numbers

[whitefence]

Happy New Year All

Why are the jaws on a Vicmar chuck or any other chuck numbered?

Stan

 

[Hugh]

Each jaw is supposed to go into a specific slot on the chuck. The slots should be numbered and the jaws should be numbered. Put the jaws into the chuck starting with #1, then #2, then #3, and finally #4, (into the corrasponding slot) and they should line up properly and fit properly in the chuck. If the jaws are put into the chuck in the wrong order or the wrong slot - they may not fit properly when tightened.
Hugh

 

[woodwish]

I've never found it to be a problem which one the goes where, and I can't really read the numbers on the chuck anyway. What I was told when I asked is that if you take a piece out of the chuck you can put it back in the same way if you need to remount (provided you marked your piece first). In reality it doesn't seem to matter, all four jaws are close enough to identical that they are certainly interchangable.

This past summer at the AAW Sym I met Mr. Vic in the CSUSA booth and someone else asked the same question and he laughed. He said at on time when the company was small the machining was not as precise as he would've liked but today it is much better. They tried leaving the numbers off and customers complained, so now they put them on again. I know it really doesn't matter most of the time but I do put mine on in 1-2-3-4 order as a habit anyway.