Need some help with lathe options

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matt112981

matt112981

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
31
Location
sarasota , fl
Hi, I have a lathe with a 3/8-24tpi solid, no hole spindle shaft that has a jacobs drill chuck on the headstock because that is all that will fit on it as far as I know. What can I turn with just a drill chuck besides pens? Are there any jaws or collets that will fit onto this size spindle? Will a pin chuck fit into the jacobs chuck? Kinda lost as to what I can turn.
Thanks for any help you can give me.

BTW I can put a 60 degree live center on the tailstock
 
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Other than a 1/2 jacobs chuck I dont know of any. There is a huge difference in tolerances between chucks. Even within brands. Check out the Jacobs web site. You can find .004 repeatability. I bought mine off ebay for $9.00 and shipping, you just have to research the models. IF you check Ebay I believe there are collet holders/sets that use a straight shaft you may have to shorten it to fit in your lathe set up. You are pretty much limited to what you can stuff in your drill chuck but you might be able to find adapters from 3/8-24 to 3/4-16 etc. That will give you a few more options. The shaft size is also going to limit how much force you can safely put on the cutter/work. YOu could easily bend that small shaft diameter. You will need to go slow and use light cuts. Sherline and Taig make 3 and 4 jaw chucks to fit 3/4-16 threads. Hope this is some help.
Mike
 
The thing is, the spindle is threaded on the outside and is a solid piece as opposed to being a hollow shaft threaded on the inside. seems like those adapters are all male ends meant to be screwed into a shaft not having the shaft screwed into them....not sure if that makes sense lol
 
I checked on ebay and they had a 3/8-24 female to 5/8-16 male but no 3/4-16 male threaded adapter. Yes you will need a 3/8-24 female to 3/4-16 male adapter. Sherlne also has 8mm and 10mm to 3/4-16 adapters that you could insert into your jacobs chuck and then put a different 3 or 4 jaw chuck on that but it would be dubious as to any benefit you would receive from that. Im sure if you asked atr least one of our memebers cold make you a steel threaded adapter. If you find someone it might make sense to have it made to adapt to 1inch or 1 1/8 sizes.
 
You will also have to take into consideration the bearings that support your spindle. They may not have been designed to take the load that a larger heavier chuck will place on them. At least not for long. You might just have to be satisfied with small turnings, pens, ornaments, pendants etc.
 
Check crazedlist.org for a lathe in your area. You can find them pretty cheap. Rikon, Jet, Delta, are all good brands to start with and will support a chuck for turning chunks of wood into fine art. I would stay with these three for a good, solid , beginner midi lathe. Then graduate into the larger ones later on. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
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