When you purchased your lathe, you might not have known just what you were going to do with it or what options were available. Now that you’re gaining some experience, you’re realizing that all of those different chucks and accessories that were available could be quite beneficial for a variety of purposes. However, sifting through the mountains of different parts, chucks, and accessories can overwhelm even the most experienced and harden lathe professional.
What is the Difference between Chucks and Accessories?
The chuck is the part of the machine that turns, providing you the opportunity to shape the product in the precise manner that you want. Different chucks will give you different options and opportunities for working the wood or metal (and yes, or the glass). Especially for metal working lathes, chucks can determine the threading spacing for certain projects, allowing you to create the perfect thread for the parts you’re attempting to create, such as bolts, camshafts, or other projects.
Accessories offer a breadth of options that can be added to your lathe or used to help enhance the experience, refine the process, or open doors to new opportunities to create even more exciting products using your lathe.
Different Choices for Chucks
Some lathe chucks use an integral thread for mounting it to the machine. These tend to be larger machines and are not likely to be used in a residential setting or by a hobbyist. Most other lathes use a back plate for mounting the chuck, which makes it easier to replace and try different chucks for various applications.
You can choose from:
- 2 Jaw chucks
- 3 Jaw chucks
- 4 Jaw chucks
- 6 Jaw chucks
- Soft Jaw chucks
- Independent jaw chucks
- Combination jaw chucks
- Drawtube actuated lathe chucks
The 2 through 6 jaw chucks are used with scroll type lathes and are manual actuated self-centering.
An independent 4 jaw chuck is not self-centering, but the individual jaws can be moved independently from one another. These chucks can be used to work on an irregular shaped part, or you can use it to set a piece off center for whatever reason that you would have in doing so.
Combination jaw chucks combine the self-centering action of the scroll chuck with independently moving jaws. This adds more flexibility with the ability to have the self-centering benefits. Drawtube actuated lathe chucks are powered using hydraulic or air cylinders to move the drawtube forward or backward. When the drawtube moves, it clamps or unclamps the jaws.
Each different type of lathe chucks can perform a wide range of tasks, opening the possibilities of incredible designs and processes. Many of the chucks mentioned here are more than the average beginner lathe worker will need or be able to get the most out of, but each one can be used in many standard lathe machines. The only drawback is that not all of these different types of lathes are available for mini or micro lathes.
Now, if you are interested in learning more information about 2 jaw chuck, 3 jaw chuck and so on chucks, welcome to visit the website of Autogrip Machinery Co., Ltd. to see what high quality power chucks they can offer you!
Article Source: http://www.toolerant.com/lathe-chucks-and-accessories-what-do-i-need/