I want to put a small chuck at the other end of my headstock

[cuemaker]

I have enough room from the tube that comes out the other end of the headstock to put a small 3 jaw chuck. (to hold things that come out the other end, like a cue stick!)

How do I get it on?

The most obvious ( to me) is the thread the outside and screw something on. Maybe some kind of clamp?

Is that possible?

I would rather not thread on the ID cause that would restrict the size of stock I can get in there.

[YankeeMetallic]

I am just as interested as you are. I have had an idea to support rifle barrels out the ass end of my Hardinge but it has been on the back burner.
I just looked and I have a 6 inch, 3 jaw SC scroll chuck with 2.375 thru hole. I have a 4" round of fortal to make a backing out of. Just remove the collet closer and replace the 3 jaw. Your brilliant! Thanks for the idea!
I'll post pics when I get'er done!

[patindahat@hotmail.com]

My boss did something similar to this. He took an appropriate size of pipe, bored or turned (I didn't look close enough) a SLIGHT press fit on it for the spindle. He also drilled and tapped 4 holes at 90* to eachother. Since the front chuck should be doing the driving and the rear one is just there to keep things straight and lined up you don't need anything fancy just something that will hold in place and that you can clamp onto the part with. This setup is also alot cheaper than putting an actual chuck on there.

Pat

[J. Randall]

Pat has the better idea in my opinion. A lot of gunsmiths use a simple press fit spider on the outboard end with four brass bolts for centering. You can dial that in dead nuts, where with the 3jaw you don't have that option. James

[cuemaker]

Pats idea would seem more simple, but I am not sure its going to accomplish what I am after.

I need it to hold things made of wood. I am not after accuracy so much, but secure grip with out much force applied.

I suppose I could use a collet of some kind.....

No, I like the idea of a small 3 jaw chuck back there with a collet. Couple turn of the keys and I am there. With 4 screws, I would have set each one.

And I could make that set up many times a day.

I will keep on pondering Pats idea. It IS very simple, and I like simple..

[Ed Tipton]

Good morning cuemaker. I also have struggled with wanting to hold the butt/shaft blanks in such a way that the work is always centered on the central axis. On my lathe, the center hole through the spindle is just slightly over 1.375 inches. Since the butt of most cues is 1.250 inches, this gives me some room to work. My original thought was to also go with a chuck, but then that would require some type of protective measure to be taken to avoid marring the workpiece. I have what I believe is a better solution.
Assuming that you have a large enough hole through the spindle, you can mount a 1.375 inch ball bearing on a thin wall tube made to fit the spindle with close tolerance. With this bearing affixed to the end of this tube, you can then use a 1.375 OD drill bushing inserted through the bearing. Since drill bushings come in different sizes, I then select the appropriate size for the work I'm doing, and the entire thing is always absolutely dead nuts,requires no adjustment what-so ever, and all you have to do is change the size of the drill bushing for different operations. If you use a drill bushing with an ID of 1.000 inch, then you can use additional drill bushings having a 1.000 inch OD, and a correspondingly smaller ID (shaft work). Give this metheod some consideration, since I do use it for the same purpose you will be using it for and I fine it to be entirely satisfactory, quick and easy. If you have any type of industrial surplus available to you, the drill bushings can be purchased at very nominal cost. This is quick, easy, dead nuts accurate, and cheap to do.

[John Stevenson]

Sorry Ed,
Why a bearing ?
If the tube is on the spindle then the whole assembly is rotating together.

.

[speedy]

I presume that your intention is to prevent the cue from flailing and to keep it concentric. I assume that you want something better than rags or wedges stuffed in the hole. Why not a plastic/rubber split tapered sleeve. It will centre and hold the cue stem. Lock/retain it with a hose clamp.

[Evan]

Just wrap some tape on the cue 'til it's a snug fit in the end of the spindle.

[moldmonkey]

I did something something similiiar to what Ed is talking about on my chinese 12x36 . The back of the spindle tube is already threaded so I made a adapter that screws in and then a whole set of bushings up to 1-1/4". I also can use the bushings with the homemade 5C handwheel drawtube.
Probably not as elegant as the drill bushings but all it took was some time and some scrap material.