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Grizzly H6265 chuck wobble

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Aug 7, 2008
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😕Hi guys finely got my Grizzly H6265 chuck a few days ago... I could sure use a little advice an some tips on using this chuck. My first question is when I first mounted the chuck om my lathe and turned the machine on it seems to have some wobble then I tried a small piece of squire 1x1x6, man it really wobbled. Am I doing something wrong are is this just a defective chuck. I put a smaller length of wood in the chuck about 3" long still has a lot of wobble every time I try to turn the small peace of wood it comes off I seem to have a bit of trouble keeping it tight on the workpiece.
Any advice would be most grateful thanks guys!

Rick
 
A couple of things to check.
Is the threaded spindle adapter insert screwed in all the way?
Make sure the threads are clean.
Does the spindle insert of the chuck screw snugly to the shoulder of the lathe spindle , no gaps?
Make sure there are no chips or sawdust between the chuck and the spindle shoulder.
Have you turned a dovetail type tenon on your wood or is it square tenon? The tenon needs to have a slight dovetail.
Screw the chuck jaws shut ( with no wood ), they should meet evenly with no gaps. You may need to remove and clean under the jaws.
Mine was soaked in oil and needed a good wipe down ( and spin with a cloth over it ) to keep from being splatted with packing oil.

Just a quick checklist.

Mark.
 
Mark gives good advice. If all of those things are correct and you still have wobble check to see if all the jaws touch when you crank them all the way in without anything in the chuck. If you still see wobble send it back and get another. I have one and it runs almost as good as my Vicmarc's.
 
Is it runout or wobble? Runout is a constant thing. You rotate the lathe with the handwheel and everything is secure but the center wanders. the point closest to the rest is the same every time.

Wobble is not constant. When you rotate the lathe, the piece sort of flops with gravity.

Runout is usually the insert or bore in the chuck. It fits snugly against the nut or bearings on the lathe spindle, and if an insert, bottoms against the chuck body. If neither of these conditions can be met, it's swap-out time. You've got advice on that.

Wobble is probably a grip problem. Only thing that could permit it that's purely chuck-based would be a loose scroll. Chuck your piece with the help of your tailstock. Snug the chuck, remove the supporting point and rotate. Shouldn't wander.
 
Thank you for the advice and information...I will defiantly give all your advice a good try and let you know what happens!
Thank you again.

~Rick~
 
That chuck is a clone of some higher-end chucks, such as Teknatool or Vicmarc. Instructions for one of those (I have the H6265, after all) advise setting the jaws not quite tight in the chuck, cranking all the way in to centered alignment, and only then tighten the jaws into the chuck. Also, check the fit of the adapter against the spindle boss. A thin flat washer of HDPE helps to maintain alignment. An occasional cleaning won't hurt either.

Joe
 
Another possible solution

Yeasr ago when I got my first Nova Chuck I had the same problem after I screwed the seperate insert into the chuck. Looking at it from my quality control background I decided the following:

In all likelyhood the tolerance allowance for both the chuck and the seperate insert lined up at exactly the same spot. Say the chuck has +.0010 at 12 o'clock and the insert is also +.0010 at 12 o'clock when installed. You now have a chuck that is .0020 out at 12 o'clock because the allowable tolerance just happened to line up on assembly.

The solution we found was to cut a washer from the lid of a butter container (CoolWhip, etc. also) and to insert it between the chuck and the screw in insert. The crushability of the plastic allows for the tollerances to not touch and PRESTO the chuck ran true.

I have never set up a chuck since without putting in the plastic washer during assembly.

Throughout my career in retail woodworking tool sales, I recommended this to all who bought chucks with seperate inserts and never had a single complaint about a chuck wobbling.


Hope this helps.
Clayton
 
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