Mini Lathe

[Poolhalljunkie]

Any body know where I can get a set of soft jaws for a harbor freight model 33684 I want to use them for shaft maintenance the rigid set i have easily mars the shaft and a collet throws off contricity, or ist it possible to drill the set that I have to conform them to a shaft? New to this.

 

[Cue Crazy]

Any body know where I can get a set of soft jaws for a harbor freight model 33684 I want to use them for shaft maintenance the rigid set i have easily mars the shaft and a collet throws off contricity, or ist it possible to drill the set that I have to conform them to a shaft? New to this.

I quit using collets for some operations, and use a piece of leather instead. It's just easier & faster for me to dial in that way. I do have soft jaws though, so may not work for you. My other lathe probably has jaws like yours but I use It for metal mostly anyway, so has'nt been a problem. Not sure off the top of My head where to get the soft jaws for your lathe, but sure someone here can help.
You could make collet on your lathe, and bore them to center, but if anything is off in the lathe headstock, you will probably need to be sure the collet is in the jaws at the same posititon everytime you use it. Maybe someone else has more insight on that then I also. wish I could be of more help. Good Luck


Greg

 

[rhncue]

Any body know where I can get a set of soft jaws for a harbor freight model 33684 I want to use them for shaft maintenance the rigid set i have easily mars the shaft and a collet throws off contricity, or ist it possible to drill the set that I have to conform them to a shaft? New to this.

Hard jaws or soft jaws makes no differencce as you will still mark your shafts and finished butts. You can make a large set of small Delrin collets up using a boring bar in no time at all. If these do not run true then you have serious problems with your lathes chuck. All of my tip end shaft collets are approx. a half-inch in length and thick enough not to distort when gripped in the chuck. The joint end are about .750ths in length and the back of the butt are about 1 inch.
What the problem is on chucks is that their jaws are straight for about three inches but your shaft is tapered. When closing the chuck on a shaft it is not grabbed at the front by the ferrule but at the other end of the chuck leaving a mark there and also letting the front 3 inches or so of the shaft floating in air. By using the short ferrule you are clamping onto the shaft right at the front of the chuck so that even if the shaft is warped it will run fairly true.
Dick