Anyone want to spread some chuck education

Facundus Cues

Facundus Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just picked up my enco 12-3? lathe and it has a 4 jaw independent chuck on it. I know it is not the rolls royce of equipment but I would like to buy a new chuck for it and I am a bang for the buck guy. I see a lot of pics with 6 jaws installed. Is there any advantage as far as accuracy goes or more just evenly spread clamping pressure to keep from marring the piece? I see a lot of these Chinese imports on ebay for $200 ish. I see a lot of name brands like shars that are also Chinese imports. What do y'all think
 
IMO a Set-Tru style 6 jaw is worth every penny and essentially more accurate as you can adjust it.
 
A 4 jaw will do you good, I have used a Chinese 4 jaw and since it's such a simple design (not a lot of moving parts) it's not a big deal imo who manufactured it. A 6 jaw on the other hand is a different story. You do not want a cheap 6 jaw. My enco came with a gator adjust-tru 6 jaw and I like the convenience. Go with a good quality 6 jaw and you'll be happy, and yes more surface area of the 6 jaw making contact with the stock and requires less torque is the benefit. Made for thin wall tubing.


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Independent 4 jaw chucks can be dialed in dead nuts and is why it's preferred by machinists. I can dial in my 6 jaw down to a tenth of a thou.....


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Don't be fooled into thinking a 4 jaw is either bad or inaccurate. It is however slower to use in most cases. 6 jaws a very good as well and some of them can be indicated in. You generally get what you pay for in machine tooling.
 
What I use scroll chucks for is convenience but if I want accuracy I use a collet chuck. I have two types, a Jacobs rubber flex collet type and Pratt Burnerd multi size collet chuck.
Both of these type chucks can be found used for a reasonable price.
 
Canadian cue said:
What I use scroll chucks for is convenience but if I want accuracy I use a collet chuck. I have two types, a Jacobs rubber flex collet type and Pratt Burnerd multi size collet chuck.
Both of these type chucks can be found used for a reasonable price.
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I'd love to find either one of those used with a d1-4 mount.

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str8eight said:
I'd love to find either one of those used with a d1-4 mount.

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Found one on Ebay once and lost out in the bidding. :rolleyes:

I have two Bison set tru 6-Jaw. One on a Eisen and one on a Clausing lathe.
One of the best scroll chucks there is imo. But, it is still a SCROLL chuck.

A 4-jaw ( independent ) would be good in installing joint screws or facing critical components before assembly.
 
I have a Bison set tru 6 jaw on my main lathe with less than .0001 run out. I also have a Shars Set Tru 6 jaw on a secondary lathe with .0002- .0003 run out. I love the Bison, Would not trade it. But is 2-3 times the money.
 
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