07-28-2015, 11:26 AM
Yes, exactly. Although I was thinking more of two-piece chuck jaw which have bolt-on jaw faces -- these can be replaced with bare aluminum blocks which can be turned to suit your needs. However, I ** really** like how the soft jaws in the link work with one-piece chuck jaws: that's a very clean solution.
Wong, your description of 4 bolts sounds ideal - when I had a Seig 7x14 mini-lathe, I upgraded from a 3" to a 5" chuck. The chucks were held on with 3 six mm studs and nuts. I made a 1/2" thick aluminum plate about 1" larger in diameter than the body of the un-used 3" chuck, and milled pockets into the back of the aluminum plate to conceal the chuck-mounting nuts so the plate would lay flat on the mill table. This plate doesn't need to be aluminum, of course. I used it extensively to move parts between my lathe and mill without de-chucking the parts, and it was especially handy when using the rotary table.
I sold the mini lathe last year, and the 3" chuck and base plate went with it.
I may actually have to buy myself another 3" chuck - I have, on occasion, chucked the small 3-jaw inside the large 4-jaw on my new-to-me 16x40, dialed it in, and found that it could be made to run extremely true, like a collet, only a a lot easier to install and operate
Wong, your description of 4 bolts sounds ideal - when I had a Seig 7x14 mini-lathe, I upgraded from a 3" to a 5" chuck. The chucks were held on with 3 six mm studs and nuts. I made a 1/2" thick aluminum plate about 1" larger in diameter than the body of the un-used 3" chuck, and milled pockets into the back of the aluminum plate to conceal the chuck-mounting nuts so the plate would lay flat on the mill table. This plate doesn't need to be aluminum, of course. I used it extensively to move parts between my lathe and mill without de-chucking the parts, and it was especially handy when using the rotary table.
I sold the mini lathe last year, and the 3" chuck and base plate went with it.
I may actually have to buy myself another 3" chuck - I have, on occasion, chucked the small 3-jaw inside the large 4-jaw on my new-to-me 16x40, dialed it in, and found that it could be made to run extremely true, like a collet, only a a lot easier to install and operate