4 jaw chuck thoughts

[545Kurt]

Hey there,
I am in the maket for a 4" independant 4 jaw chuck for my lathe. Would like some opinions on where to buy and what brand to buy. Looking for good quality at a reasonable price. No local dealers in my area so it will be mail order.
Kurt

[DareBee]

I recomend Bison brand

[skmetal7]

i found some here

http://www.nolansupply.com/superth.a...ucks+%2D+Bison

[545Kurt]

Thanks for the link. I had a look around but could not find a 4 inch anywhere on the page. In the 4 jaw independant chucks they can supply a 3.5 inch or a 5 inch. Does Bison make a 4 Inch?

Kurt

[DareBee]

Here is Bisons home page.
http://www.toolmex.com/tools/THome.asp

Here is a suppliers site.
http://www.kbctools.com/usa/main.cfm

You will have to buy a 3.5 or a 5" or build your own.

[545Kurt]

I checked out the sites thanks. Is it possible to convert the 3.5" to a 4"? Not to sure if my lathe would handle a 5 " very well. What do you mean by build your own? The 4" part of my request is a must for what I wish to do with the lathe.

Kurt

[DareBee]

Those dimensions are just the diameter of the chuck body and I am not seeing why the body size is so critical?

I noticed you have added that you are in Canada, I gave you KBC USA site, they have Canada site as well and a BC store.

As far as building, you could buy a 3.5" Bison and make a new chuck body that is 4" dia. and put all the parts into the new body (screws, jaws, etc.) this is cheaper than buying all the parts seperate.

[HuFlungDung]

Check www.shars.com
The website sucks, but the chucks are on page 88.

[545Kurt]

Very cool guy's,
The dia of the body is not critical, sorry if I mislead you. I am more concerned with the ability to clamp 4" Aluminum on the outside and yet still not be so big that my lathe is overworked by the body weight itself which is what I have heard on the net for my lathe. How much difference is there in the quality between the Bison chucks and the chucks sold at the Shars site?

[skmetal7]

what lathe do u have? (sorry if u mentioned it before)

[DareBee]

Bison is good quality Europian.
I am not 100% sure but the Shars stuff is really cheap and highly likely from China.
A hobby shop user will likely do quite fine with the Sars.

[skmetal7]

Originally Posted by DareBee Bison is good quality Europian. I am not 100% sure but the Shars stuff is really cheap and highly likely from China. A hobby shop user will likely do quite fine with the Sars.

Bison chucks are made in poland, at least mine is. damn good quality