On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:01:31 -0800 (PST), Jim Wilkins
wrote:

On Dec 20, 7:21*pm, wrote:
On Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:41:32 -0500, "Wild_Bill"

If you ask a fellow 9x20-er if his pieces chatter the answer is never.
Under any circumstances!

My South Bend certainly chatters if the surface speed is too high.
Then I slap it into back gear and watch the work slowly revolve like a
cement mixer.

I thought that's what the big handle was for. Admittedly coordinating
the left hand cranking the spindle and the right hand turning the
cross-feed is a bit tricky.

But then a 4-jaw independent would defeat the purpose of the pie jaws.

Maybe not. You could turn the outside smooth and indicate on it. When
I need to temporarily remove the work I loosen the jaws on either side
of the label and then tighten only them to put it back. Usually a cut
less than 0.005" deep removes metal all the way around.

If one is going to go through the hassle of getting a new chuck it may
as well be one that is the least hassle in use.

[cut & paste]
To be fair the guys who preferred their 5" chucks liked them better
for general work, pie jaws were not discussed. Surely there must be
some difference between the chuck that is thrown in with the machine
and something you spend $$$s on?
What I was thinking is "that'll be the day".. when I buy a $500 chuck to put
on a ($600 when bought) Chinese lathe.

I really do like that $500 Bison Set-Tru, though. You could think of
one as the first installment on a larger lathe.

And the larger lathe the first installment on a bigger house...

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC