1 Attachment(s)
A 4 jaw chuck and pocket knife I made
These photos show a cathead chuck,the 18th.C. equivalent of a 4 jaw chuck. Once again,you see the disregard for safety practiced back then. They even put white lead into rich people's bread to make it look whiter,knowing it was poison.
You were expected to keep your hands away from danger if you were a competent workman. I made this for the treadle lathe in the Gunsmith's shop.Although I made many attachments,including the lathe itself,I only got photos made of this piece.
The Cathead chuck is so called because of the "whiskers" sticking out of it. Anything with protrusions was dubbed a cathead,including the protruding timbers in front of a ship which the anchor was hung from,to keep it from banging into the hull.
Fortunately,this chuck goes on a low powered lathe,but can still tear up your knuckles.
This is a more useful chuck than it might appear. It is capable of holding odd shaped forged pieces such as the tumbler in a gun lock,so that some piece may be turned round.
It also can be adjusted to hold parts at odd angles,which a modern 4 jaw chuck cannot do. Iron was not rolled very true in those days,so an accurate 3 jaw self centering chuck was not considered necessary.The chuck is about 3" in diameter.
The knife was a gift I made for a customer.It is not a copy of any knife,but the design details,and technology were available in the 17th.C.. The half "ram's horn" thumbscrew tightens the blade. The broad blade is typical of many early knives. The turnings in the ivory,and the offset where the blade is joined are also typical of some folding knives,though others did not have the offset. I wanted the knife to look as archaic as possible.The casual stamping of the initials are typical,though the maker's mark was a professionally made 1 piece stamp,and was accurate,provided,of course,that it came from a good maker.
