A chuck for the Jet JML-1014I

[Dave Crowder]

Good evening,

I just unpacked my brand new toy. I have very little experience in turning, but I took a pen turning class at Woodcraft, and that did it. I'll start with pens and small bowls, and take it from there.

Can the more experienced turners make a recommendation as to what chuck I should buy?

Thanks!

Dave
Centreville, VA

[David Christopher]

Dave, I have one of the woodcraft scroll chucks and it does a good job and its only $84..... BTW congrats on the new toy. im sure you will enjoy it but WE NEED PICS

[ROY DICK]

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Chucks?Args=

I have the Oneway Talon and strong hold chuck, but also the Apprentice whick IMHO, is a good quality check with all the jaws. Just be sure no matter which one you decide be sure to also order the proper insert to fit your head stock. Hav e fun, be careful.

And keep asking questions.

Roy

[Mark Waltrip]

Dave, I have one of the woodcraft scroll chucks and it does a good job and its only $84..... BTW congrats on the new toy. im sure you will enjoy it but WE NEED PICS

X2

Like you, I am very inexperienced in turning as well, and the great people on this forum have been a great help thus far.

I bought the "Woodriver" 4-Jaw chuck from Woodcraft this past week, and it has been a joy to use. It's the Woodcraft house brand, and the best thing is that you don't have to break the bank to buy it. Also, the jaws are as good as the other brands and they are only $20 a set or so.

I did a lot of hands on product comparisons and found a lot of things out that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

I compared the Woodriver chuck jaws to the Teknatool jaws for the Nova series and found them to be the exact same jaw. I'm not insinuating anything, but found it to be a relief that the Woodriver brand appeared to be as durable as the Teknatool by a hands on approach.

I've been pleased with my purchase and it works great for my turning needs as a beginner. Hope this helps.

[Scott Conners]

I love my PSI Barracuda 2, it's one of the best values out there because of all the sets of jaws that come with it. I use all of the different jaws all the time, it'd be really frustrating to only have 1 set of jaws, and I'm glad I didn't have to immediately buy a bunch of $40 sets of jaws.

[David Gunn]

I just went through the same thing. I called Tim Geist, the Teknatool rep. I bought a Nova chuck for $50. I am not sure if he has any left with a 1x8tpi thread. You can call him and ask. His link is below.

http://www.timstoolcrib.com/

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I got a Nova G3, good chuck, as far as I can tell, but it's the only one I've had, other than a Craftsman non scrolling 4 jaw POS. The side benefit of Novas is all of their jaws are interchangable. I have the Jet mini also. I think the single key system is important, I usually tap the blank in with a mallet and tighten at the same time. Make sure it's seated well. I guess you could tighten slightly and then tap, then retighten with the 2 key systems.

After saying I never got a catch and had the blank pop out, I just had that happen to me yesterday, the Nova has smooth jaws. It may be of a benefit to have the serrated jaws the PSI chucks have. Luckily the blank didn't hit my car. That did NOT ruin the blank tenon though. I just re-chucked it, and kept going.

[Neal Addy]

Lots of suggestions have already been given. My advice would be to not scrimp on a chuck. Keep in mind that your chuck is the only thing keeping your piece from becoming a ballistic missile.

Buy based on quality and track record. This doesn't mean you have to pay top dollar. The Talon is a great chuck for a mini (I own one and love it) but it's near the top of the price range. As Scott mentioned, the Barracuda 2 is a good bang-for-the-buck because it does come with a fairly complete jaw set. Its track record is also good based on owner reports. Most of the Nova line are very good as well. The G3 is an excellent suggestion for a mini. Many of the Nova jaw sets are interchangeable between their line of chucks. Few others can claim this.

Most of the chucks mentioned have a smaller footprint which works well on a mini lathe. But most, if not all, of them also work well on a full-size lathe. Chucks like the Stronghold are made for larger pieces than a mini can swing but some folks expect to upgrade their mini in the near future and are willing to give up a small footprint in expectation of turning much larger pieces later. My Talon now runs on a 1442 and I have no issues with its capacity, but then I turn mostly smaller pieces well within the range of my lathe. You'll have to decide what works best for you.

[Bill Bulloch]

I bought the Penn State C Series Mini Chuck for $99.00 to go with my Jet 1014, It's okay for small stuff. Then I bought the Jet 1236 and found a SuperNova2 Check on eBay for $122.00 with the 50mm Jaws and I got the Power Grip Jaws off ebay for $36.00 -- I really enjoy that thing. Both checks and lathes are 1 x 8 TPI, so I can use them on both lathes.