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Most common chuck

mwill135

Aluminum
Joined
Apr 26, 2020
I was curious, which 3 jaw chuck was the most common? Please post what brand chuck you use and if you feel like it give a thumbs up or down. Thanks!!!!
 
You'd sort of have to say which lathe. My 10L had a South Bend branded chuck on it when I got it but it was worn and couldn't center anything better than .005 - .007 inches. My 1936 9" Workshop never had a 3-jaw chuck. My 1936 9 Jr came with an unbranded 3-jaw chuck--also worn out. I think you'll find that many 60 and 70 year old lathes don't have their original chucks any longer.
 
Drill chuck. Jacobs drill chuck a big thumbs up !

Only type as has any excuse for having only THREE jaws, as well!

:D

As to the OP's question?

Cost ruled. Cushman at the top of the food chain, USA, Taylor & Pratt-Burnerd, UK, but Union, Skinner, and Horton moving more unit volume of SB-grade goods off the back of lower costs.

Buck and Kalamazoo were MUCH later. Cushman having already absorbed - IIRC both Skinner and Horton?

Problem for "all of the above"? All-too-often a 3 or 4 jaw chuck is bought but ONE, mebbe TWO, for the entire service life of a given ALL MANUAL lathe.

Not like buying motorcars. More like buying a place to park them. Done once, it can last for more than one human generation.

You need a STREAM of revenue, a replacement market and/or a financially viable rebuild & spare jaws & parts biz? GO BIG. Go "oilfield."

Otherwise?

Yer into power-actuated chucks, and run at full gallop, multiple shifts a day on "revenue" CNC spindles.

NOW yah can honestly wear them out. Not just f**k-'em up out of sloth and ignorance.

Even then, CNC is demanding. Often TOO demanding for legacy design chucks AT ALL. Besides "conventional" or legacy collet systems?

See Ortlieb. Because their web page is an eye-opener, if nothing else.

Workpiece clamping

They have competition. Man, do they EVER have competition!

CNC is "where the money is", after all.

All-manual now has to suck hind-teat. Too small a market. Abandoned to too few players. And then they specialize and house-brand each other to fill holes in their line like libertines at a Kalifornicyah SSR "Wesson-Oil" party.

FWIW, the Ortleib "Quadro" is interesting for flexibility:

QUADRO(R) Dead Length Collet Chucks

Steel spring collets, Rubberflex, DOUBLE Rubberflex, same body?

"3-jaw?" WTF? "round stuff" is already covered. ODD shapes are sucked-up by fixture-top power 2-jaws.

Annnnnd some Apprentices were good enough with the 4-jaw the grown-ups use to not be forced to use the silly training-wheel 3-Jaw thingies at all!
 
If we're talking DRILL CHUCKS then a thing to treasure is an older Jacobs HD ball bearing chuck. The newer ones are not up to the quality of the stuff you could get 10-15 years ago. For a while you could get an SPI ball bearing chuck that was at least as good as the Jacobs but then Jacobs bought the company and they stopped selling SPI drill chucks. Sad....
 
Probably Skinner, Buck, and Cushman were the most popular chucks on South Bends as delivered. Mine came with a very nice Burnerd chuck but I'm not sure that its original to the machine. I already had a very nice Jacobs 16N Ball Bearing Superchuck from 1968 IIRC, on a 2MT Jacobs shank.
 
If we're talking DRILL CHUCKS then a thing to treasure is an older Jacobs HD ball bearing chuck. The newer ones are not up to the quality of the stuff you could get 10-15 years ago. For a while you could get an SPI ball bearing chuck that was at least as good as the Jacobs but then Jacobs bought the company and they stopped selling SPI drill chucks. Sad....

"Treasure"? Might as well have saved yer first girl friend's underpants.

Brand-new Barcelona-built LLambrich is easily the equal of an old Jacobs.

Brand-new San Ou "packaged" "CME" Chinese built 3/16" - 3/4" knock-off of a LLambrich "hybrid" I have here is "usable enough". Until I replace it with a LLambrich..

Nothing especially "sacred" about an ignorant drill chuck to begin with.

These buggers get tore-up.

They are "consumables" designed for wide-range convenience at the expense of barely adequate grip and centering compared to a bespoke collet.
 
I have a Heavy 10 / 10L.

This is what I use:

6" Bison with 2 Pc. Jaws.

On 5C stems: 4" Buck adjust true, 4" Union with 2 Pc. jaws, and an orig. Sherline 3".

Drill chucks, all older Jacobs:
0 on 3/8" straight shank for the small stuff.

All on #2 MT:
1 BM Stainless
8 1/2 N
11N
1/2" Multicraft (old style)
36B
16N
20N

This is a 40+ year collection in very good shape.
There is plenty of choices if I am lining up 3 to 5 tools for whatever batch of parts I am making.
I started with what I could afford and upgraded as I came across a nice chuck at a good price.

Bill
 








 
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