Lathe chuck advice

[rleete]

I have a Homier Speedway lathe.  Made by Seig, it's pretty much the same 7x14 that Grizzly, HF and others sell.  It came with a 3" 3-jaw chuck, which I have been using and abusing for many years.  I recently took it off to mount my 5C chuck adapter plate and decided to open it up to clean out the years of accumulated debris.  It was thoroughly cleaned and lubricated when I got the lathe, but that was decades ago.  It was cleaner than expected, but there is noticable wear.

It hasn't been very smooth operating for quite a while now, and part of the reason is the slop between the bolts that hold the pinions in place and the pinions.  The scroll is also somewhat sloppy.  So, while I decide if I should make new bolts/pins, I'm also leaning towards just getting a new chuck.  I figure I might go for a 4" model, which will accommodate more of the parts I usually make without having to swap jaws.  This would also free up the old chuck to use on the mill if I needed.

LMS has their "standard" one (with adapter) for just under $150.  They have a "premium" one for $150, but the adapter is another 25 bucks.  Amazon and eBay have dozens of choices for 70 dollars and up.  While I'd like to give my business to LMS, their prices are a bit on the high side.  Grizzly prices are no better.

Any recommendations?  Any specific ones to avoid?

Edit: Is there any reason to go with a 5" over a 4"? I've read (way back when) that a 5" was too much mass for the motor to handle long term. Is that really an issue?

[Dr Stan]

A four inch should be about the biggest you should swing due to the mass issue you cited. You may want to take a look at Shars Tools. I've had good sucess with their products.

[EdK]

People use 5" chucks on these lathes all of the time. For hobby purposes I doubt it would be an issue. I wanted a 5" 4-jaw chuck but LMS didn't have any in stock and I needed a 4-jaw chuck for a project i was working so I got the 4". I also got a 4" 3-jaw chuck shortly after I bought the lathe. I had an issue with the 3-jaw chuck and LMS replaced it and paid to ship back the defective one. Good customer service. I assume Amazon would also allow returns.  

Ed

[rleete]

I have been told that the 5" won't clear the bed with larger pieces chucked as the jaws stick out too far. I've also found out (from cutting the 5C adapter plate) that you can't turn the outside surface without some strange setups of the tool post. So, I've decided against going to 5". The only things I would be turning that required a 5" would be large flywheels, and there are ways around that. I really wish I had a larger lathe, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

I discovered last night that I had already bought a 4" 4-jaw, complete with adapter plate. It was many years ago, sometime after I got the lathe. I had completely forgotten about it. It is still in the dragon fat grease! In the package were also 2 sets of mounting screws and nuts. All from LMS. The adapter plate is the same for all 4" chucks, so I'm all set there. I think I'll try one of the eBay 4" chucks, as they are significantly cheaper than LMS ($60 vs. $120) and appear to be the same thing.

Dr. Stan, I frequently buy from Shars. Lots of miscellaneous tooling over the years; I've probably spent more with them than anywhere else.

[Vinny]

(03-12-2023, 01:16 PM)rleete Wrote: I have been told that the 5" won't clear the bed with larger pieces chucked as the jaws stick out too far.  

You beat me to it. There was a lot of chatter on the 7x14 list/group a few years ago about going with a 5" and someone who had one chimed in with that same info.

[EdK]

There are other advantages to the 5" chuck. The center hole is larger so you can get larger parts into the chuck to reduce stick-out. May not be worth the extra cost if you don't need that advantage.  

Ed

[rleete]

New 4" 3-jaw is actually more accurate than the 5C collet chuck. Measured about 6" from the face of the collet, the 5C chuck is within .002 runout. Closer to .0015". Not great, but acceptable. I can get the end to run true, but then it is out at the collet just a smidge (technical term). Might be the cheap Shars collets, but whatever. Nothing I do requires any super precision.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the 3-jaw is within .001"!