Gidday Lads,

I have having some trouble getting my Power Wrapper (Pac Bay version with upgraded chuck and rollered supports) to run tru. When I mount grips on my Aluminium mandrels (these are perectly true) the grips are always spinning off the axis. Is there anything I can use to help centre the mandrel and stop the wobble?

Okay, you need to figure out what it is that's out of whack. If you are sure the mandrel is true, what about the grips? Have you tried turning them concentric (sanding won't do it - the sandpaper floats rather than cuts to concentric).

Now try this, put a short pointer made from a straight steel rod into the headstock and chuck it. Bring the rod support up to the steel pointer and see if you can center the support wheels on the pointer. If not, then something is out of whack there.

You can make a centering tool for your lathe via instructions included in a past issue of RodMaker. Or you can use a straightedge to make sure the support height is the same on the chuck centerline. For and aft differences can sometimes be corrected by shimming under one side of the headstock support.

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Thanks Tom. I am not sure what you mean by concentric. I use sandpaper on a sanding block so I guess the block is floating around the geoidal shape created when the grip is spinning off centre... I will try the steel pointer trick.
Cheers
Chris

If you take a round nose scraper, and fashion some sort of tool rest, then push that into the spinning cork, it will turn the cork concentric, i.e., the cork will then be perfectly centered on the mandrel.

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Chris,
I have had similar problems and have found part of the problem to be the pads on the wrapper chuck.

Take a straight steel rod.
For example a ratchet extension or stright piece of larger steel rod. Roll the rod across a piece of flat glass to insure that the rod is perfectly flat, true and not bent.

Then, take the pads off the wrapper chuck. Insert the steel rod, tighten, and then turn the wrapper. Check to see if there is any run out or wobble at the end of the rod.
If there is, you have a problem in the chuck. You need to start here - to insure that the chuck is running 100% true. If you find that one chuck is always running a bit high, you can stry swapping jaws between the slots.

If you find that you can't get the chuck to run true this way, take off all three jaws and double check the alignment of the end of the chuck jaws with respect to the mounting bolts.
If you find that there is a slight difference in one of the chuck jaws, i.e. one jaw chuck always makes the shaft run high or low, then it needs to be checked and fixed.
Run long rods through each pair of mounting bolt holes, making sure that the rods are the exact size of the mounting bolt holes so that they are a snug fit. Then, run a straight edge up and down the three stacked jaws. The edges should match perfectly. If you find one jaw longer, use a disk sander to sand it to the same length. If you find that one jaw is too short, then you need to sand the two other jaws shorter, so they will match the short jaw.

Finally, reassemble the chuck to insure that the shaft runs true.

Now, with the bare mtal chuck running true with the steel shaft in the jaws, remove the shaft and add the plastic pads. If the pads are all identical, you can reinstall the steel shaft and still have the shaft running true. If not, you will have to sand material off the face of the pad that is thicker and causing the problem.

Now, that you have the plain metal chuck and jaws running true, and you have the chuck with the plastic pads in place running true, it is now time to install a rod and check it.

Try several different rods, and see how they run. In general, the rods should all run true. If you happen to have an off center handle on the rod, or if you turned the handle on the rod and let it get off center, then the rod will always run off true. You will have no choice except to live with the wobble, unless you want to cut off the handle and start over.

Good luck
Roger

Thanks roger.. you are a wealth of information.

I wil have a good look at the chuck.. I should have bitten the bullet and bought a Renzetti.

Cheers
Chris

We have the PacBay and had trouble with the upgrade chuck not only not running true, but also loosening during use. So we called PacBay directly and they are, as they have always been, nothing but helpful. They ended up replacing the upgraded chuck for us - and the new one solved the problem.

They truly stand behind their products, whether it be the rod lathe, their blanks, or anything else they have.

Incidentally, I'm sure you already know that you must level the rod through the supports as well. We actually purchased a fourth support to handle the longer rods so there's no vibration further along the shaft.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods