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Chuck jaws

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macmarch	04/01/2011 11:36:37
147 forum posts 1 photos	Happy new year to all. Having determined that I cannot get a set of soft jaws for a chuck I want to know if the material used hardened and tempered through or case hardened. Either way can I heat and anneal them done to the point where I can machine the tops off and drill 2 holes in to clamp soft blocks onto them? ray
John Olsen	04/01/2011 19:06:54
1294 forum posts 108 photos 1 articles	I wonder if one of those drills that will go through a file would be able to tackle them? Then to remove the tops you could just grind the jaw. Or maybe you could grind off the top, and then just braze the soft piece on. This would probably spoil the temper of the jaw, but of course that does not matter, and it does not matter if it stays hard either. The other way that occurs to me for making holes in hard material would be spark erosion. regards John
macmarch	04/01/2011 19:21:10
147 forum posts 1 photos	Thank you John, I have a set of these drills that I use for drilling spanners. I'll give them a try. Do to the nature of what I will be using them for I need to be able to achieve a flat surface to clamp the 'soft' jaws to. I use external and internal jaws. The main problem will be to tap the holes! cheers Ray
Tony Pratt 1	04/01/2011 19:27:11
2319 forum posts 13 photos	Hi Ray, I should imagine they are mild steel case hardened purely on the cost involved in using a "better" type of steel but I stand to be corrected. If case hardened, a carbide drill should go through say 2mm deep into the soft steel and you will have no trouble tapping it, use a drill slightly larger than the thread O/D Tony
Ramon Wilson	04/01/2011 20:06:41
1655 forum posts 617 photos	Ray, I would think they are in all probability case hardened. Unless you need to keep them as they are at present could you get the 'nose' of the jaws ground down to the level of the next step. That way you could then drill and tap the core and have a longer surface upon which to mount the soft jaw. The big paradox is bring yourself to grind the jaws to find out. I would be interested as I'm sure others would in hearing how you get on - I have a 'new' used chuck bought his year with no soft jaws either Regards - Ramon
JasonB	04/01/2011 20:10:30
25215 forum posts 3105 photos 1 articles	I should think a lot will also depend on the quality of the chuck, its likely to be easier going with a cheap far eastern item than a quality Pratt Burned or similar. If its a big chuck you may be able to get away with counter boring your holes from the back for cap head screws and tapping the soft jaw blocks without loosing too much of the teeth. Possibly plunge cutting with a carbide endmill. Jason
Brian in OZ	04/01/2011 20:40:20
63 forum posts	Hello Ray, Just a thought, why “modify” a perfectly good set of jaws on/in your chuck, how about fabricate a set of “shoes” for the jaws out of the soft material, then just super glue them on or maybe use some Selastic to hold them on temporarily. When the job (requiring the soft jaws) is finished, take them off and stash away for next time, leaving your chuck jaws untouched. Brian (in sunny ?? OZ)
V8Eng	04/01/2011 20:45:28
1826 forum posts 1 photos	Issue 166 of MEW had a couple of articles on making / using soft jaws. Sorry this is short on detail, but I cannot get to my previous issues at present.
macmarch	04/01/2011 21:10:26
147 forum posts 1 photos	Wow, lots of ideas. Thank you all. The chuck in question is a brand new 5C 3 jaw. I will take one jaw to the grinder. If case hardened then I'll give a good blast with the oxy. Also just looked at Harold Halls article in MEW 146. I'm tempted to have a go and make a set or two. Has anyone done it? Whatever happens I'll post the results. cheers Ray
John Stevenson	05/01/2011 13:53:56
5068 forum posts 3 photos	Ray, Yes they will anneal. I have done quite a few sets PB, TOS etc and not come across one set that hasn't annealed. John S.
Gone Away	05/01/2011 14:24:30
829 forum posts 1 photos	What would be the simplest way to anneal them ... for someone without any sensible equipment. Could they be, for example, heated on the rings of an electric stove?
macmarch	05/01/2011 17:38:08
147 forum posts 1 photos	Well I've checked the jaws and they are indeed hard, in fact a deep grind at the back shows that they are H & T through. I must asume the spec is something like EN8 ,16 or 24T. The drills I have that will cope with spanners etc don't even look at them. Tomorrow morning I'll give them a good soak in the oxy and go from there. The article by Harold Hall makes very interesting reading. I don't need the jaws to have full form teeth. I will only be holding light section Aluminium discs so no great clamping power needed. Therefore even though I will anneal the jaws I will also make a set but use H & T silver steel pins as the teeth. Again thank you for all your help so far and I will put up pics of the final result. Sid, Apart from oxy any decent propane burner with a reasonably large burner will do the job. Just remember that the heat treatment will have been done in an oven. Heat to dull cherry, (its not the temp yopu require), and hold it there for a good 5 minutes, 10 would be better. Then bury the part in dry sand. You need to get the cooling to take as long as possible. Its all to do with grain recrystalisation. This is why when you have hardened silver steel and then proceed to temper, It as best to put the part in the oven. This will allow time for the grain structure to change correctly. Also there is no panic to dunk the part as the colours run. You can watch the parts change colour slowly. cheers Ray
Ramon Wilson	05/01/2011 19:05:11
1655 forum posts 617 photos	Ray, just an aside to that - one of the best heat retainers for stress relieving I've found is spent ash - sand is okay especially if heated first before putting the part in but ash will hold the temp longer You just need someone with a coal fire! All those loco owners? Regards - Ramon
macmarch	05/01/2011 20:07:54
147 forum posts 1 photos	Forgot about ash. Used to use it back when I was an apprentice. we had plentiful supplies from the old pot bellied stove in the workshop. ray
macmarch	07/01/2011 18:15:43
147 forum posts 1 photos	Success! Gave them a good going over with the oxy and buried them in preheated sand, (haven't got a coal fire) The bandsaw took the unwanted bits off. Drilled and tapped then fitted 1" x 2" x 1/2" steel 'soft' jaws. Job done. Just goes to show that you learn something everyday, 50 years in engineering and didn't realise that you can soften hard jaws. cheers Ray
Ramon Wilson	07/01/2011 18:54:58
1655 forum posts 617 photos	That 's great to hear Ray, soft jaws are so useful. Mine are on a second life using hexagonal additions but the new chuck will need something at sometime. It's also what makes this site so great too eh Regards - Ramon
	24/06/2014 19:24:05
1 forum posts	Nothing to do with modifying chuck jaws. Does any one know how to true a set of hard jaws. My three jaw chuck is slightly out of true on one jaw and seem to grip at the back before the front. I think I saw an articale on this subject in a model magazine some where but can not remember where.Pete

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