Metal Turning

A while back when I purchased the second Craftsman 109 lathe from chad he included a three jaw chuck. 

Finally!

I couldn't wait to change out the four jaw chuck to the new 3 jaw, self-centering chuck. I had a small project that I thought this would be perfect to test it out. You see, my Dad purchased a chuck and mounting plate for it off of ebay years ago (before I ever took a metals class), but when it came in we were so disappointed to see that the machining tolerances were so sloppy and the mounting plate was millimeters off from fitting the chuck. This chuck has been sitting ever since, but after taking Frankie's Industrial Processes class I felt confident attempting to fix the matter myself.

Perfect job for the metal lathe! 

As you can see from the above and below pictures, its a close, but the mounting plate hovers over where it should fit.

I chucked the mounting plate in the 3 jaw self centering jaws. If I was still using the four jaw chuck that I previously was stuck with, I would have been struggling with centering the stock for 30min to an hour. The 3 jaw chuck really helps speed up my workflow.

When I was actually cutting the steel I made sure to turn it on the lowest speed and use "Super Oil: The Premium Household Oil" to help with lubrication.

Success, it fits!

This simple little project really brought me out of the funk I was in on Sunday. Its crazy that something as simple as turning millimeters of steel put me in a much better mood. I always, and will always love, learning a new skill. 

It is always wise to invest in yourself!