Author Topic: How Precise is Your Chuck?  (Read 3582 times)

Offline 75Plus

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How Precise is Your Chuck?
« on: October 28, 2009, 01:50:25 PM »
NickG's thread regarding chuck runout in the "How Do I" forum plus a comment by my son prompted me to do some research on the chuck that came with my X2 mill.

I set up my DTI and started measuring. Starting at the spindle I found the runout to be less than .0005"



Moving to the top of the chuck sleeve I found that each time the chuck was tightened a different reading might be found. The largest error I found was .0105" and once it was as little as .0045"



Moving to the middle of the sleeve the reading improved to .008". It once measured .006"



Moving to the bottom of the sleeve, just above the teeth for the key. I got a reading of .007". For some reason this reading was fairly consistent each time I measured at that point.



Measuring the chuck body, just at the chamfer, the reading went back to .0005", about the same as the spindle measured.



To represent the tool runout I chose a center drill as it was ground and polished. Here I found that each time the tool was inserted it would measure slightly different. The best reading I got was .00125" but I also got as high as .0025".
This was done by removing and replacing the same tool. While I did not try it I would suspect that a different diameter tool would give a different set of readings.



As the sleeve runout has no bearing on accuracy  it really does not matter. The interesting part is that while the chuck body was very concentric the variation in the jaws spoiled it.

Joe

Offline Bernd

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Re: How Precise is Your Chuck?
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2009, 09:01:50 PM »
Joe,

That would be one of my least concerns of how much a chuck such as that runs out. It's the jaws holding the tool that needs to be accurate. Albrecht chucks are the most accurate and ofcourse higher in price.

[qoute]The best reading I got was .00125" but I also got as high as .0025".[/unquote]

That's very good. I can't see checking to with in .00001 for chuck run out though.

Bernd
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Offline NickG

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Re: How Precise is Your Chuck?
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2009, 06:35:58 AM »
Joe,

Thanks for that. That seems good to me for a chuck. I remember doing my ER collets when I got them and don't think it was that much better. A good bench mark to go off anyway. I would be happy with that though.

Cheers,

Nick
Location: County Durham (North East England)