Chuck- Lathe yet another type.

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

I haven’t seen a chuck like this before and I believe it to be a ToolMakers apprentice piece as it has no markings, lacks a bit on dimensional accuracy but could still be useful.

I picked it up for 1 euro, so hardly anything lost!

First thing I needed was a 6mm square female ended chuck key and after a few searches drew a blank, so I silver soldered a 1/4″ socket onto the end of a piece of bar and away we went. – well, 1/4″ approx 6mm and OK for my needs.

Next the mounting thread was 14mm x 2.0mm and my little wood lathe is 3/4″ x 16tpi UNF. Using my new (to me) ELS, I made a dummy male plug 3/4″ x 16 to suit the lathe and got it to fit existing chuck and faceplate. Back to the chuck, mounted that on my Boxford and screwcut to fit the dummy plug.

The feature of this chuck is that by slackening the nuts on the back of the chuck, the jaw(s) can be rotated from inside to outside jaws – that’s a neat time saving feature. manufacturing oddities are that the screws that move the jaws in/out are Right hand threads, so you “undo” them to move the jaws in and that the radial alignment of the jaw relies on them sliding in a 1mm deep slot.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Standard equipment on many a cheap woodworking lathe.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Used to have a friend(deceased) who had several of these to fit a Harrison, he used them as jigs for wheel turning, I wonder where they are now?

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I wonder if that was once a common, and effective, design.]

I used to own an IXL-badged Erlich 6″ centre-height lathe whose 4-jaw chuck was of similar design, and with its shallow depth (for its diameter) could be used with the jaws off as a faceplate.

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

This Look like a face plate which has been modified to take the jaws and bolts to make a four jaw chuck. I have been given a faceplate recently it could be a usefull addition to my tooling for a larger diamiter holder.

David

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

That is one of several variations of four jaw independent that were common, unlikely to be an apprentice piece.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Speedy, I have one just like it, and I’ve  seen plenty of them around, and have seen old adverts for them, so no, i don’t think the one you have shown is an apprentice piece,

Regards Nick.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

The old Chester 920 lathe used to be supplied with one of those chucks as standard.  I had one of those for a time as a second lathe but never used that chuck as the chucks for my Atlas lathe had the same fitting.

Russell

[PeteParticipant @pete41194]

That design of chuck is only unusual today because and as others have already said, there not seen very much today.

Prior to the invention of the more modern independent and scroll chucks, everything was turned either bolted or fixtured to a face plate and between centers for shafts. Logically the next step would have been adjustable jaws bolted to those same face plates.

In fact and for the very largest industrial lathes today, there still isn’t the more conventional designed scroll or independent chucks made in those sizes. Instead they use something much like massively larger versions of your chuck with 6-8 or more bolt on adjustable jaws that may need a crane just to lift each one in place to be then attached to the face plate.

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