Jacobs collet chuck info

[Glenn Brooks]

Hi all,

A local guy has a Jacobs collet chuck for sale. I recently bought a lathe with a 5c quick change drawbar assembly? Is there any advantage in having a Jacobs chuck??

I have not used collets save for one time. So don't really know if I would use this or not, except these Jacobs. Bucks don't come vey often locally.

Thanks

Glenn

[spro]

When you already have 5C , it may be a stretch but the Jacobs "Rubber Flex" are very good as a collet "chuck". My experience is with the 900 series. This system came with a Rockwell lathe of L00 taper lock. These collets have a wider range than spring collets and in a way, they grip better. The chuck body is a balanced unit with relatively low mass. They are also an early version of "Quick Change" collets.
However. There is no point to consider for your lathe unless the chuck fits your spindle.

[BadDog]

I have a Rubberflex, and for my experience it works really well if your stock is long enough. I have not had great luck using their "plugs" to allow gripping shorter stock, and I have ripped the stock out of the collet a few times when gripping shorter lengths (using plugs). But all the collets work really well if you have enough to grip and tighten them by directions, which are not at all what I expected (regarding using the ring to "hammer").

[spro]

Otoh, it may be they are a smoking good deal for the collet sets alone. I don't favor busting sets up but it happens. The collets themselves should be very accurate. They call them "rubber flex" but the ones I have do not have any evidence of rot, even thought they have seen coolants, time and temperature variations. I only saw that one time but I don't know wth they went thru.
Edit by important reply: I didn't get that either but they are much deeper than the gripping area of 5C. It really can't work right unless the work deep into the jaws.
I don't like the hammer thing either. Wt! a longer hook spanner maybe? All this and then whack on the bearings? Stuff like this ...
Okay. If the spanner to remove was longer, it would not impact the bearings the same way. It would be a wider circumference of impact.

[Glenn Brooks]

Hmmm, don't know if their are any collets!
Must ask!

[John Evans]

First and most important ??? does it fit your spindle ,second ?? does it have a full set of collets?? Collets can be very pricey buying 1 or 2 here and there. I now have such a 5-C collection that I'm thinking of selling my Jacobs set up for d1-4 spindle with a full set of collets.looking on ebay I'm thinking about $400.