Metal 3 Jaw Chuck For 3" Alum. Mark V 5/8" Smooth Shaft

[GracelandPro]

This is my first time ever to post in any forum so I'm not sure if I'm in the right place or going about this the right way so forgive me. I will make this a simple as possible. I would like to put a 3 Jaw chuck on my Mark V to turn aluminum round stock up to 3". I was wondering where to find one that will fit on the 5/8" smooth shaft. For a reasonable price... Thanks.

[Mike907]

I used my Oneway Talon four jaw woodturning chuck to turn down some aluminum bar stock a while back, and it worked fine. Shopsmith used to sell the Talon chuck, but now they sell the Nova chuck. Both have adapters that fit the Shopsmith, as well as different jaw sets with different ranges.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/nova_g3.htm

Mike

[ddub]

I have wondered about turning aluminum with a shopsmith, but my bigger question would be. What do you use for a cutter? Next question is, what tolerance could you maintain? Next would be speed of the headstock. Can you get it slow enough? (without a power pro)

[Mike907]

I just needed to reduce the diameter of the aluminum bar stock, and I wasn't trying to be too precise. I used HSS woodturning tools. Getting a catch with a skew chisel on aluminum is pretty impressive, so be careful.

Mike

[GracelandPro]

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to check that out.

[GracelandPro]

Thanks for the reply. As far as cutting aluminum, you can use any carbide cutting tool with an edge. Just make sure you have it secured in a holder good.

[GracelandPro]

How did the finish on the bar look? Did you use any lubricant?