Boxford chuck

Hi I am trying to buy a 4.5 in Chuck for my boxford lathe or a set of good jaws. Can anyone help.

I'd rate the chances of finding jaws as pretty low, and if the rest of the chuck is worn, then there's not much point.

Probably the best approach is to get a backplate that's pre-machined to fit the spindle nose, then machine it to fit a new chuck. It's not difficult, as I managed to do it successfully. Main benefit would be that you could spend as much or as little on the chuck as you want to.

Many suppliers are available, Arc Euro have some nice ones that are reportedly decent qualty (or fit for purpose, as SOD would say).

Rob

The 4.5" chuck is a rare bird, indeed, you would be best advised to look for a replacement, new or good used in 5" or 125mm. Unfortunately your backplate would also need replacing as the fixing holes would be too far outboard when fitting larger chucks. A 4" or 100mm chuck would fit the backplate with a little adjustment to the register diameter and a set of suitable holes or threaded holes put in the backplate spaced 60 degrees fron the old ones.

ARC will have 125mm chucks and may also have a Boxford backplate as well.

 Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Edited By old mart on 10/01/2022 20:56:50

Thank you for your reply’s.

I have ordered a 100mm Chuck from ARC and a friend of mine in a tool room is going to machine the back plate for me as his lathe is for more accurate then mine. Thank you for your replies

Hi Eddie, the back plate should be machined on the lathe that you are going to use it on, for the best trueness.

Regards Nick.

+1 on what Nick said.

Rob

I would agree with Nick except to say that if your friend can turn the thread, spindle OD register and end register on the backplate on his lathe you can then screw it onto your lathe spindle and turn the chuck register in place which is the only bit that benefits from being turned on the lathe it's to be used on.

Good point, Pete - I'd assumed (not a wise move) that Eddie would be getting a part-machined backplate from Arc or similar which would only require the chuck register to be turned.

Rob

I believe Boxfords were often fitted with a 4 ½" Taylor chuck, in which case, the jaws are easy to identify.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/taylor/page3.html

If so, well worth keeping and re-grinding the jaws if necessary, assuming the scroll is still in good nick.

Bill

Hi all. I intend to use the original back plate which is fitted to my old Chuck. The Chuck ran true on my lathe. The only part he will machine back is the register. I would have presumed if he clocks the register O/D and face and machined the 4mm off the O/D to suit the new Chuck measurements I would not be that far out. I quite understand what you all say, but my lathe is old and he is a far better turner than me. If I was to make a mistake in turning the register the Chuck would be miles out.

Ah, then no you won't get the same result doing it on his lathe as you will on yours regardless of how carefully he sets it up.

As for the register - well you have the front face and the shoulder register. I don't even use the inside register usually I just turn the face true, fit the chuck up and clock it in on the OD. If the time comes when I have no choice but to hold a part in the 3-jaw and that part has to be clocked in, I can loosen the chuck on the backplate and clock the part in then tighten it up, the only inconvenience being that I must re-set the body to run true again afterwards.

Put simply the job you're doing would be much better done on the lathe that it's working on. If you're nervous about doing it yourself why not ask yuor friend to pop round and do it, or eve ask here?

Pete

As P R says, machining the register on another lathe will mean that when fitted to your lathe, it is unlikely to be concentric. Which defeats the whole purpose of the register.

The face and register must be machined on then lathe on which the backplate and chuck are to be used.

A three jaw chuck on an accurate register will most probably not hold work concentric at any diameter, but there is no point in making matters worse by mounting the chuck in such a away as to introduce extra and inconsistent errors.

P R's advice to D I Y or get your friend to do the job on your lathe. is sound.

Howard