Supernova 2 chuck questions and feedback

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Fish30114

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As the title says I am simply looking for feedback on the Supernova 2 chuck. I got one when I got my lathe, and the 'pen blank jaws' and have been drilling with my lathe. I discovered that my blanks were being drilled out of square consistently--spoke to the folks at Woodcraft (where I bought my lathe) and they went through things with me and finally arrived at the decision that something was wrong in my chuck/insert/jaws. Well I brought it in, and they discovered that my Pen Jaws were not tight and decided that was the issue. I have drilled about 5 more blanks, and again--out of center. I can move the Pen Jaws a little even though they are tight to the chuck itself. I am flustered--at least--I am wondering general opinions on the Teknatool stuff, I have discovered it is made in China, but I really don't know if that is typical or not.

What other brands would some of ya'll recommend in stead of the Teknatool?

I like the functionality of the Supernova 2, and we bought them because the guy at the Woodcraft recommended them, and they were on sale for 139.99
which I believe was a good price--the Pen Jaws were on sale too for 39.99

Thanks for any input/feedback
 
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Evening Don --

There were some problems a year or so ago with SN2 chucks which were sold with 3rd party inserts to fit the headstock. The 3rd party inserts were not machined with sufficient relief to fit against the headstock. Replacement with NOVA inserts made the problem go away.

Please do check the insert -- as I remember it was a WoodRiver insert that was causing much of the problems.

I have several and like the SN2 chucks-

Do make sure the chuck is turned snuggly against the headstock flange -- no gaps or wiggle - when the nut hits the flange snuggly, there is no play and the chuck body should be centered.
 
It's a solid chuck with a solid reputation.

So you made sure the insert was seated right?

The Chuck seats against the spindle right? Putting it one of those nylon washers isn't a terrible idea.

Do the pen jaws close tigh to each other with no blank in? Lined up? I don't have those jaws yet. I use nova chuck with pin jaws for blank drilling.

Also consider non chuck possibilities...

Is your drill bit sharp? Do your centers on the lathe line up perfectly? These types of things can cause your issue as well.
 
The jaws could be in the wrong slots. Pull all 4 out and reinsert them in sequence starting with the first. The scroll should engage one at a time starting with the first. When installed properly all 4 should touch together at the same time when tightened.
 
Curly said:
The jaws could be in the wrong slots. Pull all 4 out and reinsert them in sequence starting with the first. The scroll should engage one at a time starting with the first. When installed properly all 4 should touch together at the same time when tightened.
Click to expand...
only 2 jaws on the pen set.
 
Not the accessory jaws you screw on but the jaws in the slots you screw to. If engaged by the scroll out of sequence they won't close properly. The two jaws will close off centre.
 
Dan Masshardt said:
Curly said:
The jaws could be in the wrong slots. Pull all 4 out and reinsert them in sequence starting with the first. The scroll should engage one at a time starting with the first. When installed properly all 4 should touch together at the same time when tightened.
Click to expand...
only 2 jaws on the pen set.
Click to expand...

I think Pete was talking about the sliders to which the interchangeable jaws are screwed rather than the jaws themselves.

(Based on the fact that the jaws never see the scroll, that's behind the sliders to which the jaws attach.)

LOL ... never mind, he said it better than me!
 
I have the Supernova2 and the pen jaws (in addition to 4 or 5 other sets of jaws).

I like the chuck, but sometimes have an off-center hole down a pen blank. It's odd because I don't get that problem with bowls or end-grain turnings held in the "regular" jaws.

I suspect it's because there are only 2 jaws active -- I'm going to experiment to see if attaching them on sliders 1 & 3 is any different than sliders 2 & 4.
 
Off Center holes can come from crud in the MT taper in the tail stock --

Be sure the taper is clean in the tailstock and the drill chuck and male taper are firmly set

Never hurts to use the point of a skew to start a small divot while the chuck is spinning to assure the blank will work -- some get bowed a bit and the center of the end does not match the jaws.
 
Thanks for the feedback so far. I think ya'll may be onto something with the sequence of the slider part of the chuck. I've checked by putting a spur drive with a point in the headstock and a live center with a point in my tailstock and they line up perfectly. Me and my lathe are pretty damn new and I'm still and that anal mode of keeping my lathe nice and newish, so the taper holes(?) are very clean, so I'm sure that isn't it. I can feel a little play in the jaws even though they are socked down tight to the chuck. I think I need to understand this chuck a little better, and need to learn about the slider parts that the jaws screw to. I'll bet it's something wrong there.

Any tips on figuring that part out?
 
Ken and Dan, how do I check the insert? Ken I do think I got a Wood River insert....Dan where would the nylon washer go-between the insert and the chuck, or between the insert and the headstock?
Dan should I just try another brand insert?
Thanks fellas
 
I have the chuck and like it but I am not a fan of the pen jaws. They are just not precise enough for pens. I use them to rough blanks to round but for any kind of precision drilling I try to use a collet chuck.
 
Thanks Bruce, I may look into getting the collet chuck jaws for the supernova2 if that's available???

If it's not, what kind of collet chuck do you recommend?

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Fish30114 said:
Thanks Bruce, I may look into getting the collet chuck jaws for the supernova2 if that's available??? If it's not, what kind of collet chuck do you recommend? Thanks for the feedback.
Click to expand...

There's no such thing as collet chuck jaws. A collet chuck is a whole different animal.

Psi has one that's a good value. Beall is the best.
 
Dan, thanks for the help, I'm wanting to make some of the 'Pump & Grind' mills from Woodcraft. They call for 1.5 square blank. You have to drill a 25mm hole through the blank, should I be able to do that with those jaws?
 
Fish30114 said:
Ken and Dan, how do I check the insert? Ken I do think I got a Wood River insert....Dan where would the nylon washer go-between the insert and the chuck, or between the insert and the headstock?
Dan should I just try another brand insert?
Thanks fellas
Click to expand...


Don - My SN2 chucks have nova inserts. The Nova inserts are unmarked except for a letter "L" stamped and the corners are eased (milled round). There were a lot of reports of Nova chucks from WoodCraft being sold with WoodRiver inserts and having problems running true. Understand that WoodCraft had the sales folks stop selling the WoodRiver inserts. Problem was with getting the insert to seat properly as I remember (sometimes memory is good and sometimes memory is just goo)

You can try talking to WoodCraft about the insert, and you may get them to get you a Nova insert --- or you may be on the hook for getting one yourself.

Nova Inserts are $20 with no additional shipping from Amazon if you are a Prime participant --
 
I have a Supernova chuck, I've noticed it running with a wobble, checked it out and saw it wasn't seated all the way on the headstock threads. It was just a fraction of a turn but it was enough. Once I set it tight it ran true.
Hope you get this solved, I know how frustrating things like this can get.
 
Ken and Gary thanks, I did in fact get a Wood River insert for my chuck from Woodcraft--I'm heading over there today with the whole ensemble.

Thanks for the good wishes and help.
 
Fish30114 said:
As the title says I am simply looking for feedback on the Supernova 2 chuck. I got one when I got my lathe, and the 'pen blank jaws' and have been drilling with my lathe. I discovered that my blanks were being drilled out of square consistently--spoke to the folks at Woodcraft (where I bought my lathe) and they went through things with me and finally arrived at the decision that something was wrong in my chuck/insert/jaws. Well I brought it in, and they discovered that my Pen Jaws were not tight and decided that was the issue. I have drilled about 5 more blanks, and again--out of center. I can move the Pen Jaws a little even though they are tight to the chuck itself. I am flustered--at least--I am wondering general opinions on the Teknatool stuff, I have discovered it is made in China, but I really don't know if that is typical or not.

What other brands would some of ya'll recommend in stead of the Teknatool?

I like the functionality of the Supernova 2, and we bought them because the guy at the Woodcraft recommended them, and they were on sale for 139.99
which I believe was a good price--the Pen Jaws were on sale too for 39.99

Thanks for any input/feedback
Click to expand...

I have the Nova DVR-XP and am very pleased with it. So I bought the Nova chuck when they said that they would be able offer kits to make the various jaws "screwless". Well it turned out that those kits were quite expensive. So I sold the nova chuck and went to the Easy Wood Tools chuck (along with a bunch of jaws). I have never regretted it for a second. I find it superior to the Nova chuck. Do look at the video:

Videos « Easy Wood Tools

Hope this helps.
 
Peter, that chuck does look sweet, it is itself a little pricey, but I just may do it. Woodcraft swapped out my insert today for N/C and I got a Nova insert and that cured the issue. Having said that, I really do like the apparent functionality of the 'Easy Chuck' just have to get over that cost hurdle.

Thanks for all the feedback folks, and for the link Peter--Don
 
Fish30114 said:
Peter, that chuck does look sweet, it is itself a little pricey, but I just may do it. Woodcraft swapped out my insert today for N/C and I got a Nova insert and that cured the issue. Having said that, I really do like the apparent functionality of the 'Easy Chuck' just have to get over that cost hurdle.

Thanks for all the feedback folks, and for the link Peter--Don
Click to expand...


Yea for success!!!!!

Lots of good chucks out there --- few turners stay with having only one!!!
 
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