New Axminster Clubman SK100 & SK80 Chucks

chipmunk · 30 Jul 2013

I just had reason to check the Axminster website and noticed these...

and

http://www.axminster.co.uk/woodturning--new-products-dept715176_pg1/

Perhaps this explains why the Goliath M33x3.5 chucks were on offer recently - there's an SK125 in the offing?

Anyone have any information on these and whether they're an improvement on the old chucks? I see they are stainless rather than nickel plated which probably means they're more precise.
Jon

Richard@Axminster · 5 Aug 2013

Morning,

Sorry for the late reply, which the Evolution chuck now released we will not be producing any more of the Goliath or introducing a SK125.

We think the SK80 and SK100 is a big step forward compared to the K8 and K10. The chuck body and thread is now made from a single stainless steel billet. This improves the accuracy and makes the finish more consistent! The K8 and K10 were sent to a local plating company where they were nickel plated, the plate thickness could differ if they spent more time in the plating solution. This meant we would have to spend longer hand fettling some of them, and there would be a delay whilst they were away being plated.

Regards,

Richard.

chipmunk · 5 Aug 2013

Thanks for the reply Richard.

I was a victim of some rather thick plating on one of the recent batch of K10's and had to fettle my chuck to get the old carriers to fit. So I can fully understand the advantage of machining in solid from stainless :wink:

One of the really nice things about the Goliath (I was lucky enough to pick up a bargain recently) that many of us appreciate is the huge range on the scroll. Is this a feature of the SK115? If not, then I can still see a market for the Goliath TBH.

HTH
Jon

CHJ · 5 Aug 2013

Dropping the Goliath is bad news for the turning fraternity, it may be sound economic sense for Axminster but it's doing the tuning community no favours.

The new evolution with its increased travel certainly helps in removing the frustrating Cole Jaw limitations seen with a standard 100mm chuck but it is still not providing the versatility of the Goliath and being so much more expensive certainly precludes many turners from having the luxury of a wide travel chuck set up permanently with a set of Cole or Spigot Jaws and the like which saves me at least 30 mins to an hour each full turning day swapping jaws around.

For my machine:- 1-1/2 X 6tpi
Goliath £98.50 works like a dream.
Evolution £159.95 and needs a spacing adaptor,
Evolution Special £180??