pipemakersforum.com

Nice jaws, Steve! And the turret chuck is just way cool!

keilwerth wrote:Steve, are those jaws welded to factory ones very low / close to the chuck, or are they manufactured as a complete, solid jaw (including the part that slides inside the chuck body) ?

They are modified on the original jaws. Basically the original jaws have a stepped side, so I turned them around (as if you were clamping something big) and had pieces machined to fit the notches, then welded and gridded, etc. It's about as durable as I can come up with. Then again, I drill out hundreds of blocks a month, so durability is key. To imagine the thousands of blocks I made work on a drill press.....

A nice sturdy set of jaws and a turret surely is the business if you have to drill a lot of kits like Steve does. For me it wouldn't work so well since each pipe is so different, doesn't stop me from wanting one though

One tip for those that would like to have some of the versatility of a turret but also the extra flexibility is to mount the most commonly used drill bits/cutters etc onto their own arbour or into their own dedicated chuck. This is what I have done so when doing the mortise work I just pop out one arbour and put in the next, the bit is setup with a collar if required and I know it is secure and accurately mounted ready to go. Really does speed things up. Does require some thought and investment but a few months spent looking at ebay for cheap auctions helps with that.

I'm no expert on bearings...but I do know a bit about doing out of balance pieces. Heat is the number one enemy of most bearings. I've been turning monster chunks for years...haven't killed a set yet from that.

BLC wrote:I'm no expert on bearings...but I do know a bit about doing out of balance pieces. Heat is the number one enemy of most bearings. I've been turning monster chunks for years...haven't killed a set yet from that.

Is that the ball of fat from the London sewers? I thought it was bigger.

good lord man!!! that is a big ass bowl

Yep...yes it is...I'll let you know if I ever get it done.

You must smoke a lot to build an ashtray that big.Trent Rudat built my chuck and jaws and I feel safe with doing the crazy things I do with them, They are heavy and run true. BLC , You have a set of brass.