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New Escoulon Eccentric Chuck

J

JDaniels

Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
30
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Location
Lexington, SC
Hello,
I am looking into purchasing an eccentric chuck and have heard that their is a new (3rd) type of Escoulon chuck. I am interested in finding out more about it, your thoughts on it, and any thoughts on the Sorby Eccentric chuck. Also, where can you buy the new Escoulon? Sorby is easy to find but I have not seen where I might could buy the new Escoulon.

Specifically, can you turn the Sorby at 500rpm. That is as slow as my lathe will run. I understand that the new Escoulon will allow you to adjust counter weights to the piece you are turning. In theory, if the weight is adjusted appropriately, I should be able to turn at 500 rpm without difficulty. Also, I believe that the Sorby will allow you to turn off-center and multi-axis, but the new Escoulon will only allow off off-center. I think that I have the terminology correct.
Thoughts?
Thank you,
Jay Daniels
 
500 rpm is too fast for unbalanced blank.
Stu in Tokyo has a video on You Tube on the 3rd chuck. I still think a slower speed variable speed lathe is essential for this kind of work (for safety reason). The counter balancer of the Escoulen chuck is set by trial and error. Always start slow, and gradually increase the speed to your comfort zone.
You can get the chuck direct from Escoulen.
http://www.escoulen.com/ang/pages/outil-rev.html
 
Thanks Gordon. I wish that I could say that I have not put an unbalanced blank on the lathe. I have and the lathe performed its little dance. I also had a chunk of piece of burl come off when I cut the last piece that was holding it on. It hit me in the shoulder which i felt for several days. I was busy ducking and looking for the off switch 😱

The lathe is variable speed but 500-550 is as slow as it will go. It is looking like the counterweight adjustment would be the way to go, but to be sure that the blank is balanced and the weights adjusted as well as possible and get mucho practice with smaller pieces until I have worked out a "system".
Thoughts?

I tried using the Axminster chuck...can we say hated it. From what I experienced, you can't turn much more than a coaster on it and even that might be touch-and-go. It ended up a useless piece of metal taking up space in my workshop.

Thanks,
Jay
 
Nuturner,
Thanks. Have you used the escoulen chuck on the woodcrafters website? If so, what can you tell me about it?
Thanks,
Jay
 
Woodworkers emporium had a sample of the new Escoulen chuck in their booth in Richmond. it is now made by Vicmarc. it uses features that were present in number 2 (I believe offset and excentric) and 3 (counter balance). as far as I know, originals #2 and #3 production has stopped (or will stop in the short term). I'm not sure #1 will still exist under Vicmarc name. the original #3 had only offset (parallel axis), not excentric (angled axis).
the new one has a base module on which you can adapt many accessories. it's quite a piece of mechanical engineering (quite heavy), with many possibilities. Woodworkers emporium might give you more information on this.


Pascal
 
I have the #3 Escoulen chuck, I got it from Jean-Francois when he was here in Japan last year.

You can see my YouTube video >> HERE <<

I've not had nearly the time to play with it that I want to, but there are a lot of really interesting possibilities with this chuck.

Cheers!
 
Pascal,
I called Woodworkers Emporium and they are probably going to carry the newest Escoulen, but it will be about 8 weeks before he has any. He was not sure how much it would cost yet either. He did show me a Kelton eccentric faceplate ( has counterweights) and an angled face plate and the 2 would run about $1000. It, however, needs at least a 1.25 x 8 TPI and I have only 1 x 8. It also weighs about +20 lbs (a real monster). I am probably going to wait until the new Escoulen's come in and call him back. With my lathe not running below 500rpm, I am going to have to have a counterweight system to even consider turning eccentrically. Thanks for all your help.
Jay
 
I have the original and the #2 Escoulen chucks. I use both, each for different applications. I like the #2 as I can set the work offcenter and also at and angle or eccentric. The largest I have turned has been some 8"-9" pieces at the max settings.

I start at around 400 on some pieces and 1000 on others. It all depends on the size of the blank. With the chuck set at an eccentric angle, there is some vibration with no wood mounted. I have a 1000 lb Vic with a 1 1/4" x 8 spindle, so I don't get a lot of vibration unless I dial the speed way up. As I reduce the piece I continually up the speed. I found that 1500 works good for the 6"-8" pieces when trying to get a good surface. The smaller pieces can hit 2000.

I have pretty much reached the limits of what I can turn on the Escoulen and bought a Kelton Angle Faceplate and the Vicmarc balancing system. I bought the balancing system primarily to be able to turn at higher rpm on the Escoulen ( I really don't like turning down at 400, 1000 is much better), but after getting the Kelton, it is a have to item with that device. Like the #2 Escoulen, it is intended for larger lathes that can handle the vibration.

The Sorby is primarly an offcenter chuck which will allow you to move the piece offcenter and also rotate it within certain limits to acieve various effects. It has some features that I wish were present on the Escoulen. It does not require a large lathe to use. Another source, if he still makes them, is Ken Grunke. He has a device which mounts on your regular chuck and allows offcenter work. It is more reasonable the the Sorby and would let you get into occenter work without a big cash outlay.

Offcenter/Eccentric turing is fun, just make sure your insurance (health, life, and AD&D) is paid up and you have plenty of body armor (Army surplus flak jackets make great turning smocks 😀). The hardest part is getting used to working close to interrupted cuts and keeping focues on what is and isn't there. A black background under neith the piece and light above will help with that. Also pieces of tape on the tool rest marking the "nogo zoen" will help when you are starting out. It is not for everyone, but I find myself turning more of these peices than "normal" ones these days. Just be careful and have fun.

Fog
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Fog Tanner said:
I start at around 400 on some pieces and 1000 on others. It all depends on the size of the blank. With the chuck set at an eccentric angle, there is some vibration with no wood mounted. I have a 1000 lb Vic with a 1 1/4" x 8 spindle, so I don't get a lot of vibration
Click to expand...

When a 1000# Vicmarc gets slight vibration, it doesn't mean a mini lathe would be comparable. It may jumping all over at half that speed. I believe the #2 Escoulen chuck didn't even come with 1" X 8 TPI spindle size. It is a bearing killer for smaller lathes.
 
Gordon,
You are correct, Escoulen only made the #2 chuck in the larger sizes to keep people from using that on a smaller lathe. It only came in the 1 1/4" x 8 and the two metric equivilents. With the amount of steel involved, if you were to use one on a mini I would be more worried about killing the lathe than the bearings.

Some years ago I had a hands on workshop with Stu Batty turning a normal bowl. The blank was unbalanced and I turned the speed up to that point and backed it down. Stu came along and dialed the speed up to the vibration point and beyond and it smoothed back out. When I first started using that chuck and I dialed the speed up to the vibration point, I tried "driving through" it as with a normal bowl. The speed increased OK, but so did the vibration - I was never able to find that harmonic and decided that I was getting too old to chase 1000lbs around. Had that been a mini lathe, it would have been like the only time I tried riding a steer.....
 
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