What is the 34706 secret handshake?

Status
Not open for further replies.

sasjzl

New User
Jim
Got it. The 34706. It fit in the trunk of my Volvo 240 (with the spare tire relocated). I have already busted/stripped my first handle on the tool rest but I am very, very happy with this bad boy. First thing I did was load up 360 pounds of cement bags and after reinforcing the frame with some hardwood. I first tryed just laying wood slats across the bottom frame like you would on a bed and found out really quick that the sheet metal was not up to it. Half the bags obeyed gravity and ended up on the floor bending the sheet metal. There was no room for any more than the six 60 pound bags and they just barely fit in there.

Now I am wrestling around with this chuck or not chuck issue. I bought a PSI Woodworking "Mini Grip Lath Chuck" from Penn Industries about a month ago and have finally decided to send it back because you can now turn it past the point where the things that the jaws attach to and slide on fall out on the ground and I had to mess around putting them back on. Finally they spun off when I started the lathe after spending longer than I would like to admit remounting them. I thought it was a very good deal because it was about 60 or 70 dollars and had three sets of jaws. I probably just know enough to be dangerous with it but I could almost never get anything mounted in there without it getting out of true. Maybe this is my lesson in you get what you pay for with chucks. I think it is pretty amazing that many of these chucks they are selling at Woodcraft and Klingspor cost more than my lathe. Are they really THAT hard to make correctly?

So my next newbie question is for someone who is most interested in hollow body bowls is there an alternative to spending big bucks (for me) for a four jaw chuck? I have heard of old school folks who attach a piece of wood to a faceplate then stick the tenon that they create at the bottom of their work into a fixed hole that they have put on either the faceplate if it is thick enough or on a mortise in another piece of wood attached to the face plate....then use glue. If there are people out there turning bowls without using these jaw chucks I would love to know the procedure.

Thanks very much,
Jim Lee
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Jim, check your chuck & jaws. There should be numbers stamped in both. The jaw asembly has a spiral thread that winds the jaws into the center and they must be installed in 1, 2, 3 sequence to be true. You'll need to turn the chuck wrench until you see the thread start to appear in the #1 jaw seat and set it in so ti catches the thread, rotate (tighten) the chuck to the #2 seat, etc. This may be the reason the chuck isn't running true if you wound the jaws out.
 

NCTurner

New User
Gary
Jim,

I strongly suggest that you spend some time doing a bit of reading and watching some good videos. Some suggested vids are Bill Grumbine's and Lyle Jamieson's, both can be rented from smartflix to save a few bucks. A quick google search returned these results.

http://www.hockenbery-woodturnings.com/bowl from a log.pdf

http://www.kevinsbrady.net/bowl.html

http://billswoodcreations.com/turn-green.html

Chuck

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5CC22564E4744800&search_query=woodturning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBTHw9h388M
 

sasjzl

New User
Jim
The jaws are clearly marked as is their placement on the chuck. My problem is the things that the jaws ride on. If I spend alot of time I can figure out how to get them back in, evenly, but once in I can open it up too wide and they become air born. This just started happening recently and might well be a result of my mishandling it when removing or attaching to the lathe but I don't feel safe with it now. It must have had some sort of 'stop' that kept it from flying off the chuck that is not working anymore. If there is a way to do without these chucks I would like to know it. It is going to have to be an absolutey vital part if I am going to spend more than what my lathe cost on this.

Thanks very much,
Jim Lee
 

sasjzl

New User
Jim
I am all over the Richard Raffan books and videos. The only reference I saw to truing up a piece after chucking it was seeing him give it a light tap on the video and referring to the same in his book.
How he knows where exactly to tap it and with what force is way over my head. Perhaps he has Superman eyes that can trace an axis in a single bound.

Thanks,
Jim Lee
 

NCTurner

New User
Gary
The jaws are clearly marked as is their placement on the chuck. My problem is the things that the jaws ride on. If I spend alot of time I can figure out how to get them back in, evenly, but once in I can open it up too wide and they become air born. This just started happening recently and might well be a result of my mishandling it when removing or attaching to the lathe but I don't feel safe with it now. It must have had some sort of 'stop' that kept it from flying off the chuck that is not working anymore. If there is a way to do without these chucks I would like to know it. It is going to have to be an absolutey vital part if I am going to spend more than what my lathe cost on this.

Thanks very much,
Jim Lee

You seem to be missing a small pin stop in one of the jaws.
 

CarvedTones

Board of Directors, Vice President
Andy
OK, "old school" speaks...

Why not do an old fashioned face plate turning just to be sure it is something past the headstock if nothing else?
If you screw a piece of wood onto the faceplate, turn it round and drill a mortise in it on the lathe, then glue in a pretty tight tenon and let it dry, when you turn you will have a blank that spins dead on an axis or else there is a problem at the headstock end. If it turns true, then you either have a bad chuck or aren't chucking properly. At least you will know what to look closer at next.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Is there any reason to suspect the headstock spindle may be bent? Can it be checked with a dial indicator?
 

Robert Arrowood

New User
Robert Arrowood
I've got that same chuck"Thanks to Ken Massingal".I've dropped the jaws out of mine a few time's:BangHead:.And yes they are a pain to put back.AS far as the pin Ncturner talked about.I don't have one:dontknow:.The first question I've got is are you leaving the jaws loose? and how often are you checking to see if they have worked loose?As far as outta round, if the jaws are lined up right you will turn the piece round.

I used to cut and use a tennon but not anymore.Had one shear off.Now I measure 1in off dead center make a mark. Then I turn on the lathe to make a circle with the pencil.That gives me a 2in diamiter mark.Now I cut a mortice about 1/4 deep.I have found that the bowl will stay where it should.
Thats my secret handshake.But I do have a problem with my new lathe:eek:.I'll start a new thread on that though.Don't want to high jack your's:gar-Bi.
Robert Arrowood
 

sasjzl

New User
Jim
The jaws are as tight as tight can be. I managed to bend and bust both of those two little rolled pins that you are supposed to use to tighten the jaws. That is how tight. Too tight. I also learned in the last day how to put the sliders that the jaws ride on together like Al Pacino in scent of a woman with his personal side arm. Now I see why its called a scroll chuck. The fatal flaw with my PSI chuck is that there is nothing that keeps the sliders in when the jaws are close to fully expanded. Not fully expanded but close to it. There was something to stop it from going that far before and whatever it is it ain't there no more. Having one or more of those slider things, with the jaw, flying out while turning is not a very safe feeling. I called PSI and they gave me a return authorization so it is off to Philadelphia tomorrow.

As for the off axis deal, like where you put your lathe chisel on top of the bowl and it bounces up and down, I am beginning to think that it is a function of the (green) wood getting over heated from my unskilled turning and warping while I am working on it. For example I was just turning a bowl that I had cut a tenon, cut a mortise for a tight fit, glued it in and with it in that self made 'chuck' it has managed to change shape in enough that my chisel is still bouncing up and down on it. I don't think what I am experiencing is the fault of any chuck. I think it is the wood moving around as I heat it up. I think. I am getting the Nova G3 chuck that Greg recommended in one of the above messages.

By the way, has anyone else had the middle lever on the HF tool rest strip out? If so were you able to figure out anything bettern than what I have now with a 9 mm wrench hanging off of it?

Thanks,
Jim Lee
 

NCTurner

New User
Gary
I had a FEW strip out, since I had the warranty I had them all replaced. I actually fibbed a little bit when I called and told them they where all stripped just to have a few replacements.
 

sasjzl

New User
Jim
Paydirt! I got the warranty also. I could not resist as the price of the lathe was so inexpensive.

Thanks to all that helped with the coupons. These guys are crazy.

Jim Lee
 

NCTurner

New User
Gary
Jim I'd be happy to swing by and show you what I know migt help a bit with some stuff. Let me know when.
 

CarvedTones

Board of Directors, Vice President
Andy
Paydirt! I got the warranty also. I could not resist as the price of the lathe was so inexpensive.

Thanks to all that helped with the coupons. These guys are crazy.

Jim Lee

Are they still doing "No Questions Asked - Full Replacement" warranties? I had a sales person explaining it to me a couple of years back with a lot of not so subtle hints about how it worked. The main hint was that they replaced non working units, but not ones that just rattle or have gotten louder.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top