This is a 3d printable self centering lathe chuck. It is a great tool for your everyday machinist, or simply as a decoration for those fond of lathes and how they work.

This model is great to help you understand how a self centering lathe chuck works. It can also be used for educational purposes where it can help others better grasp the concept of printed mechanical assemblies.

This is a model that most definitely needs support, and also a high infill and number of walls in some of the parts. Especially the bolts and the key.

The key itself functions both as to make the chuck work, by being the driving force behind the whole mechanism. And it also a hex key allowing you to tighten the bolts, though not too hard, since they are printed, and cant wihstand that much pressure without snapping.

VERY IMPORTANT !!!

When assembling the lathe chuck you have to ake sure you do it in the right order, or else the chuck will not grip around the center. You have to put claw 1 in slot 1 and so forth.

When the claws sit in their respective slots, you need to turn the key, until they all get gripped by the spiral. You NEED to make sure that claw one grips first, then claw two, and lastly claw 3.

This will make sure that the self centering mechanism works.

When the claws have gotten grip, you simply turn it until the claws slowly move inwards.

You will very likely need a bit of force to get the claws moving inwards.

I recommend sliding the claws back and forth in their respective slots, when the spiral isnt in. This will help break in the slots, and make sure they move more smoothly.

Video Of Assembly

I hope you like the model, and have a fun time printing and using it.

-Sincerely Capspam3D.