Hello rod builders

I had a very scary experience last night. I was turning eva grip on a mandrel for the first time and during the process the mandrel pop out on one end. Nearly took my hands off. Luckily I turn off just in time without injuries but my mandrel is bent on one end. I have the regular jaw that we use on the Renzetti lathe on the headstock and a live center on the tail stock. No matter how many times I tried to tighten the chuck, the mandrel still comes during the running process. I know the tail stock is tighten up good. Could it be my chuck that is causing this issue? Now I am nervous to use the lathe until I get this problem resolved. What is the best chuck to use on a mandrel?

Trung,
I assume that your turncrafter pro is similar to this one:

[www.pennstateind.com]

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The use of a live jacobs style chuck on the tail stock would prevent your issue with the mandrel coming loose:

[www.pennstateind.com]

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In addition - the use of this live center works extremely well for shafts with a good 60 degree centering hole on the end:

[www.pennstateind.com]

To help with the 60 degree center hole problem, purchase a set of 60 degree centering drill points.

[www.amazon.com]

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To accurately drill perfectly centered holes in the ends of shaft - purchase a keyless chuck like this one to secure the 60 degree drill point, or any other drill bit into the tail stock chuck:

[www.pennstateind.com]

When using these drill points or a conventional drill bit - insert the keyless chuck in the tail stock; insert the drill point or drill bit into the chuck; insert the work piece into the head stock and let the work piece slide through the head stock so that just the end of the mandrel or shaft stick out past the head stock chuck. Then, lock the head stock chuck tight. Set the speed to a low speed, and then use the tail stock to advance the drill point or drill bit into the work piece with the spinning work piece for the perfectly centered hole:

Here is a picture of my lathe, using the keyless chuck to hold the drill bit stationary - spin the workpiece - in this case a wood handle, and then use the tail stock advance wheel to move the drill bit into the spinning work piece or wood handle in this picture:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

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A chuck like this one - works well to hold the work piece in the headstock for mandrel or drill shaft work:

[www.pennstateind.com]

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Remember, with a lathe, you need to add items to the lathe to be able to maximize the potential of your lathe. Without the correct head stock chucks and the correct tail stock pieces you really limit the things that you can do with your lathe.

Best of luck and be safe.

p.s.
With the use of the 60 degree drill point, and the use of the 60 degree live center - and used with well drilled 60 degree holes, you will have plenty of depth in the ends of your mandrels to safely hold the end of your mandrels with little chance of ever slipping out. You would like the mandrel centering hole to be as deep as possible so that the maximum amount of your 60 degree live center fully engages the hole in the endo your mandrel for maximum holding power and maximum safety.

But, if you purchase the jacobs style live chuck you eliminate the need to have a centering hole in the end of the mandrel.

Good luck

A straight mandrel can tend to "walk" in towards the chuck. This is why I had designed some mandrels that were "stepped" on the chuck end to keep this from happening. Lynn Williams used to sell this design. Others may still have some. In the meantime, you can build a shoulder of masking tape to butt up against the chuck. It will work almost as well as the machined shoulder. Just keep an eye on it between turnings.

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Roger

Yes its almost the same lathe minus the variable speed. Mine is the basic one. For the headstock can I mount the jacobs live center or is that only for the tail stock side? The chuck I have on the headstock is like the one we use on our power wrapper. The chuck doesn't hold well and tends to get loose during process which is very scary. What is a good chuck for the headstock that will hold the mandrel solid without getting loose? Thank you so much on all the info, it helped.

Tom

Yes you are correct, the mandrel tends to dig deeper into headstock side when the chuck gets loose. Very scary. I have tried doing the taping method but my chuck still gets loose and the mandrel will wobble. What are your recommendations? I was hoping theirs a better chuck then the one I have. The chuck I am using is the same we use on our power wrapper Renzetti or Alps.

thanks

It's not the chuck's fault, although you can only tighten those chucks so much. The smooth jaw surfaces will not entirely hold a smooth mandrel against any and all inward movement. You might consider epoxying a short section of tubing (1/4 inch long) over the mandrel about an inch from the chuck end. This would serve as an excellent shoulder against which the mandrel couldn't then move inward.

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Trung,

I also have a Turncrafter Lathe. I paid a little more for it and added the variable speed and an extension bed for it as well. There are many different chucks. You can go to the Penn State Industry web site and see what they offer. This is an important part of your lathe and as you have discovered it is essential in order to use your lathe safely. I recommend buying a chuck that costs a little more. I bought a Nova Chuck about 12 years ago. I paid over $100 for it and have added several heads for it as well. There are better chucks that are easier to use, but I have not had any trouble with the Nova Chuck. Hopefully others will give their views of their chucks so you can make a good decision.

Mike Blomme

Trung,
A very easy solution is to use the solid jacob's chuck that I recommended for use in the head stock. The jacob's chuck has a solid back and thus the mandrel can bottom out in the chuck and will give a very solid connection to the mandrel.

Then, use the live or revolving jacobs chuck in the tail stock and you will have a rock solid mandrel connection and setup that will never come loose unless you wish.

It is to your advantage - to avoid using the current chuck in your headstock and purchase a better quality chuck.

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Another option is to purchase a 3 inch machinist chuck with the matching 1 x 8 threaded back plate for the chuck.
This style chucks give a very solid and secure connection to any piece of round stock.

[www.google.com]:

You can do internet and @#$%& site searches for the best options for you and your lathe. ..

Check out item number 291918431951 on the big well known internet @#$%& site.


Good luck



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2017 02:19PM by roger wilson.

Or you can simply buy the appropriate size lock collar and for the mandrel and use it as a stop

Ron Weber

That is not a good chuck for your lathe, get a better one or use Collets on the mandrels, they work extremely well on mandrels, no slippage at all.

Roger

Do you have a picture of jacobs chuck for the headstock? The one you show me is for the tail stock or maybe I'm missing something?

Thanks Everyone!!!

Trung,
With your lathe you have an internal taper on both the head stock and the tail stock that is sized MT2.

The Jacobs chuck that I listed has an MT2 taper, so it can be used in either the head stock or in the tail stock.

In addition, your headstock has outside threads with a size of 1 inch by 8 threads per inch. These outside threads are used to screw on a conventional lathe chuck with a hollow center. Of course the advantage of the hollow center is that if you use a mandrel: for example - that is smaller than the hole inside diameter of the headstock shaft, you can slip any excess mandrel down the shaft to make a more secure connection with less unsupported mandrel.

So, you have several options, but please do purchase a better chuck for your headstock. You are just waiting for a serious accident to happen if you continue to use that chuck for your work.

Good luck

Thanks Roger

It all make sense now. I thought you can only have a chuck screw in type on the headstock but now I know you can use both sides for the same tool. Yes I am searching for a new chuck. What would you recommend? I would be turning eva on a mandrel for now but will get into custom eva blocks down the road.

thanks

Just get this type of live centerl

[www.rockler.com]

It holds your mandrel slightly inside the tail stock on a 60 degree point and keeps the mandrel from whipping or coming out.

Roger,

What is that fan looking gadget attached to your chuck?

If the mandrel cannot move back into the chuck, and the livestock is firmly attached and cannot slide outward, the mandrel is not going to come loose. Your problem is not the chuck.

...............

Kerry,
The chuck that is on the lathe that is shown in the picture is a Taig chuck with the set of round aluminum jaws.

These are the jaws that mount on the standard Taig chuck:

[www.taigtools.com]

This is the standard Taig chuck that I currently use on my power wrapper and is the same chuck that was used on my lathe for the picture:

[www.taigtools.com]

The standard Taig chuck as shown above is a very good high quality chuck that I use every day for power wrapping.
For power wrapping I made one change in the aluminum jaws. I used a drum sander to sand the ends of the chuck jaws to an inward concave shape - all of equal depth - to give a nice uniform grip on the end of the rod grip with minimal pressure on the grip for minimal marking on the grip.

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However, since I also use the lathe for some metal work and wish to have a more robust and able to tighten and loosen the chuck more easily - I typically am using my 3 or 4 inch standard Machinist chuck on the lathe:

I have several different chucks similar to this one now and is the one that is typically on the lathe for general use - including use for mandrels.

[www.amazon.com]

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If you start to do very many different things with your lathe, you will find that you are only limited by your budget with respect to obtaining just the right accessory to make the job easier and safer.
Items like various heat stock chucks, various tail stock chucks and accessories. Calipers. Inside and outside measuring tools. Clamps, extenders, cutting tools, files, extension drills. Tool rests of various lengths.
Optimum dust collection system. But at the end of the day, some satisfying work can be completed with the use of a good lathe and the correct accessory for the lathe.

Be safe

Thanks everyone