nova midi chuck

[jim sauterer]

can someone tell me if the nova midi chuck woodcraft has on sale for 99.00 worth buying .i have a jet 1014 vsi lathe.thanks jim

[Mike Minto]

jim, i have the g3 chuck, and use it on my jet 1014vs; it is a great, lightweight chuck that suits that lathe like it was made for it. i have heard bad things about the other, nova midi chuck - do a search here, you'll find a thread or two about it. i also have a SN2 chuck; overall, i'm VERY pleased with Teknatool's products, other than the occasional problem; but every manufacturer has it's glitches. the price sounds like a good deal to me - i paid $145 for mine, with an insert, back in April, from WC. mike

[Chris Stolicky]

I have not read (nor searched) for any reviews on the chuck. However, I have had one for over a year and a half and used it quite a bit on my 1014i. There have been a few catches over time that knocked the piece out of alignment, but I think its a pretty good deal over all. I think the slippage was a matter of the smooth jaws.

I have since invested in a Talon chuck to use on my larger lathe. I definitely like the key in the Talon better than the tommy bars on the midi.

But again, I think its a decent, and well priced, lightweight chuck for use on the mini. The talon is not too much heavier, and can grow with you, but it is also twice the price.

Good luck.

[Bill Bolen]

That is a great deal with the 2 extra jaw sets. The midi is a fine chuck for a mini to boot...Bill...

[Ryan Baker]

The only disadvantage to the midi chuck is that it is fixed at 1"-8 thread -- it doesn't take the Nova inserts -- so you can't upgrade it to a larger spindle later. That said, it's a good chuck and a pretty good deal.

[Jim Sebring]

The Nova Midi chuck can be used on a larger spindle lathe via an adapter. I used my Midi on my 1 1/4 X 8 DVR yesterday to rough out a Holly bowl. The adapter I have is a 1 1/4-to-1 x 8 I got from PSI for about $20. The whole setup runs, surprisingly, very true.

I would normally have used my SN2 with the 50mm jaws for the Holly job but it was attached to another nearly finished bowl I did not want to have to rechuck.

[Bill Blasic]

Jim,
The way things are for many turners is that they own more than one lathe. I use three chucks that are dedicated to use on the Jet 1220 VS and the Delta 46-460 1" X 8 thread. Two of these are Nova tommy bar chucks and the third is a G3. I use the Tommy bar chucks most of the time as once I got used to them I found them faster to use. That is a decent price for a decent chuck and even though you may not keep your mini if you upgrade (which I would suggest that you keep) you could get rid of it easily.

[Michael Mills]

I went to Woodcraft in Charlotte yesterday to buy this chuck. Per the sales rep you can not use an adapter with this paticular chuck (my lathe is 1 1/4 X 8),
Maybe it was a special production run or they getting rid of older stock?
Anyway, about 60 miles for nothing.
Mike

[Mark Burge]

I bought this chuck yesterday to upgrade from my ebay special which didn't have enough gripping power. I haven't been able to take it for a spin yet, but last night I played with getting the jaws set. I noticed that my pin jaw set didn't seat quite right and I think it was a problem with the hole for the screw. The screw would become lodged in the hole in the jaw without even screwing it to the chuck. I'm planning on trying to gently file the inside of the hole to make the grip not quite so tight and try again. Anyway, I haven't been able to actually chuck any wood yet.

[Bob Barkto]

It's a good chuck at that price.
I like the tommy bars, very fast to operate.
It is a small chuck so there are limits to what you can expect it to grip.

I have both the older (I think it's the original one?) with interchangeable thread insert and blued steel body.
And just bought the one that's on sale.

The new one suffers from lack of finishing. Lots of burrs and rough machining on all the jaws and chuck body itself that prevented it from working out of the box in my case. I spent about an hour deburring it last night. I looked at a few at WC and they appeared the same more or less.

Everything fits now and it scrolls smoothly like the old one (which cost more than $100. back in 1990 when i bought it). Overall not unhappy at the sale price but at full price I think it would have gone back. My time is worth something afterall.

[Steve Kubien]

It's a good chuck. I got mine for my mini (1st lathe, 1st chuck) and it has never disappointed me.

Mike Mills, I am sorry to tell you that the sales guy at Woodcraft misinformed you. PSI sells an adapter which goes from 1-1/4 x 8 tpi to 1 x 8tpi. No problem. I still use my midi chuck all the time in my Nova 1624, especially when doing peppermills.

Steve

[Jason Clark2]

I think they were saying that it won't accept the threaded inserts that the other Nova chucks will accept. No reason that it couldn't be used with a spindle adapter.

Jason


It's a good chuck. I got mine for my mini (1st lathe, 1st chuck) and it has never disappointed me.

Mike Mills, I am sorry to tell you that the sales guy at Woodcraft misinformed you. PSI sells an adapter which goes from 1-1/4 x 8 tpi to 1 x 8tpi. No problem. I still use my midi chuck all the time in my Nova 1624, especially when doing peppermills.

Steve

[jim sauterer]

thanks to all .went to woodcraft websight and they were all gone.called local woodcraft they were sold out to.win some lose some.thanks again for your input.

[Michael Mills]

Steve K,
Thanks for the info. Guess I’ll just order on line from now on. I may as well pay the shipping rather than 1.5 hours driving and about $7.50 in gas. Even lost the use of my $15 off which they sent in the mail (would have made it $85).
Mike

[Roger Wilson]

+1 on the Nova Midi being a very good chuck. Have used it alot on a Delta Midi. I'd also look at the Nova G3.

[Thomas Canfield]

I think that this was the chuck that came with my Jet Mini. I use it with a 1 1/4 x 1" thread adapter on my Powermatic 3520B, and use a similar adapter for my Talon chuck which I keep with 1" threads to use on the mini lathe. I am too lazy to change out the chuck thread between use, and I get acceptable use. The 1 1/4 x 1" thread adapter also allows using faceplates and other items originally used on the mini on the larger lathe.