charles statman

 July 25th, I turned 58 in a rather uneventful day.

today, the 27th, I got a lot done.  solid day at work, stopped to help a friend get a Honda XR70 running, then home..... But at home, I resigned myself to tackle the 4 jaw chuck that came with the Taig Microlathe II.  Gifted from Fred and the Oakland Cloud Dusters,  I've always wanted a Micro Lathe, and this one is cool.

It needed a lot of work to get going,  and there's still much to be done.  I'd like to build a stand for it, incorporating a drawer for tooling, and a top cover to keep dust off.

BUT today was ALL about the 4 Jaw Chuck.

It was very rusty,  I let it soak in penetrating oil for the past week or 3. 

Today I got after it with cleaning brushes, cloths, carb cleaner, brushes, cloths, wire wheel, brushes, cloths, scotchbrite wheel, cloths, brushes, polishing wheel, cloths and brushes.

shown with jaws open

3rd or 4th polishing pass

reassembled, greased, ready for work

yes, yes, it is not perfect.  I did not sand and smooth every face and surface.   It is badly pitted in some spaces, and I did not want to remove too much material to clean it up

Its meant to be a working chuck,  and it will be

Also  -"but Charles, you have a 3-jaw chuck, why spend time on a 4"
because - 4 jaws in allow a much better grip, stronger centering, and ability to work on longer items.

I used the 3 jaw chuck and a left handed cutting tool to shorten a screw this weekend,  it is okay, but the facing ability and precision is not as good as with a 4.

In other news, July 22nd is Saul's birthday, July 25th is MY birthday, July 27th was my mother's birthday.  msrip

# posted by cstatman : 9:49 PM