4 inch 4 jaw chuck

[dallen]

friend of mine gave me a 4 inch four jaw chuck for my 9 inch lathe, and since I don't have a backing plate I figured that I would cast one out of some cast iron, or bearing bronze which I happen to have a bunch of.

So I started a pattern yesterday by cutting up some oak and gluing it together so I could make it round today.

heres the pattern in its first stages.

   

[doubleboost]

Bronze would look prity
Easier to melt as well
John

[dallen]

been thinking along the Bronze line, I don't have any trouble melting Cast Iron, just not real interested in the mess it makes on the lathe. Anyway depends on how I feel when its time to melt some metal.

DA

[doubleboost]

At least with bronze you will not get any hard bits
I am paying £6 a kilo for scrap bearing bronze

[dallen]

the iron that I've melted all machined nicely with no problems thats not to say that the next batch won't be a bear.

I have to scrounge my bronze and don't have a lot but I have enough of one type to do this with, and besides who else in the neighborhood is going to have a bronze backing plate on their lathe besides me.

[doubleboost]

I would go for the bronze
John

[stevec]

C'mon John, go for the gold. Ooops, am I not on the olympic site?

[dallen]

pattern with a couple coats of rattle can paint and the just added wax fillet, co a couple more coats of paint and I should be ready to pour tomorrow afternoon for sure Tuesday morning but may wait till Wenesday when my coffee drinking buddy shows up.

   

[dallen]

have the pattern ready to mold up and pour but the winds blowing about 30 MPH so no metal casting today.

[dallen]

poured the backing plate today, whats funny is the metal went in the furnace yellow as gold and came out of the mold looking a lot like copper and the stuff I used was all the same color and not a bit of copper in it. Anyway heres the photo