pipemakersforum.com

caskwith wrote:We're doing pipe making here, we don't need super fancy chucks. Chinese or Indian made are perfectly good enough for the work we do. I have some really nice chucks, proper British made stuff, they are not much more accurate than the new Chinese made stuff. A 3 jaw isn't a precision tool no matter who makes it, that's why I use collets, and Chinese made ones, they have repeatable runout of 0.02mm or less.

I guess we are getting off subject but what the hell.

I agree, except that I do other things with my lathe besides whittling wood. I have a Beall collet chuck with a good range of ER32 collets. Threads right on my Logan and I can use it on my Delta midi with an adapter. Only way to fly. There are times I'll use the three jaw if my stock is between collet sizes or too big.

As a woodturner for 50 plus years I can say that wood lathes are not and never have been precision lathes like their counterpart metal lathes. It hasn't been that long ago that the manufacturers started making chucks for wood lathes. The first chucks for wood lathes were metal lathe chucks, they were trash, designed to hold steel that didn't shift or crush under the pressure of the jaws. Even today the chucks for the wood lathes are being made "sloppy" and I would guess probably will always be "sloppy" as far as tolerances.

If you are looking for the precision of a metal lathe, you will need to up your budget, as in double it or more just to buy a bottom end metal lathe. The top end will be a disaster to anyone's budget.

caskwith wrote:We're doing pipe making here, we don't need super fancy chucks. Chinese or Indian made are perfectly good enough for the work we do. I have some really nice chucks, proper British made stuff, they are not much more accurate than the new Chinese made stuff. A 3 jaw isn't a precision tool no matter who makes it, that's why I use collets, and Chinese made ones, they have repeatable runout of 0.02mm or less.

You're right about all the above. However, my particular bitch is not about precision, but about usability. Can't use a chuck that won't hold the block due to slop. I'm at the moment playing with shims to tide me over and get the jaws to close parallel. I just wonder if the oneway et al have the same problem and Trent Rudat has to do heroics on the milling machine to get them to close parallel. If so, I might just as well try to modify my grizzly.

caskwith wrote:With a suitable back plate you can put any chuck on any lathe (within reason).
I use a 100mm 4jaw self centre chuck as the basis for my pipemaking chuck, they cost about £125 with backplate. You could modify the existing jaws or buy extras which I did. Trent Rudat made the custom jaws for me as it was easier than doing it myself and the quality is superb.

Didn't have a back plate for mine and figuring the expense for one that would fit my spindle and the price of a chuck I went for a chuck that fit my spindle instead.
And I'm glad I did, I think it makes much easier changing chucks and doesn't add length to it which I don't have to spare on this lathe.

oklahoma red wrote:

caskwith wrote:We're doing pipe making here, we don't need super fancy chucks. Chinese or Indian made are perfectly good enough for the work we do. I have some really nice chucks, proper British made stuff, they are not much more accurate than the new Chinese made stuff. A 3 jaw isn't a precision tool no matter who makes it, that's why I use collets, and Chinese made ones, they have repeatable runout of 0.02mm or less.

I guess we are getting off subject but what the hell.

I agree, except that I do other things with my lathe besides whittling wood. I have a Beall collet chuck with a good range of ER32 collets. Threads right on my Logan and I can use it on my Delta midi with an adapter. Only way to fly. There are times I'll use the three jaw if my stock is between collet sizes or too big.

Get a full set of collets, you will use them all eventually. I have a complete set of ER40 that goes from (i think) 3mm up to 30mm. I think I have probably used every size for something by now.

I should add, I am not meaning to cause any offence or start any arguments here. I just want new pipe makers (since that is the purpose of this forum) to know that there is nothing wrong with cheap tools, and you do not always need to buy super precision or high quality equipment to make good pipes. What you need is tools that are fit for the purpose you intend to use them for. An example below:

Cheap files work great for normal woodworkers and occasional metal workers. Cheap files are useless for pipe makers, you need well made high quality files to get the fit and finish we need.
Cheap chucks are useless for machinists who need a high level of precision and repeat-ability for their work, cheap chucks can be great for pipe makers where these things are not such a concern.

Well, temporarily solved the problem with a kludge. Packed aluminum shims under rear of jaws and forced them inward the right amount. Works acceptably until I feal like milling a channel in the bottom of the jaws. Ugly, but it works for now. Did quite bit of turning here without a calamity.

And ten years from now it'll still look exactly like that and you'll say "Why was I bothered about this?"

Sasquatch wrote:And ten years from now it'll still look exactly like that and you'll say "Why was I bothered about this?"

You're probably right Sas, but the machinist in me hates the look of "field expedient repairs", as we used to say in the military. After I make a couple more pipes, I'll fix it, I think.

My Nova Chuck also had a bit of play like that. My machinist friend just made a slot into each jaw, so that they sit closer to the body of the chuck.
The Nova will eventually wear out its scroll ring, resulting in the jaws opening more until eventually it will have to be replaced. That doesn't mean that pipemakers cannot use it, though. It's a cheap solution and my first Nova lasted about 6 years, if I remember right.

Yep Charl, that's the right way to fix it. I plan to do that as soon as I get a roundtuit

Slowroll,
You have a workable fix, go with it.
My only concern now is those two meat slicers on the chuck. They have set off my Risk Assessment alarm, and I would do some trimming.
DocAitch