How Do I Use This?

[paulrockliffe]

I picked up a second hand lathe yesterday and I'm just trying to get to grips with it all, what's this called and how does it work?

2016-03-13_10-13-33 by Paul Rockliffe, on Flickr

2016-03-13_10-13-12 by Paul Rockliffe, on Flickr

I assumed it could be used to grip a tenon in the centre, but having attempted that I think it grips on the outside of the jaws? The inside of the jaws is labelled "3 1/2", which matches the outer diameter in inches. If I can't use it to grip a tenon (I may be doing it wrong!) then when would this be useful?

Thanks!

 

[Rhossydd]

Not sure which of the older chucks this is, but it should work by either contracting around a dovetailed tenon made the correct size for the inside, or it will expand into a dovetailed recess in, say, a bowl bottom.
Chucks like this are capable of useful work, but might need fairly precise tolerances on the tenon or recess. More modern self centring chucks are more tolerant of varying sizes.
It looks to be in need of some TLC to work smoothly. Hopefully someone will soon recognise it's exact model and point you at a manual to help. My experience of this type of chuck is that they can be quite fussy about re-assembly after they've been taken apart for cleaning.

 

[Dalboy]

It is a chuck all be it an older one I have one very similar to it. to use it either in expansion or contraction mode I need to remove or insert some pieces to allow it to do so.
The one I have is a Multistar so may be a little different in operation even though it is an older chuck I still use mine as it is a very good.

 

[paulrockliffe]

As it is it definitely works in expansion, I can't see how it can be fiddled with to work on compression though.

It has a cone in the middle that rises as you screw chuck down. I can't see that any bits are missing.

 

[Rhossydd]

As it is it definitely works in expansion, I can't see how it can be fiddled with to work on compression though.

Just turn it to tighten onto the tenon, the opposite direction to expanding into a recess.

I can't see that any bits are missing.

It may need a locking ring behind the main chuck body to prevent the main body unscrewing. That's certainly how the old Henry Taylor Masterchuck worked.

 

[paulrockliffe]

To expand the jaws there's a cone that pushes them out, but there's nothing to push the jaws back inwards, maybe it's not designed to clamp onto a tenon.

The cone does lift out, so I suppose there could be something missing that replaces the cone, but I guess if there was I'll never track the bits down now!

I'm just practicing at the moment, so I'll stick to bits of wood I can stick a 3 1/2" dovetailed recess onto for now. Wish I'd known before I started as I cut a tenon onto my first bowl and ended up having to screw it to a faceplate to hollow it out so the bottom has holes in. Oh well!

 

[Rhossydd]

maybe it's not designed to clamp onto a tenon.

The jaws are dovetailed in the recess, so I'm sure it's designed to clamp a tenon. I've never heard of an exclusively expanding jaw system yet.

Have a look at this thread and see if it's helpful multistar-duplex-chuck-t59839.html

 

[flh801978]

I'm fairly sure its a craft supplies pcc 2000 chuck
In that mode its just for expansion into a dovetailed hole in a blank
there were lots of attachments made

It was expensive when new but now virtually worthless as its so fiddly to use compared with a scroll type chuck

 

[Rhossydd]

I'm fairly sure its a craft supplies pcc 2000 chuck

Good spot.
There was a previous thread about it here at lf-docs-for-old-chuck-6-1-universal-hattersley-davidson-t74612.html

 

[paulrockliffe]

Wow, thanks that's great info!

From the first diagram I don't have parts 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. I don't suppose it's possible to still get those bits anywhere, but I've contacted Scheppach to see. I've managed to put a dovetailed recess into the end of a piece of oak, an off-cut from my mantelpiece this time, so I'll be able to reverse this one when I've got the outside sorted.

Am I supposed to just leave the recess as it is, or is there a trick to mounting the bowl again so I can remove it?

 

[Paul Hannaby]

The chucks weren't made by Scheppach, they were sold by Craft Supplies, which no longer exists but I think they discontinued the chucks long before that anyway. There are still sets and accessories to be found on the usual second hand sites and auction sites etc. so you might get lucky if you keep looking.

 

[Rhossydd]

Am I supposed to just leave the recess as it is, or is there a trick to mounting the bowl again so I can remove it?

It's up to you. If well finished the only people that will spot it's a mounting point are other turners, most people won't notice and is probably the easiest approach for beginners.

You can remount in reverse and turn off the recess. There's very many ways of doing this, special chuck jaws for reverse mounting on scroll chucks (wood plates or Cole jaws), specialised home made chucks eg Longworth chuck, vacuum chucks or various friction mounts.

 

[paulrockliffe]

Scheppach appear to be the last people to have sold the PCC 2000 and they list it on their parts website, a long shot but worth an email at least. I'll set up a search on eBay and see if anything turns up. I reckon at the very least I could use the smaller jaws, so hopefully I get lucky....

I've rough turned a bowl with the recess, I sanded it all before reversing it so it'll just need a bit of a touch up to finish the bottom, the recess looks fine, so it can stay. I'll carry on doing things this way until I've got a better chuck.

Now I just need to work out how to turn the inside of the bowl without getting loads of tear-out, the first attempt is a bit of a mess so far!

 

[dickm]

That's definitely one of the incarnations of the original Hattersley and Davidson "Precision (?) Combination chuck" or the "6 in one chuck" from the same guys (Nick Davidson was one of the original partners in Craft Supplies, I think). The originals were plated steel; blued/blacked bodies like the OP shows were later and not sure who made them. I have, and still use, an original H&D. It's fine within its limitations and has been re-threaded twice from the original 3/4 by 16tpi. Difficult to use, as there is a real knack to getting the bits together, but once it's set up, no problems (having three hands helps!).
In original form, it only works in expansion mode. Craft supplies did a separate contracting collet chuck, which was even less precise, but still useable. Later incarnations could be used, with extra bits, in contracting mode but only over very limited range. Don't know what thread the OP uses, but I've got a spare body and sundry other bits knocking around in a drawer. If they might be useful, pm me.