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Brewmeister35

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I'm looking at getting a chuck for my rikon to hold the mandrel so I can use the one's sold by joe. I was thinking about a collet chuck but now I'm wondering if something like a barracuda would be a better investment. I can hold the mandrel rods and do bowls as well. I can't see doing anything other than pens with the collet chuck. Any opinions?
 
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In my experience, the Barracuda will not be consistently accurate enough for your pen mandrel (I have a Nova chuck). I have never used one of the collett chucks, but I hear goo things about them. What I use is a 2 morse taper collett in the head stock with a 3/8 x 16 draw bolt. 1/4 inch for the 'A' mandrel and 5/16-inch for the 'B' mandrel. Another advantage of this setup is that it takes up very little of the room between the headstock and the tail stock.
 
For mandrels I'd recommend using a collet chuck like the Beall, or Axminster. IIRC PSI now has a Beall knock-off. I have two Beall chucks (one for each lathe) and wouldn't be w/o them.
 
Billy kinda talked me into the Beall collet chuck system and I never regretted it. If you plan on making pens for a long time...it is going to save you a lot of time and help you make consistent good fitting pens.

4 jaw scroll chucks won't work for pens. You would be much better off using the MT2 mandrel type.
 
Dario is right [:0]
If you plan on making pens for a long time then invest in a Beall chuck and collet. Also pick up 60 degree live and dead centers from the little machine shop and do all of your CA finishing off of the bushings.

Mike
 
I do turn between centers with the larger pens but trying to improve on some of the smaller ones. I turned a designer elite rollerball and it had a little wobble to it which caused me to sand through my CA way too many times to not do something about it. Does anyone know if the PSI knock-off is any good?
 
I wouldn't mess with the PSI because it uses the MT-2. By using the Beall chuck it screws onto the the headstock threads. Much more consistant and less chance of run out because of dust or anything in the tapper.
 
Originally posted by MLKWoodWorking
<br />I wouldn't mess with the PSI because it uses the MT-2. By using the Beall chuck it screws onto the the headstock threads. Much more consistant and less chance of run out because of dust or anything in the tapper.
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I agree 100%.
 
PSI now sells a collet chuck that screws on like the Beall. I think that is the one Billy is talking about. It is in the recent catalog and I think someone recently did a review of it.
 
The 1" 8 TPI (threads per inch) refers to the threaded portion of your headstock. The body of the chuck screws onto the threads of the headstock as any other chuck does. The body is hollow to allow the collet to fit inside. You can then adjust the mandrel to what ever length that you want my sliding it into the the headstock as you are wanting to do. It works the same as the Beall chuck.
 
Well, after some checking, it seems the Beall is pretty much the same price but I have to buy the collet separately for another $20. I wish there was some other use I could find for a collet chuck. It seems like the best idea. So I was talking to a machinist buddy and he suggested making a hardened mandrel to replace the one that I have and grinding it true to the taper. Think I'm gonna try that first since he'll do it for free [:D]. Okay, so he gets a woodcraft gift card from me now and then. I'm starting to think I need to save my money, not buy accessories and get a small metal lathe to make bushings so I can just turn everything between centers. That works so well.

Thanks for all your replies [:D]
 
The Beall has one other very important use and that is drilling on the lathe. If you want the hole absolutely dead center, turn the material round between center and drill it using the Beall. This is very important for glue-ups.
 
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