up with a new backplate ok, had some 6" dia 1/4 plate disks in the scrap bin so i thought i'd give it a go, got a nasty pinch mounting the plate when i pulled the pole lever, other than that things seemed ok, took a light cut, you guessed it all the bloody swarf stuck to the magnet, for a while then it attacked me, red chicken button time.
handy for the odd plate job but not my preferred weapon.
same prob on the milling machine, swarf sculptures.
regards
mark

Malc-Y · Feb 7, 2008

I have a 9" Eclipse chuck that I use to hold thin work pieces in my Colchester lathe. I paid £15 ($30) for it last year on eBay. The key that came with it is a crank type key and the end that fits in the chuck is circular with a half round key. It is quite badly worn and very awkward to use as it tends to tip sideways in use so I made a T shaped key that is much easier to use. I still havn't got a proper D1-6 back plate for this chuck and when I use it I just hold it in a 10" 6 jaw chuck. I can't find a supplier of D1-6 back plates that don't have a hole in the centre.

Malc

precision tools · Feb 14, 2008

This ia another Eclipse AX475 Lathe Magnetic chuck. It also has the flat D shaped key and hole. It also has a strange mount, a straight 1/2" shank threaded into the backplate, 5C length with a lump threaded 5C on the end.

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