Free 186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook:  
Get tool plans

User Tag List

Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck

  1. #1
    Supporting Member Paul Jones's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Del Mar, California
    Posts
    1,231
    Thanks
    5,810
    Thanked 1,461 Times in 657 Posts

    Paul Jones's Tools

    Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck

    I made my own mini-toolmakers jaws for my small 80 mm three jaw chuck mounted on my mini lathe. A couple years later, I made a mandrel for holding the 80 mm chuck in a larger 6" chuck for my 12" swing lathe (see http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/c...0262#post72147 ). This expanded the capability for holding the chuck with mini-toolmakers jaws.

    The purpose for these small jaws is for machining the short threaded ends of small cap screws in the 4-40 to 8-32 thread range. All my other lathe chucks and collets (ER16 on my Unimat SL and ER32 on my mini lathe) have jaws too deep to allow holding the threads with the cap screw head-end pointing towards the headstock. Some of the screw-end machining involves facing and drilling a small hole for adding a brass pad (protection from set screw marks on sliding parts). An alternative would be to bottle bore some soft jaw ER32 collets but I avoid this class of boring whenever possible.

    The parts are based on a posting at MadModder - Index. The jaws are made from 12L14 steel and use 1/8" and 3/16" long stainless steel set screws with a 8-32 thread size. The short-length sets screws can be recessed into the jaws for safer operations. Each of the mini-toolmakers jaws are numbered and registered to each chuck jaw. The righthand-side set screw on each jaw is secured with Loctite 290 (green) while the top and left-hand set screws can be loosened for removing and replacing the small jaws without changing the bore alignment.

    The first photo shows the mini toolmakers jaws attached to my 80 mm three jaw chuck (BTW the insert in the lathe tool is a T-15 HSS TPMW-221 from Arthur R. Warner Co. (Arthur Warner Co. | Specialists in High Speed Steel) and fits standard carbide insert tool holders). Adding the toolmakers jaws now allows more use of the original mini lathe 80mm chuck since being replaced with a larger 100mm three jaw chuck.

    The last photo shows the lathe jaws with the mini toolmakers jaws still attached resting on an enlarged photo of the source of this idea from MadModder - Index.

    I probably should have hardened these parts and then lightly grind the bore surfaces with a dremel tool attached to the the cross slide but that can be a project for another time.

    Thanks for looking,

    Paul Jones

    P.S. I made a mandrel for the 80mm chuck to be held three or four jaw chucks used on my 12" swing geared-head lathe. The mandrel makes this small chuck with the mini-toolmakers jaws very useful and easier to install and remove (see http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/c...0262#post72147 ).
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck-toolmakers-mini-jaws-installed-80mm-chuck.jpg   Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck-finished-toolmakers-mini-jaws-ready-install.jpg   Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck-taping-three-set-screws-locations-mini-jaws.jpg   Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck-milling-120-degree-flats-mini-jaws.jpg   Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck-setting-up-second-mini-jay-flat-mill-unimat.jpg  


    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook
    Last edited by Paul Jones; Jan 12, 2018 at 12:40 PM.

  2. The Following 18 Users Say Thank You to Paul Jones For This Useful Post:

    bobs409 (May 10, 2017), davesrepair (Jul 20, 2024), Dollar Bill (Jul 15, 2023), emu roo (Jul 18, 2024), high-side (Oct 2, 2019), jjr2001 (Jun 21, 2016), kbalch (Jul 7, 2014), lazarus (Jun 23, 2016), markcawston (Oct 2, 2019), NortonDommi (May 13, 2017), PJs (Oct 23, 2015), ricbor (May 10, 2017), Seedtick (May 10, 2017), sossol (Jul 18, 2024), Toolmaker51 (Jul 9, 2016), Tuomas (Jun 23, 2016), uv8452 (Jul 14, 2023), Vyacheslav.Nevolya (Jun 22, 2016)

  3. #2
    kbalch's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Clermont, FL
    Posts
    5,034
    Thanks
    2,275
    Thanked 532 Times in 384 Posts
    Thanks Paul! I've added your Mini-Toolmaker's Jaws to our Machining and Workholding categories, as well as to your builder page: Paul Jones' Homemade Tools. Your receipt:


    2,000+ Tool Plans

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to kbalch For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Aug 13, 2014)

  5. #3
    Supporting Member Okapi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Switzerland
    Posts
    222
    Thanks
    346
    Thanked 132 Times in 76 Posts

    Okapi's Tools
    Hi Paul,
    It's just a very simple thing you can add if the centering is not always repetitive with sufficient precision, two screws without head which push on the milled flat part in place of the sides, then you can adjut by opposite pressure the three jaws, mine is bigger than yours, but it stay under one tenth of a millimeter when I put them on the chuck before adjusting if it's necessary.

  6. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Okapi For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Aug 13, 2014), Toolmaker51 (Jul 9, 2016)

  7. #4
    Supporting Member Paul Jones's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Del Mar, California
    Posts
    1,231
    Thanks
    5,810
    Thanked 1,461 Times in 657 Posts

    Paul Jones's Tools
    Okapi,

    Great advice and will come in handy as the parts eventually wear. So far loosening the just left-hand and center top set screws and keeping the right-hand set screw as is with the Locktite in place for removal seems to keep the alignment like new when reinstalled. However, closing the chuck jaws with the three mini jaws installed somewhat snuggly and making sure the milled flats are brought together very tightly (I milled these precisely at 120 degrees for this repeatable purpose), seems to guarantee alignment before finally tightening the left-hand and center set screws.

  8. #5
    Supporting Member Paul Jones's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Del Mar, California
    Posts
    1,231
    Thanks
    5,810
    Thanked 1,461 Times in 657 Posts

    Paul Jones's Tools

    More photos of toolmakers mini jaws for three jaw chuck

    Lately I have been shortening stainless steel cap head 8-32 screws by holding these with the mini jaws. I included two detailed photos. In the second photo I am using an old Starrett 1" steel rule with it holder to make the measurement. I much prefer using a DRO or dial indicator attached to a carriage clamp/stop to make these measurements but I just wanted to use the old Starrett tool.

    Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck-toolmakers-mini-jaws-measuring-shortened-cap-head-screw.jpg Mini-toolmakers jaws for small 80 mm three jaw chuck-toolmakers-mini-jaws-shortening-cap-head-screw.jpg

    Thank you for looking,

    Paul Jones
    Last edited by Paul Jones; Jan 12, 2018 at 12:52 PM.

  9. #6
    Supporting Member jjr2001's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Posts
    928
    Thanks
    1,186
    Thanked 2,109 Times in 562 Posts

    jjr2001's Tools
    I have been looking for a way to make brass or aluminum soft jaws for my chucks. I knew that the chuck jaws were too hard to drill with my equipment. I had seen a few other types but they were large and bulky. Your solution is elegant and now I have the method I will use for some "soft" jaws. Thanks

    Cheers, JR

  10. The Following User Says Thank You to jjr2001 For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Jun 21, 2016)

  11. #7
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Posts
    29
    Thanks
    113
    Thanked 46 Times in 16 Posts

    lazarus's Tools
    Thanks a lot Paul Jones. I'm always running into"too small" parts for my jaws. Shims, soda cans, scraps, 10ga house wire, etc to make it work. Now I have another project.

  12. The Following User Says Thank You to lazarus For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Feb 20, 2017)

  13. #8
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Southern tip of Vancouver Island
    Posts
    139
    Thanks
    957
    Thanked 40 Times in 28 Posts
    To shorten or modify the threaded ends of hex headed (up to 5/8") small caps crews I use a 5/8" spare drill press chuck with attached cylindrical mandrel. This gets chucked in the three-jaw of my ancient c1900 conehead 14x40 Hendey. The cap screw, with a nut the size of the cap a suitable distance from the head (and in rotational register with the head) is then chucked into the step-down chuck. It has never had accuracy problems in whatever I'm "slapping together".

  14. The Following User Says Thank You to volodar For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Feb 20, 2017)

  15. #9
    Mr.Pete's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    19
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked 9 Times in 9 Posts
    Hi Paul, I love these jaw add ons... just like jjr2001 ...I have been looking for a way to make brass or aluminum soft jaws for my unimat sl chucks also... wow I'm going to make afew out of brass ,aluminum and a harden set of tool steel.
    Great job!

  16. The Following User Says Thank You to Mr.Pete For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Feb 20, 2017)

  17. #10
    Supporting Member Paul Jones's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Del Mar, California
    Posts
    1,231
    Thanks
    5,810
    Thanked 1,461 Times in 657 Posts

    Paul Jones's Tools
    Thank you Mr. Pete,

    I have improved the usefulness of the mini-toolmakers jaws for my small 80 mm three jaw chuck by using the 80 mm chuck chucked into my larger 12" swing lathe http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/c...0262#post72147 . I now use the combination of the 80 mm chuck with mini-toolmakers jaws in a 6" dia. 6-jaw Gator TRU ADJUSTABLE chuck. The combination is repeatable within 0.0005" TIR and a wonderful way to hold small parts.

    Paul



    2,000+ Tool Plans

  18. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Paul Jones For This Useful Post:

    Frank S (May 9, 2017), LaVern (May 10, 2017), Toolmaker51 (May 10, 2017), Woodgeezr (May 10, 2017)

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •