Hello all,
I was looking at the Longsworth chuck plans, and am planning on making one for myself. Since I'll be programming it anyway, I've got a proposal for those of you who may want to aquire one of these at a fair price.
Basically, I checked into the current price of steel and how much it would cost me to rent the shop from my employer for a couple of hours on a weekend to run these suckers (they let me make stuff for myself, but I don't feel right about making and selling things to others on the company's dime.) What I came up with is that I can make 8 pairs of 12" discs, and 4 sets of smaller discs that would be suitable for a mini or midi lathe.
What I am offering, if there are enough takers, is to purchase a sheet of 11ga (.119" thick) stainless steel, and cut the disks with a CNC laser cutter. I can cut basically any number of curved slots in any given set, but I am anticipating that 8 slots will be about right. Each disc will have a single row of holes around the circumference, about 1/2" apart to allow the use of a spanner wrench for tightening, G10 or Gylon washers to act as spacers between the discs, and tapped holes in the back plate to allow you to screw it to a faceplate with machine bolts. (I assume that anyone who might want the chuck to stand out further has the ability to turn a spacer block out of wood or a hunk of aluminum to use as a shim!)
After crunching the numbers, and getting the go-ahead from my supervisor, I have come up with this as the offer:
If you want a set of discs, the final price will be $75 for the 12" plates, and $50 for the midi plates. For that, you'll get two plates with matching curved slots and the holes as described above- I will make the mounting holes for the faceplates to the specifications of your particular faceplate. You'll also get the spacer washers. I am offering three different finishes, your choice- bead blasted, timesaved (running it through a drum sander to create a straight grain) or DA'ed (Random orbital finish with 60 grit abrasive) with full deburring. That pays for the material, rental of the machine, and my time. Assembly of the chuck and tracking down the various nuts and bolts will be your job- but the plates will be flat and accurately cut to .001". This will be faster than the second option.
If you would prefer to recieve a complete chuck, assembled and ready to go right out of the box, I will make those for $125 for the 12", and $100 for the midi. The finish options will be the same as above on the plates, but the faceplate will be either sandblasted or painted. The extra cost is to cover hardware and a faceplate. This option will require an additional deposit and a slightly longer lead time. The faceplates will likely be carbon steel, and not stainless (I will be purchasing them from an outside vendor, if needed)
If you are interested in purchasing one of these, I will offer them on a first-come first-served basis. As noted above, this is a one-time thing (I'm not sure if there are copyright issues, and I don't have much interest in starting a company to make these things even if there are not- think of it as something akin to attending a workshop where you make something to take home and pay a fee for material costs...)
If I get enough people who are interested in purchasing a set of discs or a chuck, I will let you know if you are in- I won't be playing favorites, it's just a matter of who contacts me first. If you're in the group who is purchasing a chuck or discs, I will need a $25 deposit for each set of 12" discs, a $50 deposit for each 12" assembled chuck, a $15 deposit for each set of midi discs, and $40 for each midi chuck. The deposit will be used to offset the cost of the materials, and may be refundable if for some reason you cannot afford the finished product. In the case of a refund, it will not be paid until I have recieved the payment from the others who have finished the transaction- but you will get it back.
I will also need accurate measurements for the location of the holes in your faceplate, and an indication of what size tap you'd prefer (my inclination is to tap them for 1/4-20 threads as a default, but metric and other sizes are possible, within reason.) In the case of a complete chuck, I will need to know what your spindle size is. If any of you need spacer washers for the faceplates, I'll toss those in as well upon request, regardless of whether you're buying the full chuck or just the plates.
Laser-etching text or simple images is also availble upon request for an additional fee, if anyone wants it. The fee will be lower if you can provide the image or text in .dxf format, as it will save me a signifigant amount of time in the programming stage.
Shipping will be whatever you want it to be- I normally use parcel post at the post office, but as long as you're paying the bill, I'll send it however you like.
I have no problem offering a 30 day money-back guarantee if you're not completely satisfied with the craftsmanship (though I would prefer if no one demands money back because of the design, as it is not mine!) and can provide metal certs upon request. This is what I do for a living, and I'm pretty good at it- so there should not be any problems. It will be done in a professional shop with precision equipment and finished to the same standards as our most demanding customers'.
Disc sets will be in the mail within 7 days of the receipt of all the deposits (and probably sooner than that.) Full chucks will take longer, as I will need to wait for faceplates to be delivered from an outside vendor and track down the appropriate hardware. My best guess is 14 days, but it could be longer.
Of course, after typing all that, it'll probably turn out that nobody wants one! :) If I only get one or two responses, I'll try figure something out for you, but the plan above kind of hits the magic numbers where I can purchase a full pre-sheared sheet without too much waste and out-of-pocket expense.
E-mail me at prometheus charter.net, if interested.