My Nova Chuck Came Apart....

[Dennis Peacock]

I have been using the only lathe chuck that I've ever bought....SuperNova chuck. I went out to turn a piece last week and opening up the chuck, one of the pieces came completely out of the chuck. I did manage to get it put back in the chuck body but now I'm wondering if I need to retire it to lite-duty turning and buy a new SuperNova2 to be safe. Thoughts?

Oh and no....I don't remember how long it's been since I bought it....but I can tell you that it's been more than 10 years.

[John K Jordan]

I have been using the only lathe chuck that I've ever bought....SuperNova chuck. I went out to turn a piece last week and opening up the chuck, one of the pieces came completely out of the chuck. I did manage to get it put back in the chuck body but now I'm wondering if I need to retire it to lite-duty turning and buy a new SuperNova2 to be safe. Thoughts?

Oh and no....I don't remember how long it's been since I bought it....but I can tell you that it's been more than 10 years.

Was it one of the geared slides that came out while opening the jaws? Some of the chucks have a set screw to keep this from happening - could it be missing?

I think an extra chuck or two is a huge plus! (I'm up to 16) Lets partially completed pieces be left in the jaws of one and minimized changing jaws. I keep duplicates of the jaws I use the most on separate chucks. Used two identical chucks during a demo this week.

JKJ

[Dennis Peacock]

It was one of the geared slides. The only thing keeping them in on my chuck are hammered corners that bend the metal enough to make them stay in.

16 chucks??? I was doing good to afford ONE.

[John K Jordan]

It was one of the geared slides. The only thing keeping them in on my chuck are hammered corners that bend the metal enough to make them stay in.

16 chucks??? I was doing good to afford ONE.

I'll be sure to put you down for a few in my will. Who knows, I may kick off any day. You maybe want a spare lathe too? Need any tools?

Sounds like re-hammering might be a fix.

I probably got 1/2 of them used, a couple were free, half new, all acquired over the last 15 years or so. Some were in such poor shape from abuse by the incredible Hulk's little brother that I had to work on the steel before they would even work.

I turn a lot of smaller things so without multiple chucks I'd be changing jaws often. If I mostly turned the same kind of things I'd never use half of these.

If your's is the older Supernova with the pinion key with a pivot, you will probably be happier with the Supernova2 with the big hex key. If you get one, some people have managed to abuse those too since some of the keys come with a balled end. If the key is held at an angle and turned tightly it can deform the metal in the socket. Nova may have fixed this by now but if not, simply grind off the ball on the end of the key so it is always used straight in the socket. About 1/2 of my chucks are the SN2s and I reach for those first. Some are the older SNs, a couple of G3 (perfectly capable chuck and much cheaper) and one of the larger Titans. I like it that the jaws are interchangeable on all of them.

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

I recently bought my second chuck and it’s a dream to have multiple jaw sizes pre mounted. Treat yourself!!!

[Bill Splaine]

John brings up a good point, which I don't think you answered. Is the tiny M1(?) screw in the body that is designed to keep you from opening the jaws too far? I lost one and had to go to Home Depot to find another.

[John K Jordan]

John brings up a good point, which I don't think you answered. Is the tiny M1(?) screw in the body that is designed to keep you from opening the jaws too far? I lost one and had to go to Home Depot to find another.

I just checked the Nova chucks, some have the "travel stop" set screw and some don't:

SuperNova - does have the stop screw at position "1", crank the jaws in and look straight down into the end of the slide from the front. There is also a threaded hole in the #3 position. This screw is subject to being sheared off so it might not be easily visible. I don't think the slides are supposed to be held by hammered metal.

SuperNova2 - no travel stop screw
G3 - no travel stop screw. The G3 manual touts a built-in stop which eliminates the possibility of shearing the stop screw. The SN2 has nothing in the manual but perhaps is made the same way - I can't remember.

Nova Titan - does have a travel stop screw.

If this is a SuperNova I'd check for a missing or damaged stop screw.

JKJ