Polish Lathe chuck-what is it and is it worth anything?

[Springfield]

I got this with a bunch of other stuff at an auction.

[Green Frog]

How does it mount? Look on the back and see whether there is a removable back plate with a threaded "nozzle" or one of the various clip-in mounting systems, etc. Without knowing how much run-out is there, etc will also affect the value.

Froggie

[Red River Rick]

If it's had a lot of use, the jaws and scroll plate may have a lot of wear. If it's been abused, then the jaws may be sprung as well. It may be worth something if it's functional.

Take a picture of the back of the chuck so we can see how it's mounted. D Cam Lock, Tapered spindle, etc.

RRR

[bangerjim]

Like said......it's all in the mounting!!!!! You took pix of the front, but the back is FAR more important!!!!!

Do you have the other set of jaws??????? These kinds of inexpensive chucks have inside and outside jaws......in matched sets. You have to take one set totally out and then install the other set. Hardened reversible top jaw chucks are the way of the road today.

banger

[Springfield]

Here is the back. No other jaws.

[akajun]

$50 at most
its a plain back 3 jaw, doesn't look too beat up.

[Clark]

Sell it local pick up on Craig's list.

[rancher1913]

its off the back side of a motorized pipe threader, the front of the body has the dies and this hold the pipe centered in the back. look up ridged threaders and you should be able to id it.

[DougGuy]

First you need to clean all the rust off it, preferrably by chemical so the whole thing isn't a collection of sanding scratches, then look on fleabay and find it's match and see what those are fetching. There are some sellers that would try to get $300 out of your chuck but those guys are out to lunch. Most in the size range yours is will fetch $150 if they are in decent looking shape and have reversible jaws.

I don't think this is from any pipe threader that I have ever seen, and the holes in the back I think are the DI-6 cam lock mounting but the studs are missing.

Find a piece of hardened rod or round stock and tighten the jaws down on it. Do they snug up evenly or only at the bottom? As mentioned earlier, wear and runout will determine what value is left in it, deduct a good chunk of it since it is missing the other jaws.

[bangerjim]

Lathe chuck, possibly used on pipe threader somewhere. But a lathe chuck. You are missing the other set of jaws. The backplate will fit the specific lathe nose threads ans/or adaptor.

Like said: mabe $50 max local sell? Sorry, not a gold mine. I would use it as a door stop in my shop.

3jaw scroll chucks are pretty inaccurate for most real lathe work. I have 3 of them that just sit in a drawer now that I have all "tru-set' chucks for my lathes.

[oldred]

3jaw scroll chucks are pretty inaccurate for most real lathe work. I have 3 of them that just sit in a drawer now that I have all "tru-set' chucks for my lathes.

That's a fact, an eight inch tru-set chuck is on my wish list right now, right up near the very top!

[Clark]

I use a 6 jaw with set through adjustment. Dialing in the barrel is a different process from a 4 jaw... but about the same amount of time, and I can just leave the same chuck on the lathe all the time.

[bangerjim]

I use a 6 jaw with set through adjustment. Dialing in the barrel is a different process from a 4 jaw... but about the same amount of time, and I can just leave the same chuck on the lathe all the time.

I have a 6" 3 jaw scroll, a 6" 4 jaw scroll (NOT a horrible universal!), and an 8" 3 jaw scroll.......all are the tru-set style and there is no dial-in time. I can put a piece of stock in turn it, take it out, put it back in (no witness marks or dial indicators!) and it is still 0.0002 in round, as long as the chuck grip area is true. And the jaws are clean. All are hardened reversible top jaw chucks.

My next purchase will be a 6 jaw chuck....great for thin work.

A tru-set eliminates the horrible "dial-in" procedure of a universal 4 jaw. I have 4, 6, & 8" universals and only use them when I need to do eccentric turning.

It is really nice to have collet-style accuracy in those larger tru-sets!!!!!!! I do precision work on various instruments and tooling, nothing to do with gun barrels.

bangerjim

[rick/pa]

We had several of these in the shop I worked in. They used the cam lock system like DougGuy said. I used one on a Freyer FR18 lathe, one of the better machines in our shop, which wasn't saying much. We were a carbide shop, not much precision required.

[root]

50 bux may be pushing it, as I paid less then 50 for my 4 jaw but it was bought off a machinist BBS so parts move pretty slow and cheap.

In other words once you have a tool you only can use one of at a time and a few different sizes/models of the tool, you move on to the next tool you need to buy.
Most people don't buy 2 or 3, 3 jaw chucks. And most lathes already come with the standard 3 jaw.

Rich

[andremajic]

Attach it to a heavy workbench and turn it into a barrel holding fixture for removing barrels from actions. It's large enough to put plenty of clamping pressure around a barrel. Just because you don't have a lathe that it fits doesn't mean you can't use it like if it was attached to a lathe. Use your imagination.

If you don't do much work with rifles, use it like a vise to hold round workpieces like pipes still while you cut thru them.

All you'd need after that would be an action wrench that conforms to the shape of your action.

[El Bango]

I used one very similar to this in a hydraulic repair shop, it took a LOT of abuse and still ran within .003". After the shop went out of business a friend bought the lathe and 18 years later it still runs great.

[gzig5]

That is most likely a Bison chuck made in Poland. Generally good quality and still available. The back-plate is for probably a D1-6 spindle nose, but is missing the cam lock pins. Could be a D1-4 but I doubt it. Diameter of the cam lock pins would tell you. New, they go for $600 -1200+ depending on construction. Used they can be scrap to a couple hundred depending on condition.

[JSnover]

Attach it to a heavy workbench and turn it into a barrel holding fixture for removing barrels from actions. It's large enough to put plenty of clamping pressure around a barrel. Just because you don't have a lathe that it fits doesn't mean you can't use it like if it was attached to a lathe. Use your imagination.

If you don't do much work with rifles, use it like a vise to hold round workpieces like pipes still while you cut thru them.

All you'd need after that would be an action wrench that conforms to the shape of your action.

Yes!
Re-sale value may be fairly low but you should be able to adapt it for other-than-lathe work for short money.

[andremajic]

I've also seen them used for parts that need to be put in a hydraulic 12 ton press for removing bearings, etc. Just adjust the chuck jaws to the right diameter so the piece pushed thru it.

Andy