Was left a as new 4 jaw chuck on the door step from a chap up the road ,opened up the box with joy then now comes the dilemma its a TZU Sheng 4 jaw chuck with a 3/4 x 16tpi thread that have now found out is for a wood lathe ,now do l move it on or make an adapter an use it on the myford for light work its a very nice thin chuck and do not think over hang an weight would be a problem and being a 6" chuck would be useful at times ,will se what you experts think even for light duty.

john

What sort of jaws does it have?

Wood lathes usually grip the work by moving outwards, where chucks for metal work move inwards to grip, and are reversible.

If suitable for metalworking, could you bore out the backplate and machine the thread and register for the Myford?

Howard.

Morning howard , the jaws are reversible but you have to have a gap at the back as the jaws have nuts as well as well sa go in and out with the key so no back plate as sort ,a dummy spindle coming off a back plate would be needed then it could be mounted to a myford plate ,hope that makes sence

john

It may have a 3/4" X 16 but what type of jaws does it have. Yes older woodturning lathes used this thread up until recently where many lathes are now a 33mm thread. Have you a picture of the chuck

Howard woodturning chucks hold both in compression and expansion and many have various jaw designs which can be interchanged. The most common and safest is by compression as many tend to make the mistake of over tightening when used in expansion with some dangerous pieces of wood flying around when the lathe starts to turn and a tool applied. If in doubt about this I have been woodturning for 12years. Some of my work can be seen here

Right machine mart sell the same looking chuck for there range of wood lathes so you can se the jaws ,am not that great with the computor to put up a picture,hope this helps

If it's for woodturning, it's almost certainly going to be a self centring 4 jaw chuck.

Is it the one described as Clarke 4 Jaw Chuck for CWL1000b & CWL1000cf if so it is not suitable for holding wood. Why they keep advertising them as such is beyond me unless you want to hold metal in a wood lathe. Many woodturners would not class it as a woodturning chuck. You may be better converting it for a metal working lathe.

Never had a self centering 4 Jaw. Have always used an independent, and clocked. In that way can be sure of how much eccentricity, (acceptable or required ) is present.

Do 4 Jaw SC produce the same sort of eccentricities as 3 jaw SC chucks? I would be surprised if they didn't.

Anyone like to confirm / deny?

Howard

Hi derek yes thats the chuck,so think will take your advice and indeed convert to fit the myford for the odd use .

john

Hi Howard,

I have two 4 jaw 160mm TOS chucks - one S/C and one independent.

Good quality chucks so no real issue for the centring of the S/C one. But I don’t particularly like it for anything unless perfectly round or square bar. If ‘out-of-round’ it will only clamp on one pair of jaws properly. So I still retain my 3 jaw chucks.

The only square item I chuck in it is my Stevenson’s collet block.

Hello Howard,

I have a 5 inch 4 jaw self centreing chuck, Pratt made and it is a joy to use. I would class it as the best in my workshop. I found it on the Home and Workshop stand years ago at Harrogate. Second hand I know but hardly used and so badly fitted to it's backplate it must have been a real disappointment.

On a trustworthy section of ground thick walled tube it is good to a TIR of 1 mm at 12 inches from the jaws.

Regards Brian

Thanks Brian

Another bit of useful info.

Being a Pratt, it would be good.

Howard

Well looking at it now , it should be a simple job to fit a myford backplate ,just a section between the chuck an backplate so a good register can be turned can then hold it in place with a 3/4" unf stud with a bit of loctite as the register keeps it true,well thats my thinking.

john

I would sell it and put the proceeds towards a chuck more suited to your lathe. ARC have a range and backplates for Myford.

As a rule old mart l would do that ,l do have a small 4 jaw chuck for the myford,but as l was given this one plus l have a couple myford backplates just gathering dust for a bit of turning and being a bit bigger thought it would be handy for the odd job.

john

Some of the wood lathe type chucks have changable top jaws which bolt on. If yours is this type, then you could make a set, or sets of custom jaws for it. Having a backplate ready to modify for it does make a difference.

Very good thinking old mart,yes indeed it would be worth while ,plus it also becomes a small face plate,how comes a little turning job always turns in to yet another project ?

john

Hi John Brown 17, I have one of those that I used to use on my fathers RandA lathe and it will hold metal. I bought it from Home & Workshop Machinery at one of the exhibitions many years ago for a fairly cheap price, but I had to bore it out and put a thread to suit the lathe. Quite useful for doing short tube with a large diameter, but wouldn't recommend it for big heavy lumps of any great length. Keep meaning to make an adapter plate so I can fit it to my mini lathe. I have also got a similar one without any jaws and was thinking of making a face plate with that.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 24/01/2021 16:57:17

Thanks Nick good info ,yes would not use it for heavy or long work if l ever did then would use a centre with it but would think twice before l did , so thanks

john

Update on chuck ,fitted it to the myford back pate ,and very pleased should be very handy for light work ,squared off some 75mm x 73mm thick walled box section and was great,another string for the myford use plus its cheaper to run than the big southbend so thanks nick for your idea.

john