Fig. 704.
A steel collar j, [Fig. 704], between the front end of the forward box and the spindles, receives the thrust due to the cut, and a nut on the spindle acts against the cone to adjust it forward on a feather k in the spindle to take up end wear. The wire or rod from which the work is to be made is passed through the spindle and collar on the stand, and is held by a thumb-screw in the collar, which is influenced by the weight and cords, so that when the wire is released in the chuck the weight pulls the collar and wire forward, forcing the wire out through the front end of the chuck until it comes against the stop in the turret, which gauges the length needed to make the piece required. From time to time, as the rod is used up, the thumb-screw in the sliding collar is loosened, and the collar is shoved back on the rod as far as it will go, and the set-screw is again tightened.
[Fig. 704] shows in section the front bearing and the automatic chuck. m is a hollow spindle within which is the hollow spindle h, through which the rod or wire to make the work passes. It is prevented from end motion by the cone hub on one side and the collar j on the other side of the bearing, while h may be operated endwise within m by means of the hand-lever shown on the left-hand of the headstock in the general view. The core a of the chuck screws upon m, and is threaded to receive the adjustment nut b, which receives and holds the adjustment wedges c at their ends by the talon shown. The shell d is secured to h by the screws i, which pass through slots in a, and therefore move endwise when h is operated by its hand-lever. Now the mouth of d, against which the adjustment wedges c rest, is coned 21⁄2°, as marked; hence the end motion of d to the left causes c, and therefore f, to approach the axis of the chuck and grip the rod or wire, while its motion to the right causes c, and therefore f, to recede from the chuck axis and to release the wire. Since b is screwed upon a, and c is guided at the end by b, and since also f is detained endwise in a, the motions of c and of f are at a right angle to the chuck axis. Hence in gripping the rod or wire there is no tendency to move it endways, as there is where the gripping jaws have, as in many machines, a certain amount of end motion while closing. When this end motion exists, tightening the jaws upon the work draws it away from the stop in the turret and impairs the adjustment for length of work. The gripping jaws are closely guided in slots in d and in a, and three sets of these jaws are necessary to cover a range of work from the full diameter of the bore of h down to zero. The capacity of each of these sets of jaws, however, may be varied as follows: The adjustment ring b is threaded upon a, and may be operated along a to move c endwise by means of the tangent screw e, whose threads engage with teeth parallel to the axis of b, and running across its width all around its circumference, hence rotating e, rotates b, causing it to move along a, and carry c beneath f. By this method of adjustment f need be given only enough motion to and from the chuck axis to grip and release the work, and the reduction of motion between the hand-lever operating h and the motion of f is so great, that with a very moderate force at the lever the wire may be held so that its projecting end may be twisted off without slipping the wire within the jaws or impairing the jaw grip.
Fig. 705.
Fig. 706.
[Fig. 705] is a sectional and end view of the core a of the chuck, and [Fig. 706] a sectional and end view of the shell d.