Need a chuck...

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The Falcons Quill

The Falcons Quill

Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
139
Location
Columbia, Maryland
Looking for suggestions on a lathe chuck. I want to start turning bowls and do t have a bunch to spend. I would like to be able to get the large jaws to do the bottom as well.

Any reviews or suggestions.
 
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I have had problems with "Value chucks" like baracudda from PSI. Have had good success with Nova chucks. G3 with wrench has good reports. Have Super nova 2s and a tommy bar nova chuck. Amazon has the tommy bar chuck in 1 by 8 thread under $90 with prime shipping.

Vicmark and Oneway are good, but more costly.
 
I have this chuck. Linky and it's hard to beat.
It's even on sale right now.
You can buy extra jaws for doing bowls at the bottom of the page where it says Accessories.
Sure, you can spend more, but why would you want to?

This chuck does everything & then some.

:smile:
 
Herb G said:
I have this chuck. Linky and it's hard to beat.
It's even on sale right now.
You can buy extra jaws for doing bowls at the bottom of the page where it says Accessories.
Sure, you can spend more, but why would you want to?

This chuck does everything & then some.

:smile:
Click to expand...

I have the same chuck and have never had an issue. I also bought the jumbo jaws for it. If your lathe is capable of running in reverse you will not be able to use his chuck for that.
 
JimB said:
Herb G said:
I have this chuck. Linky and it's hard to beat.
It's even on sale right now.
You can buy extra jaws for doing bowls at the bottom of the page where it says Accessories.
Sure, you can spend more, but why would you want to?

This chuck does everything & then some.

:smile:
Click to expand...

I have the same chuck and have never had an issue. I also bought the jumbo jaws for it. If your lathe is capable of running in reverse you will not be able to use his chuck for that.
Click to expand...

Mine can run in reverse, any real reason I would need to have a bowl going in reverse? I heard it helps with sanding?
 
+1 for the nova system but I would stay away from the tommy bars at the low end. Many interchangeable jaws available to add on as you grow and can afford.
 
The Falcons Quill said:
Mine can run in reverse, any real reason I would need to have a bowl going in reverse? I heard it helps with sanding?
Click to expand...

Herb G said:
I've never had any use for reversing a lathe. Direction should not make any difference when it comes to sanding.
Click to expand...

There are situations when running in reverse helps.

Sanding certain woods in face-orientation (typically bowls or platters), sometimes there's less splintering (caused by the end grain catching and lifting away from the workpiece) when the lathe runs in one direction than the other.

Another reason it might be useful is if you have to use a scraper on the sides of a deeper vessel, it might be easier to run the lathe in reverse and scrape on the opposite face (instead of having to lean all the way over the lathe). If you have a headstock that can be rotated 45 degrees you can do that instead.

I've not had to use reverse doing spindle work -- but I'm not going to say that it will never be useful.
 
If you could tell us what lathe you have and what diameter it can turn, we can be a lot more helpful in a recommendation. Right now, we are in the dark.
Also, what size bowls are you looking to turn?
 
After using a Nova SN2 for a couple months several years ago I just wasn't comfortable with the grip on bowl tenons. I purchased a mid sized Vicmarc and wouldn't give it up. My biggest regret is that I can't afford a Vicmarc chuck for each of my jaw sets.

Whatever you purchase, I'd strongly suggest ordering a set of extra jaw screws with your purchase.
 
Herb G said:
I have this chuck. Linky and it's hard to beat.
It's even on sale right now.
You can buy extra jaws for doing bowls at the bottom of the page where it says Accessories.
Sure, you can spend more, but why would you want to?

This chuck does everything & then some.

:smile:
Click to expand...

Herb, I own two of them. One works poorly and one jams with great consistency. They now hold down the bottom of my bucket of chucks.
 
Charlie_W said:
If you could tell us what lathe you have and what diameter it can turn, we can be a lot more helpful in a recommendation. Right now, we are in the dark.
Also, what size bowls are you looking to turn?
Click to expand...

You are right, that might be helpful. I have a Rikon 70-220VSR 1 HP Variable Speed MIDI Lathe 12.5" X 20"

And any bowls I can fit and whatever found wood comes my way. I have a lot f blocks or simple grain wood that won't make great pens but could make other nice turnings.
 
Nova G3 is a very good Chuck. Middle of the road on price and well liked. There are many jaws available and all interchange. Vicmarc and oneway have great chucks as well but are a good bit more expensive. Nova G3 can be had for good sale prices and jaws are available many places - sometimes used as well. I have lots of sets.


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app
 
I have two Nova G3s and like them. I keep pin jaws on one and change out the jaws on the other.
 
I have two G3 chucks and have one set up with the pen plus jaws, and have several other sets of jaws which I swap out on the other one. I have been using them for over a year and would not give them up. You might check HomeDepot.com. They have them available online and the prices are better than either Woodcraft or Rockler.
 
I have a Utility Grip chuck and a Barracuda 2 ... both from PSI.

They are both "C" type chucks, so the jaw selection I have for both of them are fully interchangeable, which is really nice ... I don't have to worry about keeping my jaws separate.

I've only had them a short while, so I can't really give you any information about how well they hold up over time, but so far I'm really liking both of them.

Before I got these, my only chuck was a 3-jaw scrolling jaw chuck from Harbor Freight ... 2.5 inches across. Smooth jaw faces, made for metalworking mini lathes ... the jaw type was a 3-tier stepped jaw and it IS reversible, but it's a serious pain in the royal rumpus to get the jaws properly aligned. I only tried ONE TIME to do that, and it took me 4 hours to get it back together .... never again!

This same 3-jaw mini chuck is the one that I always grab first, when doing a project. It's tiny, not a lot sticks out to hit my knuckles, if I'm working on small projects, it's reliable ... tightens with a small pair of tommy bars. Last, but not least, it was cheap! It cost me around 35 dollars, and it opens up to almost 1.5".


If I have a project that needs to be clamped more securely, or that needs to have a tenon or dovetail larger than 1.5", then I grab one of my larger chucks ... they are very HEAVY. This tiny little mini chuck isn't much more than 1 pound. The big woodworking chucks are 5 lbs or more!
 
KenV said:
Herb, I own two of them. One works poorly and one jams with great consistency. They now hold down the bottom of my bucket of chucks.
Click to expand...

Mine was a bit stiff when I got it. I took it apart, used this stuff Linky
and cleaned all the packing grease out of it. I lubed it with graphite oil, and reassembled it.
Works like a charm now.
 
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