drill chuck question

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ngeb528

ngeb528

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Deland, FL
Does anyone know whether they make a drill chuck for a lathe that uses a spindle instead of MT1 or MT2?
 
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She is looking for a Jacobs chuck that will thread on to the head stock of a lathe .
I take it you have a lathe without a MT bored head stock , like a couple of the HF ones ?

Just did a quick search for one but haven't found any thing , just Mt mounts and the like .
 
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If Butch is correct, then the answer is probably not. This question was asked recently and I don't remember exactly what the outcome was. I think maybe an adapter was purchased that would step the lathe spindle (assume you have a 3/4 x16 thread) down to 1/2 inch which is about the biggest chuck thread that it will be practical to purchase. Of course, adding an adapter into the poere train adds a little more inaccurfacy into the system so it is not an ideal solution.

Maybe the person who asked the original question will see this thread and have a better answer.

Jacobs makes a HD chuck that will thread onto a 3/4" lathe spindle; but it costs $171 and it may be real tough to find a clone in that size.
 
might it be (I have not looked) that shopsmith may have something? They don't have morse tapers, but threaded headstock
 
just a little tidbit. shopsmith does not have a threaded headstock. it has a 5/8" plain shaft. however recently there was a thread where a guy found an adapater for a sherline mini lathe that was a 3/4" x 16 tpi to 3/8" x 24 tpi that will hold many readily available drill chucks. and best of all it was less than $10.00.
 
Can you find a 3 or 4 jaw chuck that will fit the lathe? If you can then find an arbor for a Jacobs that has a straight shaft instead of the 1 or 2 MT. I have one, sorry no idea as to where I got it, besides I have had it for years. Then you can put the straight shaft in the 3 or 4 jaw chuck and use the Jacobs like it was in the MT.
 
The problem is, my hubby's lathe (from HF) has a 5/8 x 11 spindle. He wants to help me turn pens so we bought an adapter and a threaded pen mandrel.

The base of the mandrel (the part that holds the mandrel bar) isn't drilled center or straight so when he turns a pen, it ends up out of round.

I thought, if we could find a drill chuck that would fit on the spindle (or adapter) he could just chuck up the mandrel bar and be good to go.

That was the idea anyway. We're purchasing another mandrel to see if it's any better. They're only 17.50 on sale at PSI so we'll see how that one works.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
I have several that I have accumulated for the 3/4 by 16 thread headstock (1/2 inch 5/8 inch and 3/4 inch). I have a couple with a 3/8 by 34 thread and one with 1/2 by 20 thread. oh and the 5/8 smooth shank for mounting on a motor shaft or Shopsmith. There are a few others but not many. Other uses require adaptors which tend to add to the runout already pretty large on most low cost drill chucks.

The runout is the reason that collets have been used in lathes for the last 150 years or so -- as in WW collets in watchmakers lathes.

So -- what is the application and how sloppy a runout can you tolerate??
 
5/8 by 11 is a NC bolt size as I remember. Good luck -- if nothing else works, a machinest can cut a 5/8 by 11 interior thread on on end of a piece of steel and cut a 1/4 by 28 interior thread on the other with clean faces for the headstock and the bushings.
 
ngeb528 said:
The problem is, my hubby's lathe (from HF) has a 5/8 x 11 spindle. He wants to help me turn pens so we bought an adapter and a threaded pen mandrel.

The base of the mandrel (the part that holds the mandrel bar) isn't drilled center or straight so when he turns a pen, it ends up out of round.

I thought, if we could find a drill chuck that would fit on the spindle (or adapter) he could just chuck up the mandrel bar and be good to go.

That was the idea anyway. We're purchasing another mandrel to see if it's any better. They're only 17.50 on sale at PSI so we'll see how that one works.

Thanks for the suggestions.
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This is starting to be a nightmare. I think it would help if you provided us with some more details.

1. Model nuber of the lathe.

2. Threading on both ends of the adapter and who you got it from.

Exactly which PSI mandrel you purchased.

As Ken pointed out, as you add adapters and the like to the tool string, you add to the runout problem. How do you know that the PSI mandrel is is the problem? It is possible that the adapter is not accurately machined and it may be causing the problem.

Another difficulty you may run into is the tailstock. You probably do not have a 60° live center on the tailstock and if not, the stock live center will not fit the centering pocket in the end of the mandrel and that will degrade the lathe's ability to produce accurate turnings.

There are some lathes that are just not adapted to turning pens. You can force them to work; but you never get a really good setup and the result is never more than mediocre. And frequently, you spend a lot of money that would be better invested in a lathe that is better suited to turning pens.

Everyone here will do their best to find a solution to your particular circumstances; but a little more information would be really helpful.
 
Went ahead and purchased a new mandrel from Woodturningz and it's a lot better than the old one.

Hubby checked it with the dial indicator and it's within 7 thousandth's so he should be good to start turning pens.

Thanks for everyone's help.
 
Nancy , you are using a 60 degree live center ? I hope . If your not that .007" will get worse as the end of the mandrel starts to dance around the point . Oh and as for that .007" , Thats allot !!! , more then enough to give you an OOR condition . Run out should be less the .005 and thats on the outer edge of acceptable . I've replaced mandrels and arbors for as little as .002 to stop OOR conditions . Food for thought .
Just a thought but how about drilling the spindle and threading it to take the mandrel directly . All it would take is a drill bit and a tap with your mandrel thread size . I've never heard of it being done but I can't see why it couldn't be done , some one please correct me if I'm wrong .
 
Butch -- drilling is not a precision operation on a metal lathe. That is why boring bars were invented. On a wood lathe, it is less precise as a rule because the tolerances on the tail stock are not as well controlled.

really sharp tools and light cuts will help avoid oval pens -- but it is hard to be sure where the runout is at -- could be the bearings on a light duty lathe.
 
Nancy are you sure about the thread being 5/8 x11 tpi ?? both of their small lathes show 3/4 16 or morse #1 the real cheap 14 x 40 is a 3/4 x 10 tpi it should be easy to find a drill chuck with a # 1 taper. perhaps this charming fellow could help you http://www.penturnersproducts.com/ Johnnycnc is a great guy to deal with, and a member here for a long time.
 
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bitshird said:
Nancy are you sure about the thread being 5/8 x11 tpi ?? both of their small lathes show 3/4 16 or morse #1 the real cheap 14 x 40 is a 3/4 x 10 tpi it should be easy to find a drill chuck with a # 1 taper. perhaps this charming fellow could help you http://www.penturnersproducts.com/ Johnnycnc is a great guy to deal with, and a member here for a long time.
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I talked to John already. Paul (LOML) says the tail stock is too "sloppy" to try and turn between centers. There's too much side to side movement to get a good lineup.

Paul's lathe was an $89 sale at HF. I measured the the drive spindle and it's 5/8" and there were 11 threads (I think, at this point I'm not sure of anything).

He decided to try making his own base for the mandrel bar and was able to get his variance down to .002 total around out. He's got the base set in his dead center and, since he doesn't use it for anything, he's going to fiberglass the wood base to the dead center so the base can't turn separate from the dead center.

I don't even know if I'm making any sense anymore. If my husband becomes anything but a lurker around here, he can explain it himself (yes, he's watching me type this :tongue:).

We'll see how it goes.
 
ngeb528 said:
I talked to John already. Paul (LOML) says the tail stock is too "sloppy" to try and turn between centers. There's too much side to side movement to get a good lineup......
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Seems to me that if the tailstock is that loose, you will have no better luck getting accurate turnings with a mandrel set-up than you will with a mandrel-less setup.

Can't really say for sure what lathe you have without a model number; but, typically, lathes that sell in that price range are just "NOT" suited to doing a good job of crafting pens. It really sounds to me like you are trying to turn a Kia into an Indy race car and it just won't work!!

Sorry to be so negative; but I hate to see you waste your time and money on a tool that is totally unsuited to the intended purpose.
 
There are other reasons for out-of-round pens. You might benefit from a search on that subject and the solutions. Otherwise, good luck.
 
Is this what you are talking about?? Had to make my own, fits in my 4 jaw, works like a charm.
 

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