I need a chuck for my AC 12x24 and the only chuck I see on ebay that I
can afford has NO jaws. Am I a fool to think I can make jaws for a
jawless 3-jaw chuck?

What i was thinking, I could mill & lap & polish 3 blanks to fit into
the jaw grooves, and put them in upside down so the toothless teeth side
is sticking out. Then I could jam/lock them in place staggered by shims
and cut the teeth (round, not spiral) in the lathe. Most likely there
would not be room to fit conventional stepped jaws upside down, but I
could just make 2-piece jaws where I bolt the stepped part on.

Is this possible? How are jaws made originally? Is there any hope of
finding jaws to fit a jawless chuck? Any help appreciated.

--
Free men own guns, slaves don't
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5357/

Nick Hull wrote:
I need a chuck for my AC 12x24 and the only chuck I see on ebay that
I
can afford has NO jaws. Am I a fool to think I can make jaws for a
jawless 3-jaw chuck?

What i was thinking, I could mill & lap & polish 3 blanks to fit into

the jaw grooves, and put them in upside down so the toothless teeth
side
is sticking out. Then I could jam/lock them in place staggered by
shims
and cut the teeth (round, not spiral) in the lathe. Most likely
there
would not be room to fit conventional stepped jaws upside down, but I

could just make 2-piece jaws where I bolt the stepped part on.

Is this possible? How are jaws made originally? Is there any hope
of
finding jaws to fit a jawless chuck? Any help appreciated.

--
Free men own guns, slaves don't
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5357/

Yes, I think it is possible to make a set of jaws, but I wonder how
much time and effort it would take. And, what about heat treating them
and doing the final grinding? If you live in some far away place
(Africa?) maybe this makes sense. Otherwise, you can buy a 3 jaw 6"
chuck like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=3862064 064
(I own one of them and it is far, far better than anything I could hope
to make) for less than you can probably buy jaws for a jawless chuck.
Of course if the chuck you are talking about is some expensive chuck in
good condition maybe buying a set of jaws from the manufacturer is
worth the price. MSC lists a set of 3 outside jaws for a Buck 6" chuck
for only $249.24.

"Nick Hull" wrote in message
...
I need a chuck for my AC 12x24 and the only chuck I see on ebay that I
can afford has NO jaws. Am I a fool to think I can make jaws for a
jawless 3-jaw chuck?

What i was thinking, I could mill & lap & polish 3 blanks to fit into
the jaw grooves, and put them in upside down so the toothless teeth side
is sticking out. Then I could jam/lock them in place staggered by shims
and cut the teeth (round, not spiral) in the lathe. Most likely there
would not be room to fit conventional stepped jaws upside down, but I
could just make 2-piece jaws where I bolt the stepped part on.

Is this possible? How are jaws made originally? Is there any hope of
finding jaws to fit a jawless chuck? Any help appreciated.

--
Free men own guns, slaves don't
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5357/

A chuck without jaws has another name. Scrap metal.

Assuming you were successful in making new jaws, you'd be in them so damned
much time and money a new chuck would look like a bargain.

Yes, it can be done, but should it be done?

Harold

Assuming you were successful in making new jaws, you'd be in them so
damned
much time and money a new chuck would look like a bargain.

Yes, it can be done, but should it be done?


FWIW, I made soft jaws for two of my chucks. Using a CNC mill its not a bad
job. Measure three spots on each side of one tooth, fit a circle to the
points, then write a program to cut one tooth, index, and do it again. The
program runs forever, but do something else in the meantime. My time must
not be worth as much as Harold's, I thought it was a nice little project.

Karl

In article .net,
Karl Townsend wrote:

Assuming you were successful in making new jaws, you'd be in them so
damned
much time and money a new chuck would look like a bargain.

Yes, it can be done, but should it be done?


FWIW, I made soft jaws for two of my chucks. Using a CNC mill its not a bad
job. Measure three spots on each side of one tooth, fit a circle to the
points, then write a program to cut one tooth, index, and do it again. The
program runs forever, but do something else in the meantime. My time must
not be worth as much as Harold's, I thought it was a nice little project.

CNC makes the difference.

Trying to do it on a purely manual machine is more difficult.

I *think* that original way they were made was on an index head
geared to the X-axis on a milling machine. Probably then hardened and
lapped to a spiral threaded plate made on the same setup, just as the
scroll plate was made.

Obviously, the curvature of the teeth needs to be a compromise.
Each one has to be curved at least as much as the innermost thread which
it needs to encounter, which means that it is not as strong in the outer
positions, where it only makes contact in the center of the curve.
Still, it is stronger than the reversable jaws which I have seen on some
small chucks, where the teeth look like:

() () () () ()

instead of:

)) )) )) )) ))

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

In article . com,
wrote:

Yes, I think it is possible to make a set of jaws, but I wonder how
much time and effort it would take. And, what about heat treating them
and doing the final grinding? If you live in some far away place
(Africa?) maybe this makes sense. Otherwise, you can buy a 3 jaw 6"
chuck like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=3862064 064
(I own one of them and it is far, far better than anything I could hope
to make) for less than you can probably buy jaws for a jawless chuck.
Of course if the chuck you are talking about is some expensive chuck in
good condition maybe buying a set of jaws from the manufacturer is
worth the price. MSC lists a set of 3 outside jaws for a Buck 6" chuck
for only $249.24.


Best suggestion yet, I just ordered that chuck. It's in my price range
and nothing like a testimonial from an owner. I guess my real problem
was a bad ebay search, not all lathe chucks come up under "lathe chuck".

--
Free men own guns, slaves don't
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5357/

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
link.net...

Assuming you were successful in making new jaws, you'd be in them so
damned
much time and money a new chuck would look like a bargain.

Yes, it can be done, but should it be done?


FWIW, I made soft jaws for two of my chucks. Using a CNC mill its not a
bad
job. Measure three spots on each side of one tooth, fit a circle to the
points, then write a program to cut one tooth, index, and do it again. The
program runs forever, but do something else in the meantime. My time must
not be worth as much as Harold's, I thought it was a nice little project.

Karl

Chuckle!

My time isn't worth much these days, Karl, considering I'm retired, but I
can see all to clearly how difficult it would be to make jaws for a chuck
without a CNC. As DoN suggests, it makes a huge difference. By the time
you've made all the individual cuts manually, you'd have so much time in the
jaws that a new chuck would look like a bargain, even if you figured your
time at 10¢/ hour.

Do you have any pics of your soft jaws you'd like to share with us?

Harold

Do you have any pics of your soft jaws you'd like to share with us?

Harold

Alas, I'm stuck in the sunny Florida Keys, 2000 miles from the shop. Can't
take a pic right now VBG

There's a picture of it being machined in the drop box under my files
showing how to build a non fogging mister. For some reason, on this SUPER
SLOOOOW MODEM CONNECTION, I could get to the text but not the photo.


http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...Fog_Mister.txt

Zero_Fog_Mister.JPG

Karl

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
k.net...
Do you have any pics of your soft jaws you'd like to share with us?

Harold

Alas, I'm stuck in the sunny Florida Keys, 2000 miles from the shop. Can't
take a pic right now VBG

Man, life's a bitch, ain't it?


There's a picture of it being machined in the drop box under my files
showing how to build a non fogging mister. For some reason, on this SUPER
SLOOOOW MODEM CONNECTION, I could get to the text but not the photo.



http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...Fog_Mister.txt

Zero_Fog_Mister.JPG

Karl

Thanks, Karl. It worked for me, so I got the general idea, although I'd
love to see the teeth better if you can drag yourself away from the sunshine
some day.

I'm quite impressed with the fog mister. I used to run a spraymist, but I
hated the way it made everything sticky, including the spindle on my
Bridgeport. If I ever get finished with my house building project, I
wouldn't mind building one of those suckers. Very nice!

Thanks for sharing~

Harold