I bought a cheap Chinese 4 jaw scroll chuck - actually a woodwork chuck and adapted it for use on my lathe - mostly as a die holder.
The "Soft Jaws" are actually scrap from a waterjet cutting operation but I did add the slots and holes to use the scrap - I've got a bagfull.
I made a 2MT shank so I could use it in my tailstock and 3MT shank for the headstock where soft jaws are great for second operation work.
Mostly I use it as a dieholder in the tailstock - it is bored 18 diameter and I use that to hold 16, 20 & 25 diameter dies - which covers most of what I do and its a lot less fiddly than most any other method.
Obviously no good for split dies.
Regards - Ken
The "Soft Jaws" are actually scrap from a waterjet cutting operation but I did add the slots and holes to use the scrap - I've got a bagfull.
I made a 2MT shank so I could use it in my tailstock and 3MT shank for the headstock where soft jaws are great for second operation work.
Mostly I use it as a dieholder in the tailstock - it is bored 18 diameter and I use that to hold 16, 20 & 25 diameter dies - which covers most of what I do and its a lot less fiddly than most any other method.
Obviously no good for split dies.
Regards - Ken
