warning magnetic chucks are for surface grinders

[New_Guy]

not to rant or anything i read the other night that Metalmad tried to use his new magnetic chuck unsuccessfully on the mill and this morning i came across this Ebay seller who suggest to his customers that it IS used on mills and drills here is his add here http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Magnetic-chu...em&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item19bcd47e5d

for everyone who doesn't know what a magnetic chuck is, its a plate for holding work on a surface grinder and uses a magnet you can turn on and off to mount and hold work just like your dial indicators magnetic base

my main concern is that in experienced people here are going buy these things from places like Ebay cheap and have unrealistic expectations or have been miss lead to believe they are used on mills and drills and get hurt when they try to use them sorry if in ranting here but for anyone who is thinking of getting one just know they are for use on surface grinders so save your money for a good vice

also it seamed that lots of you guys who replied in Metalmad's thread use these from time to time so im just wondering what results you guys get and why you chose to use it?

 

[b.lindsey]

Excellent point New Guy. Many of these imports are not that strong either, though your point applies to more expensive magnetic chucks as well. I only use one on the surface grinder here at work and even then before starting the machine I check the rigidity of the part on the chuck. It is often appropriate to use additional pieces of steel to "chock" the workpiece when size allows. Even then I am cautious in taking shallow grinding passes until i see how the setup is holding and reacting to the grinding forces which are normally much less than those for milling or even drilling operations.

Thanks for the safety reminder!!

Bill