Chuck suggestions

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RManchester

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Sep 29, 2026
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Location
Seguin, TX
Looking for recommendations for a good quality chuck for turning, working with pen blanks. Also with the ability to expand to larger projects.as skills improve. Thanks!
 
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Can't go wrong with vicmarc. You can get the pen jaws and then pickup shark jaws or step jaws later.

Yes, they are expensive. They are worth it.
If you have up to a 12 inch lathe, go with the vm100. If you have a larger lathe, go with the vm120.
 
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Depending on the size of your lathe, and the weight of the pieces you will be turning, it is a low possibility to hit one chuck that will do it all. Mini or midi lathes don't need the weight and strength of the larger, heavy chucks like VicMark or Axminster - especially for pens, whereas with a larger lathe either would be excellent choices. The Nova G3 or a Oneway Talon are both smaller, strong chucks with excellent selections in jaws that are nicely sized for midi lathes. They are also a bit lighter in weight so they don't bog the usually lower power drive motor of mini/midi lathes down unnecessarily. I personally would stay away from any of the PSI chucks - my experience with my turning club purchased PSI chucks has been pretty bad - they don't hold up.

One thing to consider is also either to purchase an insert chuck or a direct thread chuck. An insert chuck allows you to change the thread size of the chuck to match the headstock threads of a lathe. Smaller lathes usually have a 1"x 8 thread and larger lathes have a 1.25" x 8, requiring different threads on any attachments like a chuck. Not having to buy all new chucks when you upgrade your lathe is a big win.

Kevin
 
NOVA chucks have been the most affordable and versatile chucks with the biggest variety of faceplates available. Those have since been replaced with the Rikon chucks, same quality and compatible with ALL of the NOVA faceplates. If you can't find a NOVA, get a Rikon as they are basically the same thing because Rikon released their, basically, identical chucks around the time NOVA North American closed out. Pure coincidence.

If you want to spend a more, go with the Easy Wood Tools chuck. But truthfully, for a mid sized lathe and all of the turning possibilities, the NOVA or Rikon chucks will be perfectly suited and the most affordable option. No real need to spend more money.
 
I own two Nova chucks. One I bought back in about 2008 or 2009 as my first chuck. It uses tommy bars instead of a one-handed key to tighten and loosen, but it's still going strong and working exactly as well as it did on day one. The second is a more modern G3 that uses a chuck key. Both are excellent. I can't think of what could be "better" about them. They spin concentrically, they hold the work properly, they have various sets of jaws that can be easily swapped on or off.
 
I started with a Talon chuck for my midi lathe (It's what was available in the store when I bought my Delta 46-460 lathe). I've turned quite a few larger medium sized bowls on the Delta using that Talon chuck. The Talon chuck is a good affordable option even though it has open back I've not had any issues with it.
I bought a larger lathe with a larger spindle size and have used Hurricane chucks. those are the only chucks I have used in turnings other than the Talon. They are ok and affordable and not had any issues with them other than the units that you use the chuck key in to tighten the jaws tend to rattle a bit when the lathe is winding down.
I would love an Axminster or VicMark if only for the shark jaws but I cannot afford nor justify that tier of chucks. If I had known about the Easy Wood quick change chuck I would have like to try it out. Buying just the jaws to quickly interchange them instead of buying multiple chucks to avoid the jaw changes would, in my mind, justify the cost rather many individual chucks with different jaws.
 
Nova chucks would have been my first choice but Teknatool are now facing some economic difficulties, as I understand. I now recommend Record Power chucks. They have a large variety of jaws, are relatively inexpensive and jaws are interchangeable with Nova chucks as well as a few others.
 
i owe several novas and i am happy with them, but have not tried the others. the novas would go on sales, and i wouls pick one up. i don't know how good there are, but i may give one a try: Keyless EasyWood Chuck
 
TonyL said:
i owe several novas and i am happy with them, but have not tried the others. the novas would go on sales, and i wouls pick one up. i don't know how good there are, but i may give one a try: Keyless EasyWood Chuck
Click to expand...

I have the EWT chuck, it is great. Pricey but the speed changing of face plates prevents bad choices from not wanting to stop and change faceplates.
 
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