Chuck has three meanings: a metal shaping tool, a lathe clamp, and a power tool accessory post. Metal shaping mandrels are used as jigs or molds for shaping metal or blown glass. Chucks used as lathe clamping inserts are designed for specific workpieces. Power tool chucks fix accessories such as sanding and grinding discs.
Chuck is a term with three widely accepted meanings: a shape for shaping metal, the clamp of the workpiece on a lathe, and a post or shaft used to secure and support various power tool accessories. When describing a metal shaping tool, the term refers to solid or hollow metal shapes that bend or distort materials ranging from sheet metal to blown glass into the desired shape. When applied to lathes, the term refers to a purpose-built clamp used to secure a specific workpiece in the lathe chuck for machining. Power tool chucks are usually made of solid metal posts with machined shoulders and lock nuts designed to secure grinding or sanding discs and polishing pads in drills and other powered devices.
Metal shaping mandrels have been used for centuries as jigs or molds for shaping metal or even blown glass objects. These devices are typically made to shape a specific item or to impart a specific profile into different workpieces. For example, a pipe bending mandrel will be machined to impart a bend of a set deflection to pipe of a specific diameter. Multiple mandrels will be needed for the same task with different bend angles or pipe diameters. A mandrel designed to impart a flared or bell shape to the end of pipes will have a cone shaped end profile that can be used on a variety of pipe sizes.
Shaping mandrels may be designed to be fixed in place, with the workpiece manipulated around them by machines or by hand, such as those used to produce decorative wrought iron work. Others, like the previously mentioned flared mandrel, are driven into or against a rotating workpiece to form it. Industries such as vehicle exhaust system manufacturers make extensive use of mandrels to form complex pipe runs.
Chucks used as lathe clamping inserts are usually designed and built for a specific workpiece, typically those with a shape unsuitable for clamping into a standard chuck. Due to its limited application, the lathe chuck is often used once and then discarded. The power tool spindle fixes accessories such as sanding and grinding discs, polishing brushes and even garden tractor blades in a machine or tool drive. It is often no more than a simple steel bar fitted with an accessory specific locking attachment and designed for use in a range of power tool chucks. Others intended for use in a specific machine may be more complex with machined grooves, profiles or keys to suit a particular drive mechanism.
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