Experience with Import 6 Jaws?

[Destroyer125]

I am in the market for a 6" 6-jaw chuck for my lathe. I was wondering if anyone has experience with the grizzly or shars tru-set chucks that are knock-offs to the Bison and Buck chucks. I can't seem to find many reviews from others online for these.

 

[Mcues]

Chucks

If install correctly they'll do the job.

Mario

 

[scdiveteam]

Hi,

I have a 6 jaw Gibralter I bought from Enco and I love it. I got it running true to .0002 TRO.

Check out Enco on line.

Rick

 

[pescadoman]

Hi,

I have a 6 jaw Gibralter I bought from Enco and I love it. I got it running true to .0002 TRO.

Check out Enco on line.

Rick

Good lord! I would hope you were able to dial it in. You could find a nice used Bison for that price I think. I found a new one for 600 and bought a new backplate for 200.00

 

[scdiveteam]

Good lord! I would hope you were able to dial it in. You could find a nice used Bison for that price I think. I found a new one for 600 and bought a new backplate for 200.00

Randy,

.0002 TRO is just fine for me. When I do my pins I can tap the high jaw a touch and read zero no problem.

Not making Jesus Pins for helicopters, just cues. LOL

Rick

 

[JoeyInCali]

Randy,

.0002 TRO is just fine for me. When I do my pins I can tap the high jaw a touch and read zero no problem.

Not making Jesus Pins for helicopters, just cues. LOL

Rick

2 tenths is plenty good enough.


I can't believe how much the prices of Bison chucks have gone up.

 

[conetip]

To be fair they do not adjust in the same way as the adjustable chucks I have used, and the ones I have.
Mine have a tapered pin that does the radial adjustment, where as the Shars and Grizzly just have the 4 setscrews.
Often theses chucks are fine for the diameter they are set for, but when another diameter work piece is held it is no longer centred.
Neither of the Grizzly or the Shars regular chucks have very good repeatability, and I would assume the same would be for their adjustable chucks. Shars site says .003" but does not state TIR
Very good hardened bodied chucks are repeatable to 0.01mm TIR or .0002", or even better if they are not strained in their use.
Depending on what you are doing, they may well be more than adequate for the tasks at hand.
I have made a home made version, It was a very good self centering 4 jaw chuck, mounted to a face plate that was skimed in place. The screws securing the chuck had regular washers and under the screw head I used a pair of bell washers. There was 4 blocks on the face plate perimeter and 4 setscrews to do the radial adjustment.
Looking back, I should have just made a ring up and mounted that on the face plate.

 

[scdiveteam]

To be fair they do not adjust in the same way as the adjustable chucks I have used, and the ones I have.
Mine have a tapered pin that does the radial adjustment, where as the Shars and Grizzly just have the 4 setscrews.
Often theses chucks are fine for the diameter they are set for, but when another diameter work piece is held it is no longer centred.
Neither of the Grizzly or the Shars regular chucks have very good repeatability, and I would assume the same would be for their adjustable chucks. Shars site says .003" but does not state TIR
Very good hardened bodied chucks are repeatable to 0.01mm TIR or .0002", or even better if they are not strained in their use.
Depending on what you are doing, they may well be more than adequate for the tasks at hand.
I have made a home made version, It was a very good self centering 4 jaw chuck, mounted to a face plate that was skimed in place. The screws securing the chuck had regular washers and under the screw head I used a pair of bell washers. There was 4 blocks on the face plate perimeter and 4 setscrews to do the radial adjustment.
Looking back, I should have just made a ring up and mounted that on the face plate.

Neil,

My jaws are hardened and I forgot to mention that.

If I had soft jaws I could have bored them to zero run out.

I recently dialed in my Gibralter Buck Chuck in and .0002 was as good as I could get it.

I am not going to worry about .0002 TRO. Also I measured that run out on a billet I measured 4" off the face of the jaws. So I am happy!

Bisons are very good but for the extra 700.00 I am glad I went with the one I have.

So to the OP's question, Bisons are very good but do you really need one for building cues?

JMO,

Rick

 

[pescadoman]

Neil,

My jaws are hardened and I forgot to mention that.

If I had soft jaws I could have bored them to zero run out.

I recently dialed in my Gibralter Buck Chuck in and .0002 was as good as I could get it.

I am not going to worry about .0002 TRO. Also I measured that run out on a billet I measured 4" off the face of the jaws. So I am happy!

Bisons are very good but for the extra 700.00 I am glad I went with the one I have.

So to the OP's question, Bisons are very good but do you really need one for building cues?

JMO,

Rick

If you want a Bison 6 jaw and a backplate for about 25.00(not 700.00) more than a Gibralter.. have a look here.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-1-4-6-Jaw-Set-Tru-Chuck/T10420

No brainer for me...

 

[scdiveteam]

If you want a Bison 6 jaw and a backplate for about 25.00(not 700.00) more than a Gibralter.. have a look here.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-1-4-6-Jaw-Set-Tru-Chuck/T10420

No brainer for me...

Thanks Randy,

Things have surly changed since I bought and installed my six jaw.

The difference in price was off the wall 7 years ago.

It seems the Gibralter Import is now over 800.00 and the Bison is much cheaper now.

http://www.use-enco.com/1/1/87724-g...ersible-top-jaws-adjustable-lathe-chucks.html

I am in the process of buying a brand new lathe at the moment and you are right, the Bison is a no brainier.

When I bought my Gabralter as my memory serves me it was about 450.00.

Rick

 

[pescadoman]

Thanks Randy,

Things have surly changed since I bought and installed my six jaw.

The difference in price was off the wall 7 years ago.

It seems the Gibralter Import is now over 800.00 and the Bison is much cheaper now.

http://www.use-enco.com/1/1/87724-g...ersible-top-jaws-adjustable-lathe-chucks.html

I am in the process of buying a brand new lathe at the moment and you are right, the Bison is a no brainier.

When I bought my Gabralter as my memory serves me it was about 450.00.

Rick

I see. I'm glad yours worked out for you. When I was looking for my first chuck I couldn't find ANYTHING about 6 jaw chucks made in China and I KNEW a high end cuemaker who had a Bison. I also read many things by machinists who had high opinions of Bison. Buck now apparently has their chucks made in Taiwan now.

 

[scdiveteam]

I see. I'm glad yours worked out for you. When I was looking for my first chuck I couldn't find ANYTHING about 6 jaw chucks made in China and I KNEW a high end cuemaker who had a Bison. I also read many things by machinists who had high opinions of Bison. Buck now apparently has their chucks made in Taiwan now.

Go figure!

 

[iusedtoberich]

Check eBay and enco. I bought a 6 jaw 6" set-tru new import with 2 piece jaws for I think about $250. It looked nice, but I was never able to mount it. (My import lathe has some bastard variant of a D1-4 spindle mounting, that made it impossible to find a backplate to fit, it was not a chuck issue)