Which chuck to get?

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JCochrun

JCochrun

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Sep 13, 2010
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Penn Valley, CA
I am looking to buy a chuck for my lathe. I have a Jet 1014. I am trying to figure out the difference between all of the different chucks. Craft Supplies has Oneway, Vicmarc and SuperNova. PSI has Barracuda. All different prices. What make one better than another? Are the jaws interchangeable? Craft Supplies has an Apprentice chuck but says that the jaws are not interchangeable with other chucks. I'm not looking to move up in lathe size for quite some time so I'm not worried about getting a chuck that will follow me onto newer lathes. Any ideas/thoughts? Thanks much.

Jim
 
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Your best bang for the buck right now is the Woodcraft sale on the Nova G3 chuck kit. Normally around $300 on sale for $150 with 4 sets of jaws included. Nice thing about the Nova chucks is that the jaws fit all the different chucks so you don't have to buy more jaws when you upgrade your lathe/chuck to bigger sizes.

Vicmarc, Oneway, Nova are all good chucks. Just try to get one that uses the chuck-key method of tightening rather than the dual-bar method. It is significantly harder to control 2 bars and a bowl with only two hands.

I personally own the oneway chucks: 2 Talons and 2 Strongholds. Great chucks! But the Novas are good too and you can't touch the G3 pricing.
GK
 
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I've got the Nova. I don't know a whole lot about the other chucks out there, but this one is great! I would recommend it to anyone. And for the price, I would imagine it's hard to beat.
 
gketell said:
Your best bang for the buck right now is the Woodcraft sale on the Nova G3 chuck kit. Normally around $300 on sale for $150 with 4 sets of jaws included. Nice thing about the Nova chucks is that the jaws fit all the different chucks so you don't have to buy more jaws when you upgrade your lathe/chuck to bigger sizes.

Vicmarc, Oneway, Nova are all good chucks. Just try to get one that uses the chuck-key method of tightening rather than the dual-bar method. It is significantly harder to control 2 bars and a bowl with only two hands.

I personally own the oneway chucks: 2 Talons and 2 Strongholds. Great chucks! But the Novas are good too and you can't touch the G3 pricing.
GK
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100% agreed with this, especially the dual bar part. I have the Nova with them and it can sometimes be a hassle, although the chuck is absolutely great. It is on sale right now at CSUSA for $69 which is an absolute steal. For that price, the dual bars are not even an issue. I might even buy one while it is one sale just to have an extra one.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Chucks___Teknatool___Nova_Midi_Chuck___nova_midi?Args=
 
I have Oneway and Nova. Both are great. Get the one that is on sale for the least amount of money!
 
Ok, dumb question here. The chuck on sale at Woodcraft says it does not come with an insert. What is the insert used for? Is that how you connect it to the lathe? If so, why would it not come with it? Like I said, dumb question but I'm still new at most of this.

Jim
 
I have the Nova G3 for my jet 1014 and it is awesome. I also had to buy the insert for a 1x8 to fit the headstock.
 
Another vote for the Nova G3, as said the Woodcraft sale includes the long pin jaws, they are awesome for drilling pen blanks.

I have my Nova G3 permanently set up with those jaws, use my Vicmarc VM120 for other stuff.

The other good thing about the Nova and the Vicmarc chucks is that when you get another lathe (as I did recently) all you have to do is buy new inserts if the spindle thread is different (as mine was).
 
Yes the insert is the piece that adapts the chuck to your specific lathe. You could view them not including it in two ways: 1) you have to select the right insert for your lathe so selling it separately makes it easier to stock (them as good guys); 2) by making you buy it separately they can offer a "really good price" on paper but still make more money when you buy the insert (them as caniving marketers).

Most other chucks I've seen offered as a kit include the price of the insert in the cost of the kit. You just pick the right one for your lathe. So maybe #2 is closer to accurate?
 
I have five Nova chucks, one SuperNova 2, one G3, two midi, and one original Nova. These are great chucks and I love that I can interchange the jaws between them all and that the ones with threaded inserts can be changed to fit all my lathes. I have not had a bit of trouble with any of them.

Woodcraft is also putting the Midi with six jaw sets on sale for $125 on Black Friday (Nov 26). That's a great deal for a chuck that's perfect for the mini lathe.
 
If you're on a budget, check out the wood river chuck from woodcraft. I have it as well as the pin chuck accessory for it and it's great for bowls that will fit on your size lathe, drilling blanks (if you use the pin chuck thingies) and even holding closed ended mandrels.

Mine gets a LOT of use and it's was under a hundred bucks.

BTW, mine came with a free insert to fit the Jet 1014 :)
 
I agree with the folks above that recommend the Nova G3. I already have 2 Oneway Talon chucks and a few sets of jaws or I would be buying one myself. I've used the Nova G3 and I believe it is generally comparable to the Talon, so shop price.
 
gketell said:
Your best bang for the buck right now is the Woodcraft sale on the Nova G3 chuck kit. Normally around $300 on sale for $150 with 4 sets of jaws included. Nice thing about the Nova chucks is that the jaws fit all the different chucks so you don't have to buy more jaws when you upgrade your lathe/chuck to bigger sizes.

Vicmarc, Oneway, Nova are all good chucks. Just try to get one that uses the chuck-key method of tightening rather than the dual-bar method. It is significantly harder to control 2 bars and a bowl with only two hands.

I personally own the oneway chucks: 2 Talons and 2 Strongholds. Great chucks! But the Novas are good too and you can't touch the G3 pricing.
GK
Click to expand...

I agree with Greg. I've been a Oneway guy, with a few talons and a stronghold, but the G3 is a good chuck, and it is very hard to beat the Woodcraft deal. It is also ~3 pounds which is less stress on the 1014i's bearings. I do have the 'midi' chuck with the bars and it is really a pain to use; well, unless you have three hands...
 
I have a barracuda 2 that came with most of the jaws you would need. Had to buy a set of jumbo jaws . My lathe is a jet 1014 and the chuck fits without an insert. Over a year and i have no complaints.
 
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