lathe tooling question, face-plate or 4jaw ?

[oldncrusty]

Im in the middle of restoring my SB 9, i dragged home,
and It came with a 3 jaw, Im in a self-debate on weather to buy a 8inch- face-plate, from MLA, or a 4-jaw chuck/back plate as my next purchase,
so i was wondering what you guys use most for your engines, 4 jaw or face-plate ?
if 4-jaw what size recommended?

ive an odds and ends engine to finish building
i got shipped up to me, from being in storage for 5 yrs, after i lost my shop,
its been awhile and ive forgotten so very much,
thanks
john

 

[mklotz]

It came with a 3 jaw, Im in a self-debate on weather to buy a 8inch- face-plate, from MLA, or a 3-jaw chuck/back plate

Is the second reference to a 3-jaw above a typo?

 

[oldncrusty]

lol,,yes,,I mean a 4-jaw,,,Thank you Ive changed it,,,gawd im gettin old, and type with 2 fingers

 

[bearcar1]

I like face plate work but I think that in your situation I would go for the 4-jaw setup first. I think that you will find it a bit more towards your needs. Of course I could be wrong but the majority of turning jobs probably gets done in a chuck of some sort. As to size, that really depends on what you plan to do the most of. A good 8 inch would be nice for the larger pieces but a 6 inch would suit the majority of jobs. Your selection really depends upon what you foresee the machine being used for. There is always the chance you could get a 6 and an 8 inch and have the best of both worlds.

BC1
Jim

 

[stevehuckss396]

Hard to say because I use both. I guess the 4 jaw gets more use. But I plan on using the face plate this weekend. What the heck, get both.


I guess it depends on what you plan on making with the lathe. Which ever one you get, you will need the other one within a week. Murphy's law!

 

[Tin Falcon]

I personalty use the four jaw have not used the face plates. I have a craftman 109 that the back plate for the four jaw is the face plate/drive plate.
the only difference between a face plate and a back plate is the slots vs holes. a 6" 4 jaw is about as big as you want to go on a SB 9 an 8" chuck you will not be able to get full use as the jaws will hit the ways when extended too far.
Tin

 

[mklotz]

Have you ever lifted an 8" chuck? While my 8" is nice for the rare big job, the 6" gets far more use.

 

[steamer]

6" 4 Jaw was factory on the SB9.

A big faceplate won't hurt you , provided you can get the saddle wings by it.

Dave

 

[peatoluser]

I'd go for a 4 jaw everytime. Far more usefull. depending on what you are trying to hold, if you remove the jaws you have a rudimentary face plate of sorts.
This may not be cost effective on something larger (size of plate ) but as a quick dodge when my 4 jaw was too small to use and I didn't have a faceplate for my tiag, I bolted a scrap piece of Al plate to the face of the 4 Jaw. Made a couple of nuts to fit the jaw slots. Why I didn't just drill and tap a couple of holes in the body I don't know. I've since bought and made a couple of faceplates now. thats the beauty of small lathes. Doesn't cost much to make/buy things for them ;D

peter