Expansion Jaws Less than 1 Inch

[John K Jordan]

Okay, pictures. Two of the milled chuck and the first top I finished on it.Attachment 372394Attachment 372395Attachment 372396Thanks everyone for your generous time and suggestions.
Scott

Excellent, great looking jaws! You could put some gun bluing on them for a bit of corrosion protection.

And finally, a good use for Easy Wood carbide tools! GD&R

(PS: you're also allowed to post photos of some finished mills. Hint, hint. For inspiration.)

[Scott Grossman]

I know the carbide tools have their detractors, but aside from milling chuck jaws I find them helpful. Black palm is just about as bad on a gouge as a chuck jaw. There is something horribly abrasive in it. Using a carbide tool I can get a shape in place that's too slow with a HSS gouge. Also, voids filled with crushed stone are edge killers and the carbide tools get the job done. Not much finesse in them, but they work.
Here are a few pictures of finished mills (thanks for your enthusiasm John!). The curvy "Russian Onion Dome" was my first design, and a friend who was a bit of a patron asked for a more 'contemporary' design for a wedding gift. So, I eventually came up with the sleeker mill. The curvy one is way easier to turn. The sleek one is basically one continuous slow curve and there is no place to hide discontinuities!
Coolibah-Burl-Peppermill-1075x1500.jpg
Cherry-Crotch1-2150x3000.jpg
c_AmboynaBurl41.jpg
Chianti-Peppermill-1075x1500.jpg
The last one was my second attempt at dying wood and the use of a CA finish, inspired by Ted Sokolowski's DVD. The first was a bit of a failure, but that's how it goes, eh?
Scott

[Brice Rogers]

Interesting about the Titan chuck being undersized. It should be quite possible to re-tap the chuck. Don't mess with the spindle. I presume that if you put a mic or caliper on it, the major OD would be somewhat under 1.250 inches. If not, then Robust actually made the spindle oversize (probably unlikely).

It is surprising that the Titan chuck is not manufactured to National thread standards. They have probably existed for over 90 years. But, if it is made off shore, that could explain it.

If you re-tap the chuck yourself, either do it on your lathe (using the tailstock to guarantee alignment) or on a drill press (using a pin in the chuck to guarantee alignment). When you hand tap some like a chuck, it is important that you tap at exactly 90 degrees so that you aren't taking off more material on one side than the other. For taping bolts, it isn't that important but for a chuck it is.

[Scott Grossman]

Thank you for the helpful suggestions Brice. I wouldn't have done this correctly.
Scott

[John K Jordan]

Thank you for the helpful suggestions Brice. I wouldn't have done this correctly.
Scott

If I had such a chuck I might try to fix it without a big tap. First thing I'd try is put some Dykem Blue on the threads on both pieces then when they are screwed (gently) together as they will go the blue might show exactly where the tolerances are tight.

Whether the interference is on the outer points of the threads, at the bottom of the troughs, or on the sides of the threads might suggest a way to fix things. I can imagine some things to try.

I wish I could get my hands on your chuck and spindle to take a look! A few months ago I repaired things for a friend, in this case the spindle threads were damaged and nothing could be mounted. Dressing the inside threads of a chuck might be more challenging but probably not impossible. The fact that spindle threads are quite coarse makes me think it might not be that difficult.

Another completely different approach might be to contact the chuck maker and see if they can suggest a fix. Maybe you are not the first person who ran into this.

JKJ

[Scott Grossman]

That is a good suggestion John. If nothing else I can learn a bit about the process from tracking where the tight spot is and if I'm making progress with a gentle tapping (if there is any such thing, I'm a noob).
I had thought about contacting Multistar, but it seems they are not in business. The assets were acquired by some German firm I haven't heard about. I found the chuck via The Sanding Glove, but I sort of doubt they have deep expertise as a retailer.

[Joe Bradshaw]

Scott, I have the Robust Liberty and it has a 1 1/4 x 8 spindle thread. I have used a 1 1/4 x 8 tap to clean up threads. Some of my chucks and faceplates were helped by this.
Joe

[John K Jordan]

I know the carbide tools have their detractors, but aside from milling chuck jaws I find them helpful. Black palm is just about as bad on a gouge as a chuck jaw. There is something horribly abrasive in it. ...

Which are black palm, the last one? I have some pieces but haven't tried turning it yet. The Wood Database indicates it is " quite difficult to work with both machine and hand tools", a monocot (like bamboo), but can be dense enough to sink in water. Sounds fun!

I especially like the shapes of the last two. Clever treatment of the tops. The way the curves of the top flow into the bottom on the second one is attractive.

Curious, which mechanism do you use? Do you have a favorite source?

JKJ

[Scott Grossman]

No black palm here. The last one is actually curly maple that I died a "chianti' color, then finished with cyanoacrylate.

I have a love-hate thing with black palm. It is the most difficult 'wood' I've worked with. Dulls tools quickly. It is sort of hard to get cuts on. The fibers tend to either fracture or just shatter in clumps. I lost a mill that way when a chunk just fractured off near the neck of the mill. Couldn't save it. When it works well, it looks just awesome, especially looking down on the endgrain.

I use the CrushGrind mechanism. They are just outstanding. They crush peppercorns great, even the larger peppercorn sizes like Penzey's Extra Bold work in the CG mills but don't grind well in the metal mills. The CG mills are ceramic on the faces, so they can be used for pepper or salt.They are very durable as well. I think they give a cleaner look too, as there is no knurled knob. They're a bit more work, but I love em.

I do a price check whenever I order more. Usually order larger lots. I've gotten them from Packard and Craft Supplies. If there is a better source I'd love to know.

Scott

[John K Jordan]

...I have a love-hate thing with black palm. It is the most difficult 'wood' I've worked with. Dulls tools quickly. It is sort of hard to get cuts on. The fibers tend to either fracture or just shatter in clumps. I lost a mill that way when a chunk just fractured off near the neck of the mill. Couldn't save it. When it works well, it looks just awesome, especially looking down on the endgrain.

I use the CrushGrind mechanism. ...

Thanks, I don't make many mills but use the crush grind when I do. They are just kind of expensive, though. Here's pepper and salt in our kitchen for about 10 years now, cocobolo and dogwood. The picture doesn't do the dogwood justice so I'd like to show another. Dogwood is one of my favorite woods to turn! (It's a pain to make two identical shapes - I actually have to pay attention!) With these contrasting woods I finally can grab the salt without having to think too hard.

peppermills_w.jpg peppermill_dogwood.jpg

If you would like some terrible wood to turn I have a 100 year old walnut mantel you can have. It is full of silica or something, so hard it destroyed an expensive Starrett bi-metal bandsaw blade with just a couple of minutes of cutting.

From what I read of black palm it needs to be first saturated with sanding sealer or something. I tend to soak thin CA glue into wood with an attitude.

JKJ