The New Escoulen Eccentric Chuck

[Stu in Tokyo]

Recently Jean-Francois Escoulen from France, and Eli Avisera from Israel, came to Japan for a two day demo. Of course the demos were great, both of these guys are true masters and they are so very friendly eager to teach.

One of the more interesting things we saw was the new eccentric chuck that Jean-Francois has on the market. I do not know of any retail outlet selling this yet, but I'm sure it is in the pipeline.

The one I got, was the one that Jean-Francois brought to Japan and used in the demo, he did not want to lug it back to France, as his bags were already bursting with stuff to take home, and he was worried about the charges he would have to pay for baggage over weight charges, so we struck a deal on this chuck. My lathe, a US speck Nova DVR 3000 has a 1 1/4" spindle, the chuck Jean-Francois brought was a 33 1/2 spindle. I got a spindle adapter from Craft Supplies in the US.


It comes in a nice solid box, nice to keep all the bits in one place, and it should arrive in one piece after shipping.


The only thing missing from the pic is the hex wrench that comes with, he forgot to give it to me, but I'm not concerned, a I have a few of them laying around.


A 40mm cup chuck is included with the chuck, other sizes of cup chucks will be available. Here the chuck is in the zero offset mode.


Here the chuck is moved out to an eccentric or offset axis turning point


The really cool thing about this chuck, is that it has counter balance weights on the backside of the chuck, you can move them to compensate for the off axis turning, to smooth things out. Here they are in the zero position.


Here the weights are move to the max extreme offset.


Using the sizing guide that is included, you make a 40mm tenon the wood, and insert it into the cup chuck (takes a bit of practice ) pps:


Once inserted into the cup chuck you can do some off axis turning, and then you can also rotate the work piece................

........ like that, which opens a LOT of possibilities !


Jean-Francois also included the faceplate with the chuck, this is an optional bit of kit and does NOT come with the set.


Some test or practice cuts I did.


Here is the faceplate mounted up.

I put a short (10:28 minute) video up at YouTube showing how it works, sort of.
YouTube Video <- LINK

IIRC the price Jean-Francois said was 380 Euros........ yeah, not cheap, but the quality is top drawer, and the possibilities it opens, when it comes to this kind of turning is, well, priceless

 

[CHJ]

Thanks for the run down on the chuck Stuart, saw the "quiet mention of it" elsewhere, looks a very useful and time saving device for anyone into turning 'eccentric' pieces.

As you say not cheap, and not likely to become so with all that machining involved with manufacture and subsequent limited take up with hobby turners.

Is the spigot just held in the socket by friction to stop it rotating? I know it can't come out due to tailstock pressure but it looks like it could move round in the socket, I didn't see any location screws.

Is there a swivel ball chuck to go with the system?

By the way, you Suck in nicest possible way. :mrgreen:

 

[Stu in Tokyo]

Why thank you Chas!

The cup chuck is held in place with three grub screws, so it cannot rotate.

The cup chuck is old school, but VERY effective, especially if you dip the piece of wood in a little water, this makes a tight fit really tight in a minute or two.

Did you see the video? If you do, you can see the three grub screws holding the cup chuck in place, I loosen and tighten them with a blue handled T-hex wrench.

It is very well made and very well thought out, I agree that it will not become a common thing to see, but if you like to bend your mind around some of the eccentric turnings, this is a great boon.

Cheers!

 

[CHJ]

Hi Stuart,
Still can't get used to this 'worlds apart' bit of modern communication thingy, so many years of waiting for snail mail to arrive I expect.

It was the wood spigot I was concerned about, but the moisture bit solves that I guess as long as you don't go away on vacation in the middle of the piece.

Been making all sorts of sketches since I first saw your acquisition for a home made version, doubt my pocket money allowance is due to go up much anytime soon , whether I will ever get round to machining it is another matter, at least it looks as though I'm doing something intelligent when sat with my feet up and not just supping the hard stuff.

 

[Stu in Tokyo]

Well Chas, you do POUND the piece of wood into the cup chuck, it is not "placed" there :twisted:

Seems to work fine, and like I said, they have been using cup chucks for a VERY long time.

Cheers!

 

[CHJ]

...Seems to work fine, and like I said, they have been using cup chucks for a VERY long time.
...

I Know, I'm the same with using jamb chucks, I know it will be alright but the vision of the thing whirling across the shop still stays in the back of my mind all the time.

I could see myself just taking that last little cleanup cut :-k when ](*,) ](*,)

 

[woody67]

Nice vid Stu - you lucky man, I haven't even got a bloomin' chuck yet!!

You're one cool dude! 8)

Mark

 

[Stu in Tokyo]

Thanks Mark, I don't know how "Cool" I am, but I do know I have blown my Dungeon budget BADLY until next year...... :roll:

Oh well, I'll just have to pinch them pennies for a while, this chuck should provide me with some entertainment over the winter

Cheers!