ENCO no-name chuck or Bison?

Question

I'm about to buy a 6" independent 4-jaw lathe chuck. ENCO has their free shipping promo on this month, so I was looking there.

They have a no-name with threaded mount for $99.95 (ENCO #271-6382):

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or

Bison plain back for $156.95 (ENCO #240-3064):

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it's "semi-finished" threaded back plate for $43.95 (BTW it says this back plate is for self-centering scroll chucks, do you think it'll work with the independent jaws chuck? There's no finished back plate shown explicitly for the independent jaws chucks.)

I do believe that you get what you pay for, but I also believe in buying what I _need_, even if it's not always the "best". So, what does the $200 Bison have or do that the $100 no-name doesn't? With an independent 4-jaw, all you really need is that the jaws are parallel to the spindle axis, right? How much worse will the no-name be than the Bison in this regard?

I expect that the chuck will get very little use, so durability is not something I need.

If I get the Bison, how fussy would I have to be in finishing the semi-finished back plate? My lathe experience was in high school shop,

45 years ago.

I hope that this doesn't provoke a debate or too many rants about Chinese crap. My apologies in advance if it does ;-) Bob

Bob Engelhardt · Accepted Answer

Thanks to all for your advice. In my heart I knew that the Bison was the way to go. I "afforded" it by using some of my Special Private Money (SPM).

My wife and I each year get some SPM, kind of like a bonus. This is off-budget money that does not have to be accounted for and it's use does not require any justification. I use mine for things I can't ordinarily justify. E.g., things that might be used very infrequently (good power washer), or are much more than I _need_ (NEXGEN welding helmet).

So, the chuck's been ordered and now I need to practice some lathe-ing before I cut into that $40 back plate.

Bob

ENCO no-name chuck or Bison?

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