MAKE YOUR OWN CHUCK

A N D SAVE MONEY
P. C. LAMONT explains how to do it

E
XCEPT for the drilling of a
1 in. hole in a piece of
7/16 in. mild steel plate, the
work of fabricating a chuck is
well within the scope of an average
model engineer. My own in-
dependent four-jaw chuck, designed
to complete a 2-1/2in. centre lathe
which I had built, first began to
take shape when I found a piece
of plate already drilled.
This piece forms the back or main
plate (1); a nut to suit the mandrel
nose is spigotted and welded to the
centre, as shown.
After the plate had been welded and
cut roughly to size, it was mounted,
nut outwards, on the lathe and was
skimmed to clean up. The register
diameter was formed on the nut.
Then the plate was reversed, finished
on the face, and turned to 4-1/16 in.
diameter. The 12 holes for the
securing screws were marked off and
drilled 3/16 in.
The four 1/2 in. thick spacers (2)
were cut from bright mild steel bar.
One face was trued up on the surface
plate, and the edges forming the slots
were finished square to it and to each
other. With the spacers clamped in
position on the backplate, the screw
holes were spotted through and tapped
2 BA, and the spacers were mounted
by service screws. This allowed the
faces to be trued up and the o.d.
turned to 4-1/16 in. The twelve 2 BA
holes were then opened to 3/16 in.
diameter.
I made the 1/8 in. spacers (3) and
cover plates (4) by the same method,
except that I did not drill out the
2 BA holes for the cover plates.
The drive screws (5) were 5/16 in.
BSF Allen screws threaded to within
1/4 in. of the head, with a 7/16 in. o.d. x
3/32in. thick collar screwed on and
brazed. The split carriers (6) for the
drive screws were cut from 1/4 in. square
bar, clamped together in pairs, and
drilled 21/64 in. to form the eight
half bearings. The notches for the
carriers were marked off on the spacers
(2) and cut as accurately as possible.
I formed the jaw carriers (7) by
hand from 7/8 in. bright bar, drilled and
tapped 5/16 in. BSF for the drive
screws, and fitted to be a snug sliding
fit between the spacers. The 2BA
holes were not drilled at this stage.
The jaws themselves were made
from case-hardening material drilled
and counterbored to take 2 BA Allen
screws. I left the gripping surfaces
1/16 in. full to allow skimming in the
lathe after complete assembly.
After putting the, unit together, I
screwed the jaw carriers inwards
until they butted each other at their
innermost position, and then withdrew
each one turn. The jaws were placed
in the innermost position and the
3/16 in. holes were spotted through to
the carriers and tapped 2 BA for the
Allen screws securing the jaws.
With the whole unit complete and
Allen screws used throughout, any
tight spots impairing the free action
of the jaws were cleared, the 3/16 in.
holes for the dowels were drille and
reamed right through, and the dowels
were fitted.
Finally I mounted the chuck on
the lathe and removed the surplus
metal from the o.d. and gripping
surfaces of the jaws to give a clean
and true finish. While it is not
absolutely necessary, the jaws can be
removed and case-hardened all over.
From the design of the chuck it
will be seen that jaw changing is a
very simple operation. Additional
jaws can be made to cope with special
requirements.
My chuck has been in use for some
years and has proved highly satis-
factory, in addition to having saved
me money in the first place. *

READERS WORK SO FAR-3,615 HOLES

H ERE is a photograph of my 3-1/2 in. gauge B.R.
electric locomotive No 20003 which I am
building in my spare time.
I began it in 1954 and up to the present I have
bored 3,615 holes.
The six driving motors are surplus 24 v. Delco;
I rewired them for series. In a test one motor
geared 5 : 1 lifted a 7 lb. weight 1 ft per sec.
Over the buffers the engine measures about
4 ft 6 in. I made up the leaf springs from flat
spring steel; I turned the wheels from solid mild
steel shafting, and the buffers from bolts, with
alloy housings milled to shape: and I built the
bogies of 3/32 in. brass, with alloy girders. The
body is 15 thou zinc, and the whistle is two
separate organ-type pipes, made from brass tube.
Since the photograph was taken (by R. Downes
of Worthing) I have fitted louvres, and nearly
completed the air-brake cylinder. The panto-
graph will be electrically operated.
I am grateful to British Railways for lending
me drawings and allowing me to look over the
sister locomotive, No 20002.-V. SKEDDEN.
MODEL ENGINEER 512 27 OCTOBER 1960
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27 OCTOBER 1960 MODEL ENGINEER