Recently updated on March 21st, 2023 at 03:30 pm

The 4-Jaw Chuck is one of the most versatile workholding solutions for turning, but many beginners are afraid of them.  They reason that it’s too much touchy trouble to align the 4-jaw so the work is centered.  Once you get used to this vital machinist’s skill, nothing could be further from the truth and they’re easy to set up.  But, there’s nothing wrong with making them even faster and easier.

I got a nice letter from Aaron Gough, who had just watched a video he found on CNCCookbook’s Lathe Workholding Page by David Lemeris:

David’s method is the one I use and it is super fast and easy.  If you were afraid of the 4-jaw, there’s no need to be, they’re easy to set up and extremely accurate once you know how.  One of the things Aaron noticed in the video was the very nice indicator holder that goes right into the QCTP (Quick Change Tool Post) on the lathe–very convenient.  So, he wanted to pass along his very nicely executed version as well as a drawing on his own blog:

QCTPIndicatorHolder

Click the image for the full-sized drawing…

Thanks Aaron, for contributing to the cause!

 

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