Taig Chuck Capacity?

[EschewObfuscation]

Not really stated in so many words on the Taig site, so... what's max diameter of a workpiece, held in the chuck in straightforward fashion?

[Keith Rogers]

For the TLDR folks, check out this post for an extreme example of large stock on the Taig. 

Specs are here:  http://www.taigtools.com/mlathe.html

Max. turning dia. 4.5 in. (extendable to 6.5 in.) Swing over cross slide 2.375 in. Overall length of bed 15.5 in. Overall length of lathe 16.5 in. Tool bit size standard 1/4 in.

So over 4.5 inches (6.5 with risers under the headstock and tool post) max dia is the point at which the stock would touch the bed.  This means you cannot move the carriage underneath the stock, and for the most part this means you cannot perform much of a turning cut (without some cantilevered extending of the cutting tool).  You could still perform facing cuts, drilling, and boring operations however.

The "Swing over cross slide" of 2.375 inches (4.375 with risers) is the point above which the stock would hit the carriage or cross slide.  Note that use of a compound cross slide (for tapers) would limit this further.

Those are the maximums and now you have to deal with holding the material and the associated limitations.  If you turn between centers, you can do so up to the 2.375 inch dimension but will have to figure out how to make your own dog to drive.  Taig has a dog (PN 1034) and face plate that can act as a catch plate.  I'm not sure what the max diameter it could turn is but would suspect 2.375 is possible but might require longer bolts.

Now if you just want to chuck something up in the 3-jaw, you can turn down the soft jaws to handle 2.375 for sure and you can probably get fairly close to the 4.5 inches.  However, without turning between centers, there will be limitations on length to consider with larger diameters allowing for longer lengths than smaller, and then the option of a steady rest for certain cases.

Unfortunately it's not all that straightforward with so many setup variables to consider.  Material selection will have an impact as well.  For an example of an extreme stock size machined on the Taig, check out this post where a large piece of steel was transformed into a rotary table.  He had to make a custom chuck to hold the material but the results were very impressive!  -Keith

On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 12:08 PM, EschewObfuscation <google...@mailfilter.33mail.com> wrote:

Not really stated in so many words on the Taig site, so... what's max diameter of a workpiece, held in the chuck in straightforward fashion?

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[EschewObfuscation]

Yes, all the variables make it hard to read the specs with confidence.

I'd hate to turn down the soft jaws (much) for a single project. But as we dial out the chuck jaws, they begin to extend out from the chuck pretty far, so at some point they hit the ways. Maybe they can be reversed.

My desire is to just chuck up a work piece, (actually plastic, so we're not looking at a lot of force), was wondering if I can go 2 inches? 2.5? etc before having to resort to more ingenious methods. Think 2.5" would fly?

[EschewObfuscation]

Oh yes, facing and boring only; don't need to turn the outside surface. Forgot to add that bit.

[Keith Rogers]

I think 2.5 inches should be plenty doable with the 3 jaw.  How long is the stock?  The soft jaws are something of a consumable.  They are aluminum and just bolt onto the steel base that rides in the scroll.  A new set is less than 10 bucks.  See here.  However, if the existing soft jaws have room for an outer step, and you don't need too deep of a step, you can just bore out an outer step to the required diameter.  Note that doing so requires one preparatory operation, that is to clamp down on a quarter or something thing in the inner step so that the jaws are loaded when performing the boring operation.  One other thing, the soft jaws cannot be physically opened far enough to hit the bed.  And yes, they can be flipped (remove two mounting cap screws per jaw and reverse).  Typically one side is for holding smaller diameter stock while the flipped side is stepped for larger diameter work. 

On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 5:35 PM, EschewObfuscation <google...@mailfilter.33mail.com> wrote:

Oh yes, facing and boring only; don't need to turn the outside surface. Forgot to add that bit.

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[Keith Rogers]

Check this image for the type of machined (bored) step I am referring to creating in the soft jaws. 

[EschewObfuscation]

Couple inches max length, within some limits, I can choose the stock to fit within the lathe's constraints,is why all the checking.