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In need of a new chuck fast!

Simmssg

Plastic
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
Hey all I’m sure this info is here some where but I can’t find it.... I need a need 3 jaw chuck for my 1935 9c,
I am a watchmaker but when it comes to vintage American lathes I am a noob.... I’d like to stay under $300 but I can spend more if I have to.
It needs to be new I don’t have time to referb.

And if it’s on amazon all the better!!!Thanks for your help!!!
 
Some more info would help. What type of mount? Assuming threaded but size and pitch? What size 3 jaw? Do you want the quality of a $300 chuck or is that your Mac and you’d prefer something cheaper and Chinese?
 
Hey all I’m sure this info is here some where but I can’t find it.... I need a need 3 jaw chuck for my 1935 9c,
I am a watchmaker but when it comes to vintage American lathes I am a noob.... I’d like to stay under $300 but I can spend more if I have to.
It needs to be new I don’t have time to referb.

And if it’s on amazon all the better!!!Thanks for your help!!!

3-Jaws need to be "right" or are even more worthless than usual. I have owed exactly ONE, nearly 60 years, and that only by accident. It was on a lathe when I bought it.

Suggest you cut the budget on OTHER things and get a REALLY WELL MADE 3-Jaw.

As to "value for money", I like ToS Svitavy. Most things as good or better cost more. Usually a LOT more! ToS make very good manual chucks. MSC is not the only distributor.

Most of the old-line top-end makers that still survive (Rohm, Schunk...) have ceased or deprecated making manuals and moved-over to the larger market and greater revenue of POWER operated chucks for CNC spindles. Other firms failed at that and are simply "gone". That's why GOOD manual chucks are harder to find than they once were.

If you cannot tolerate a delay, go cheap and consider it a backup or temporary to trade-away or such. The Chinese San Ou is about as low cost that still works OK, at least when NEW. Try "Sanou K11-XXX" where "xxx" is the body diameter in millimeters.
MANY sources carry those, some with delivery in 2 or 3 days or so.
 
what is your spindle? 1 3/8" or 1 1/2" ???.......dont recall the exact date when they switched from the smaller thread nose to the 1.5"x8 tpi but yours is right in the area date wise it could go either way.
 
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Is there some particular reason you NEED a 3-jaw chuck? For the same money, you can get a better quality 4-jaw chuck which is actually more versatile than a 3-jaw and gives you the ability to accurately center the workpiece instead of just accepting the .002 - .003 inch runout usually found on even fairly expensive 3-jaw chucks.
 
Is there some particular reason you NEED a 3-jaw chuck? For the same money, you can get a better quality 4-jaw chuck which is actually more versatile than a 3-jaw and gives you the ability to accurately center the workpiece instead of just accepting the .002 - .003 inch runout usually found on even fairly expensive 3-jaw chucks.


Thanks a bunch for all the great info! Honestly I have no need for tight tolerances. I’m using this to make custom parts for furniture, doors, some times just removing some threads from a bolt and I’ll be working with brass and aluminum... and if I really need tight tolerances I’ll turn between centers I have a chuck for that, for collets, or my watchmaker lathe (that’s my day job) so I appreciate the concern for tolerances but it’s just not that important at least at the moment.

Also I’m like 90% sure it’s a 1/2 -8

Lastly I’ll run down some of the suggestions above, but I noticed in some of my research that many chucks come without backing plates. Is there a good source for those as well?

And for conversation sake What are you suggestions for 4 jaw
 
Well, if you want to kill two birds with one stone... it’s likely you can find a skinner 4 jaw with a backplate on eBay. Skinner made the chucks for south bend back in the day and most you see will already be set up for threaded spindles. Just depends on if you can find the right thread in decent condition. Other than that I think grizzly and some eBay sellers sell back plates. You’ll need to install the plate on your spindle and take it to final dimensions.
 
Well, if you want to kill two birds with one stone... it’s likely you can find a skinner 4 jaw with a backplate on eBay. Skinner made the chucks for south bend back in the day and most you see will already be set up for threaded spindles. Just depends on if you can find the right thread in decent condition. Other than that I think grizzly and some eBay sellers sell back plates. You’ll need to install the plate on your spindle and take it to final dimensions.

IIRC, Skinner & Union supplied many, Horton a few as well. Cushmans were a higher-cost option, and eventually owned Skinner and Horton, too. I could be wrong, all I know is what was marked on the few used chucks I had before I gave it up as to buying used.

The deal with used chucks, "popular" and high-head-count lathes, is... so many years have passed since those were made, brand-new, that your own Brother PM members and similar craftsmen have policed-up all the BEST ones and KEPT them for their own use. Few are for sale until one among us punches his last time-card, and then it is a "mystery" origin or condition item in an Estate sale.

That leaves the dross in the market, and not much else.

Buy NEW or NOS if possible. Used ones are priced too close to new to make them worth any real risk..
 
I can't speak to 3-jaws, but I bought a Sanou 6 in. (150mm) 4-jaw for my SB Heavy 10L. It is a nicely made chuck. The only detail that required attention was the fit of the jaws in their slots, which was consistently quite snug. So snug that it required 2 hands on the chuck wrench to move them. Several hours of lapping on a flat plate with fine wet-or-dry paper made the fit perfect. Would have taken half an hour on a surface grinder, if I had one.
 
I can't speak to 3-jaws, but I bought a Sanou 6 in. (150mm) 4-jaw for my SB Heavy 10L. It is a nicely made chuck. The only detail that required attention was the fit of the jaws in their slots, which was consistently quite snug. So snug that it required 2 hands on the chuck wrench to move them. Several hours of lapping on a flat plate with fine wet-or-dry paper made the fit perfect. Would have taken half an hour on a surface grinder, if I had one.

I mought be tempted to propose MARRIAGE to a 4-J so tight it needed a heavy hand or a spritz of HHS-K. Much nicer when the load rolls in. Longer life to 'em.

"Loose" seems to just grow. Ever you figure out how to tighten one up, shout it out!

My smaller San Ou were OK, but not so well-blessed.

:)
 
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