6 Jaw Scroll Chuck

They are way too heavy to wrestle around. I used mine a couple times and had my Grandson put it under my lathe roll around table. I would never use one for chambering. If you put your barrel straight in the chuck jaws you may bend your barrel.
 
I find a 6 jaw set-tru style chuck awesome for chambering. With a ring of #4 solid copper between the jaws and barrel and a spider at the ass end, it is by far the easiest way I have found to gimble a bore into alignment. I did it this way for a few years with great results. Now I'm doing something similar on the turning center using an adjustable collet chuck as the base but that's all top secret.

 
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Rubicon Prec. said:
I find a 6 jaw set-tru style chuck awesome for chambering. With a ring of #4 solid copper between the jaws and barrel and a spider at the ass end, it is by far the easiest way I have found to gimble a bore into alignment. I did it this way for a few years with great results.
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Me too. Its perfect
 
Yes im having to save my off days for the nats. They seem to think friday and saturday are the days i need to be driving trains. So if that setup doesnt work for you tell us what you use. Im always looking for a better way to hold barrels!
 
They moved the Arkansas Shoot up a week or so and I won't make it. Jay Lynn is the only person going from here.
Dusty, I use a cat head on both sides of the headstock for two reasons. My headstock on my Clausing was too wide to do it in the headstock with any kind of a chuck. My cat heads have 1/2" by 20tpi set screws with copper tips. I can now do a 19 1/2" barrel and the barrel will not be under strain as it will pivot easily when dialing it in. I have never had one come loose.
 
CLP,

I use a 6 jaw and chamber just like Rubicon. The 6 jaw works fine, and I imagine a 3 jaw adjust-thru would work equally as well. IIRC, Jackie Schmidt uses a 3 jaw adjust-thru.

The advantage of a 6 jaw, if I'm not mistaken, is less distortion of the work piece due to the clamping forces being spread out around the circumferance of the work piece. They are used in the trade to grip thin-walled tubing and such. I don't know if there is any distortion concerns when chambering a barrel and the chuck is tightened in a reasonable manner.

Once adjusted, a good one will repeat within .0002-.0004, which is nice if you're making multiple parts. My old Bison would do that no problem...great chuck. I have a Gator 6 jaw now and am pleased with it, except for the adjustment screws, which appear to have been made of Play Dough. That was a quick fix, though. I find adjust-thru chucks easier to dial in than 4 jaw chucks.

Justin
 
Zebra13 said:
CLP,

I use a 6 jaw and chamber just like Rubicon. The 6 jaw works fine, and I imagine a 3 jaw adjust-thru would work equally as well. IIRC, Jackie Schmidt uses a 3 jaw adjust-thru.

The advantage of a 6 jaw, if I'm not mistaken, is less distortion of the work piece due to the clamping forces being spread out around the circumferance of the work piece. They are used in the trade to grip thin-walled tubing and such. I don't know if there is any distortion concerns when chambering a barrel and the chuck is tightened in a reasonable manner.

Once adjusted, a good one will repeat within .0002-.0004, which is nice if you're making multiple parts. My old Bison would do that no problem...great chuck. I have a Gator 6 jaw now and am pleased with it, except for the adjustment screws, which appear to have been made of Play Dough. That was a quick fix, though. I find adjust-thru chucks easier to dial in than 4 jaw chucks.

Justin
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I also find them easier to adjust than a 4 jaw. You are not fighting the screw on the other three side when adjusting. You set your clamping pressure first and that never changes, unlike a 4 jaw or spider.
 
Rubicon Prec. said:
I also find them easier to adjust than a 4 jaw. You are not fighting the screw on the other three side when adjusting. You set your clamping pressure first and that never changes, unlike a 4 jaw or spider.
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When adjusting the 6J, does it adjust easily with the mounting bolts to the back plate at full torque? Do these bolts come in play when adjusting the 4 screws? Not disputing your statement, I am just a newbie trying to learn.

Thank you.
 
NezRongero said:
When adjusting the 6J, does it adjust easily with the mounting bolts to the back plate at full torque? Do these bolts come in play when adjusting the 4 screws? Not disputing your statement, I am just a newbie trying to learn.

Thank you.
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I don't fully torque the screws to the backing plate. I keep them very snug so it takes some force on the jacking screws to move. I keep all the adjusting screws backed off a quarter turn and only put pressure on the one I am trying to adjust at that moment then back it off a quarter turn. Once it is dialed in, I start snugging up the adjusting screws while keeping an eye on my runout.

In theory, this is probably not the best practice as far as chuck/backing plate life goes.
 
Cec, you are talking about a 6-jaw that has the adjustable base aren't you (like an Adjust-Tru)? Most barrels the OD and ID are not concentric and you must adjust the bore to run true.



.
 
I use a Pratt Burnerd Griptru 6 jaw and find it even easier to adjust than a Setrite (Adjust-tru).

Dusty where does the Pratt fit in the quality list, I've heard they are better than a Buck and I didn't know that Rohm made 6 jaw chucks.

Ian
 
Butch,
Thanks, how/why has the Buck quality slipped? Are they still made in the USA?

I have looked at them several times but I've managed to find a Pratt at a reasonable price when I was looking.
 
Ian,
I really can't say, but I have several friends with shops, non gunsmithing, and they think better or equal brands are out there for the price.
 
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