Offset Chuck from Bench Leg Cutoffs

[James Combs]

I made me an offset chuck today.:cool: Wanted to try making some pendants.


150618
I had some left over cutoffs from a new work bench I just made. Triple and Quad laminated 3/4" x 3" x ~5".

150619
So I grabbed one and threw it on the table saw to cut a dove tail slot for the slide... oops:eek: made the cut on the wrong side... oh well there's more where that one came from.:D

150620
That's better. Stuck it on the lathe and rounded all the corners (after getting nicked by one of the corners :mad:) Added some aluminum flashing (same as used on the WSII) in the bottom to make a nice slippery surface and to shim the slide slightly above the slide way.

150621
Added a sacrificial piece of scrap to the slide for mounting the pendant blank to.

150622
Here it is mounted to the lathe with its first pendant almost finished.:rolleyes:

150623
There's a set screw through the side to lock the slide in place. I ground off the point of the screw after threading it through the slide way wall. It now acts as a Jam screw and doesn't try to thread itself into the slide.

150625
This photo shows offset markings on the slide. 0 and 3/8" are showing. 0 would be slide centered and of course 3/8" is the current offset setting.

150626
This shot gives a good view of the pendant and the offset used for the pendant.

Over all it worked pretty good. I will use it as a prototype and redo it later in metals now that I have my metal lathe/mill combo installed.

Oh yeah the pendant. Still have to finish the back of it. I will probably have to do the back by hand but it is sure hard to hold. I think I will finish the back of the next pendant blank first then then flip it over to do the front and all there would be left to finish is the center of the hole and maybe some on the outside edges. That should make it a lot less work to complete.:)

Comments and critiques will be welcomed.

[alex carey]

thats the bees knees right there, looks pretty well made and functional. Nicely done, looking forward to more of those pendants.

[Richard Madison]

James, How is the pendant blank attached? Glue? Double stick tape? Cool offset chuck.

[David Walser]

James,

That's amazing. Simply amazing.

Nice pendant, too.

[John Keeton]

You can take the boy out of the engineering department, but you can't take the engineering out of the boy!!:D;)

Great work, JD! So, do the pens take a back seat for awhile?

BTW, I bought an extra faceplate from PSI, and was very pleased with the quality vs. price. If you need another one to dedicate to your jig, you may want to look at theirs.

[Thom Sturgill]

Good job! I've been thinking of getting one of the commercial units.

I'm trying to wrap my head around this, not sure if it make sense - If you made the base two pieces that rotated and locked, you could move the offset radially without remounting the pendant. That would give crossing arcs I think.

[Mike Golka]

If you made the base two pieces that rotated and locked, you could move the offset radially without remounting the pendant. That would give crossing arcs I think.

Thom that's exactly what I did when I made mine a while back. I use double sided tape to mount the blank and it seems to work quite well.
Here is a like to my chuck.
ChuckII (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134967&highlight=pendant+chuck)
The prototype: ChuckI (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134234&highlight=offset+chuck)

[Paul Douglass]

I have the current fade pendant chuck from the IAP forum and actually this chuck you made here looks like a better idea and add the rotating base it would really give you infinite possibilities. The IAP one is set in different positions by screws and therefore limited. Is your set screw just threaded through the wood or did you put in threaded inserts? I can see how a metal one would last longer, but some of use poor lads don't have a metal lathe.

Nice work, both yours and Mike's.

Must be other possibilities of an off-sit chuck like this in addition to pendents, like maybe decorated small box lids(?)

P.S. James, it looks like the "bottom" of the sliding piece is curved, is it and if so why?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Well done James. Looks like it will do the job. Nice pendent.

[Richard Madison]

Another very cool chuck Mike. James could easily add the indexing feature to his I think.

[CW McClellan]

And people won't donate $6 yr. to Saw Mill Creek and get information like this and other information to save money and time -- In the South thats a FREE LOADER:eek:

Thanks -I knew some one would come up with a simple project --A1++
You did well THANKS:D

[Steve Schlumpf]

James - well thought out! Sure looks like it works great!

[Scott Hussey]

James,

Nice work...I love the ingenuity and creativity of this group. New or improved ideas every day.

I wish I had time to do the things like this, but for now, I'll sit and watch you guys do this kind of stuff.

I'm still trying to figure out how to turn a bowl.

Scott

[James Combs]

James, How is the pendant blank attached? Glue? Double stick tape? Cool offset chuck.
Using double stick tape. Works fine but done try to use the same piece of tape twice:o. The pendant will pop off.:eek:



You can take the boy out of the engineering department, but you can't take the engineering out of the boy!!:D;)

Great work, JD! So, do the pens take a back seat for awhile?

BTW, I bought an extra faceplate from PSI, and was very pleased with the quality vs. price. If you need another one to dedicate to your jig, you may want to look at theirs.
Not too far back. Just needed to make the wife something nice for her upcoming B-Day.:)



Thom that's exactly what I did when I made mine a while back. I use double sided tape to mount the blank and it seems to work quite well.
Here is a like to my chuck.
ChuckII (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134967&highlight=pendant+chuck)
The prototype: ChuckI (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134234&highlight=offset+chuck)
Ditto. See my comment above.


I have the current fade pendant chuck from the IAP forum and actually this chuck you made here looks like a better idea and add the rotating base it would really give you infinite possibilities. The IAP one is set in different positions by screws and therefore limited. Is your set screw just threaded through the wood or did you put in threaded inserts? I can see how a metal one would last longer, but some of use poor lads don't have a metal lathe.

Nice work, both yours and Mike's.

Must be other possibilities of an off-sit chuck like this in addition to pendents, like maybe decorated small box lids(?)

P.S. James, it looks like the "bottom" of the sliding piece is curved, is it and if so why?
- Having a problem picturing a "arching" or "rotating base". Is there a sketch or drawing or example someplace I could see??:confused:
- The screw is only through the wood but I did wax it. Will be set screws of course in the metal one.
- Probably an optical delusion:D if I am clear on what you are saying. Here is a side view maybe it will help.
150656



Another very cool chuck Mike. James could easily add the indexing feature to his I think.
I'm not real clear on how an indexing feature would work or be used. Is there a example someplace.:confused:

[Thom Sturgill]

I'm not real clear on how an indexing feature would work or be used. Is there a example someplace.:confused:

James, Look at the ChuckII (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134967&highlight=pendant+chuck) and ChuckI (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134234&highlight=offset+chuck) links you quoted above (and I linked here). I suppose that I am going to have to make one of these this summer.:rolleyes: I know several ladies that would love pendants. My DIL does beadwork and I'm sure would want all that I'd be willing to make for her.

[James Combs]

James, Look at the ChuckII (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134967&highlight=pendant+chuck) and ChuckI (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134234&highlight=offset+chuck) links you quoted above (and I linked here). I suppose that I am going to have to make one of these this summer.:rolleyes: I know several ladies that would love pendants. My DIL does beadwork and I'm sure would want all that I'd be willing to make for her.

And I thought I was being original.:o I probably saw one on the creek and built it from memory instead of originality:D. I should have searched on "offset chucks" and wouldn't have had to overwork my brain like I did.:D:eek:

[James Combs]

James, Look at the ChuckII (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134967&highlight=pendant+chuck) and ChuckI (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134234&highlight=offset+chuck) links you quoted above (and I linked here). I suppose that I am going to have to make one of these this summer.:rolleyes: I know several ladies that would love pendants. My DIL does beadwork and I'm sure would want all that I'd be willing to make for her.


I checked out both links and now I understand about the indexing. Cool idea. I will implement it on the final metal version.