Hello,
I am trying to build a rod wrapper and purchased a pac bay chuck and stand off E (crap) bay. Well it looked fine but when I set it all up it has a wobble. I replaced the metal thingy to attach it to the stand and it still wobbles just slightly. It works for wraps but I worry what it will do to finish when I apply it at 100?rpm range. Also I would think that shaping cork wouldn't be a good idea.
Do they all wobble? Can I buy just the chuck? Any other chucks that I can buy?

Thanks

Steve do you have the plastic chuck or the metal one?

It is the metal one.

The upgraded metal chuck and stand are worlds better than the plastic one, I've used mine for everything you mentioned with no problems. It's by no means a quality chuck by wood or metal lathe standards, but it never was advertised or priced as such. There just isn't enough metal there, among other things, to make a stable platform to dampen vibration, resist flex, etc. and turn true.

The PacBay "upgrade" chuck works just fine on a PacBay or similar lathe, when it it properly "bedded" with the screws aligned and the pulley wheel itself "perfectly" aligned with the motor's pulley..

What we don't know from your description is how you've mounted it - metal bed, wooden stand, or what? We don't know how it is aligned. I'm not trying to be mean, but I'll tell you that on our setup there's no noticeable vibration at any speed, unless the rod that is mounted in the chuck is off-center or is itself off balance.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

Thnks for the repleys. I have it mounted to a wood plank. I can see the chuck wobble, it almost looks like the post is slightly bent. Maybe I should just get the upgraded one and call it a day.

I know I don't have the experience of most guys here but I'm really curious. Why do you apply finish at 100 rpm's? I usually apply by either hand turning a 1/4 at a time or using a 10 rpm dryer motor?

Richard,
I will step in and say that I apply my finish most of the time at 100 rpm or so.
I use my same power wrapper that I power with a 1000 rpm gear drive motor to apply rod finish.
I simply use a brush and quickly get the finish on the blank, all of the guides and butt of the rod.
By using 100 rpm finish, I can finish in about 1/10th the time, than if turning at 1 or 10 rpm.

After getting all of the coating in place, I transfer to my 6 rpm drying rack. I then go over each wrap, guide, and butt wrap with heat and a magnifiying glass and a bright light.
I will examine each wrap closely for final quality, and touch up, or apply more or wick off unneeded finish while having the rod turn at 6 rpm.
Generally speaking, about 1/2 of the guides and or butt will need some touch up. But the use of the 100 rpm, to quickly sprad the finish still saves lots and lots of time during the finish phase of rod building.

Take care
Roger

Thanks Rodger ........ I'll have to try that .......