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Lee DeRaud
04-20-2006, 5:35 PM
This is the $42.50, model G8784 that (I think) a few of you have already. Showed up yesterday, thought I'd get a couple of opinions here before I call customer service.

First, when I unwrapped it, it was literally dripping oil. I understand the concepts of corrosion prevention and lubrication as well as the next person, and this was simply about 10X the required amount by any rational standard. So first job, disassemble and degrease, relube with the dry teflon wonder-lube I use on my guns. Oy. (My mood wasn't helped by the fact that the catalog I requested was in the bottom of the box, and came out with about a cubic foot of styrofoam packing peanuts stuck to it by static.)

Second, discovered during step 1 that there are no, repeat no, jaw number markings on either the jaws or the chuck body...good thing I noticed that after the first one and kept track. You'd think the tolerances would be tight enough that it wouldn't matter which jaw went in which slot, but on this one it sure seems to: the registration between jaws and chuck is a bit ambiguous. I think the technical term is "sloppy", which is the same word I want to use for the internal fit as well: the inner jaws have at least 1/32" of play on the scroll.

Got it back together and threw it on the lathe for a smoke test. The threads bottom out before the rear flange comes anywhere close to the flange on the spindle, but it seems solid enough, so I drop down to the slowest pulleys, stand back, and hit the switch. No evil noises, but visible runout: looks like the front face isn't square to the spindle, plus it's slightly out-of-round, which may be the jaw fit problem I mentioned before.

Is this just a case of "you get what you pay for", or is this particular unit hosed up?

John Hart
04-20-2006, 5:48 PM
I gotta say Lee....You got a lemon for sure! I noted none of the discrepancies you describe. Mine had a light film of protection, no visible runout and the jaws behaved as I expected. What did they do...send you the first prototype?
Worthy of a complaint and some rapid action...regardless of the price.

Lee DeRaud
04-20-2006, 6:23 PM
Ok, I popped an email to their customer service address...not really in the right frame of mind to talk to them at the moment. Will follow up with a call tomorrow if I don't hear back.

Thanks for the input.

Jim Becker
04-20-2006, 6:30 PM
The part that bothers me the most is where it will not seat against the bottom of the spindle combined with the run-out.

Lee DeRaud
04-20-2006, 7:01 PM
The part that bothers me the most is where it will not seat against the bottom of the spindle combined with the run-out.No kidding. The threads on a Jet mini spindle stop about 1/8" short of the flange. The chuck I have from PSI has a relief cut in the threads to clear that unthreaded portion of the spindle, the Grizzly part doesn't. And it's not just a question of a bad insert, because there isn't one: the Grizzly threads are integral to the rear chuck body.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
04-20-2006, 7:13 PM
Mine works just fine, none of the problems you are talking about.

To clean mine, I just stuck it on the lathe, stood back, and turned it on :D

Worked for me! ;)

Lee DeRaud
04-20-2006, 7:56 PM
To clean mine, I just stuck it on the lathe, stood back, and turned it on :D

Worked for me! ;)No way was I doing that: my garage would have looked like the back of a biker who had over-oiled his chain.:eek: When I said "dripping with oil", I was not exaggerating...and there was what looked like cosmoline under the oil: haven't seen anything that messy since I refurbed a WWII-vintage rifle that had been in storage for 40 years.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
04-20-2006, 8:12 PM
No way was I doing that: my garage would have looked like the back of a biker who had over-oiled his chain.:eek: When I said "dripping with oil", I was not exaggerating...and there was what looked like cosmoline under the oil: haven't seen anything that messy since I refurbed a WWII-vintage rifle that had been in storage for 40 years.

You do know that I call my workshop "The Dungeon".......... right ;)

OK, mine was not "dripping" with oil, but moist, and I did wipe it, a bit, but I was so excited to get it, I had it on the lathe in no time, and the first time I turned it on...... Yep, just like a bike with an over oiled chain :D

Cheers!

Curt Fuller
04-20-2006, 8:31 PM
Don't know if it's exactly a 'get what you pay for' situation, but at $42.50 QC probably isn't at the top of the their mission statement. If you returned it you might get lucky and get one that was built by someone with a couple more days of on the job experience. I've heard a few horror stories about Grizzlys return policies too though.

Bart Leetch
04-20-2006, 8:58 PM
Mine works just fine, none of the problems you are talking about.

To clean mine, I just stuck it on the lathe, stood back, and turned it on :D

Worked for me! ;)


Gee Stu I wondered what the brown stripe up the front of your chest & on up over your face was.:eek: :D

Barry Stratton
04-20-2006, 9:21 PM
Lee,

I've got the same chuck. It is my first and only, so have nothing "real" to compare it to. That said, I agree that it is a tad "sloppy", but didn't expect precision for 42 bucks. Mine does not have any apparant run out, it is square to the spindle, and doesn't appear to be out of round. It does bottom out before coming in contact with the flange, but seems to hold just fine. Mine wasn't soaked in oil like yours (Stu's box had oil stains on the outside though......) and I was less than happy with the static peanuts myself!!!

I believe I got what I paid for - a solid, decent chuck for 42 bucks. If mine had the problems yours did, I'd be on the phone to Grizzly ASAP. Sounds like you got a lemon.

Paul Downes
04-20-2006, 11:22 PM
I also started out with that chuck. My biggest complaint is that when i turn a bowl on a face plate and then try to chuck it in the chuck, it is far from concentric. I usually try to tap it into some semblence of round but often have to re-turn the outside some. It is near the top of my list of want-to-buy-tools, to get a better chuck. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I can't help myself, I'm a diemaker by trade, and I'm not used to millwright accuracy. :D

Robert E Lee
04-20-2006, 11:41 PM
Lee, as an experiment put some flat washers on the spindle to take up the extra space and see if it runs any straighter that way.
Bob.

Lee DeRaud
04-20-2006, 11:49 PM
Lee, as an experiment put some flat washers on the spindle to take up the extra space and see if it runs any straighter that way.
Bob.Great minds think alike: that takes out maybe half of the axial runout ("wobble") but doesn't seem to help the radial runout ("shake").

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
04-21-2006, 12:16 AM
Gee Stu I wondered what the brown stripe up the front of you chest & on up over your face was.:eek: :D

Hey hey..... It's "Stu", not "Stupid" ;)

I got the heck out of the way before I hit the power switch! :D

Robert E Lee
04-21-2006, 1:28 AM
Lee, I think you got a bad one and need a return label.
Bob

Bernie Weishapl
04-21-2006, 9:47 AM
Lee I think Corey Hallagan got a bad one his first order. He sent it back and got another one that I think is ok. You might PM him and find out what he did.

Frank Fusco
04-21-2006, 11:11 AM
Don't know if it's exactly a 'get what you pay for' situation, but at $42.50 QC probably isn't at the top of the their mission statement. If you returned it you might get lucky and get one that was built by someone with a couple more days of on the job experience. I've heard a few horror stories about Grizzlys return policies too though.

Much of my shop came from Grizzly. I have had to return a few items and get tech support on some other things. My experience is that in the first year (their warranty) and with the receipt (their stated policy), nothing stands in the way of them giving first-rate service to the customer and with a smile. I had to return a defective chuck. Before giving me the replacement it was actually placed on a lathe and checked out. Can't ask for better than that. After that year, you pay for the call to tech support and they give free advice but will SELL you needed fix-it parts.

Lee DeRaud
04-21-2006, 1:59 PM
Talked to Grizzly this morning: they agree this one is a lemon and are replacing it. Tech support guy was very surprised at the amount of oil/grease still on the chuck and completely mystified about the lack of jaw index numbers. New one will get sent out later today (with a note on the order to clean and inspect it first) and they'll refund me for the old chuck and all the extra shipping when they get it back (that was my choice, to speed things up a bit).

So far, so good...stay tuned.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
04-21-2006, 2:19 PM
That is great to hear.

I've not used my a whole bunch, yet, but is for what I've done, I sure like it!

Cheers!

Lee DeRaud
04-21-2006, 2:40 PM
That is great to hear.

I've not used my a whole bunch, yet, but is for what I've done, I sure like it!

Cheers!Yeah. Upon closer inspection (not like I can do anything useful with it), root cause is mismachining on one of the inner jaws: the groove the outer jaw registers on has a step on the inner edge...way too wide at the top, way too narrow at the bottom. I could probably live with it: this chuck was intended to have a set of my homemade flat jaws permanently attached. But I'd just as soon have a good one underneath in case I want to use it for something else.

terry richards
04-21-2006, 7:23 PM
I also ordered one of these a while back. It had a lot - I mean A LOT of wobble (body face not perpendicular to the centerline of the bore). They accepted the return without question & sent me a new one, although it took a few weeks. The second one is nearly dead-on straight. The jaws are a bit sloppy, but it works ok for small pieces. I use it for rounding out a bunch of blanks where the stock isn't in the jaws for more than a few minutes, and the rotation is slower. I switch to another chuck for finish turning.