Please excuse the ignorance

[Don Dorn]

I've been a woodworker for around 10 years and primarily a Neander, but have avoided turning because my experiences were not good and I assume that it's just not my thing. There are many things I'd like to build that I've avoided because of it. My desire is primarily spindle turning as opposed to pens, finials and tiny things, etc.

Not being one to give up, I want to try again and now have the correct equipment to sharpen the tools, but even in searches, I remain confused about chucks. I'm told it should be four jaw and natuarally, I don't want to spend an inordinate amount of money.

I see that Woodcraft has a Woodriver four jaw chuck on sale for $74.99. It uses two bars to tighten and friend told me to stay away from those - anything else is pretty expensive. If anyone feels like they could type a little to educate me on this, I would appreciate it.

[Roger Chandler]

A four jaw scroll chuck is much safer than any other type of holding device, excepting a face plate with a lot of screws to hold the wood fast.

The geared type that uses a key wrench is more stable in its holding power than most ones that use the bars to tighten.

They can be used for small light stuff, but lack in holding power for most large or heavy blanks. Your friend gave you good advice, and if you want to turn the safest way, the investment will pay for itself with years of service, and you do get what you pay for.

The 3 top brands are Oneway [Stronghold or talon]. SuperNova2 by teknatool, and Vicmarc. You cannot go wrong with any of these 3. Next to the lathe itself, a chuck and turning tools are the most important things you can by for woodturning, and it just costs :( I'm sorry, but that is the reality of the turning world.

[John Keeton]

Don, I can't speak to the Woodriver chuck as I have no experience with them. The bars usually require two hands, and there could be times that might be inconvenient.

Woodcraft also has the Teknatool Super Nova 2 on sale for $129, and it is a super chuck. I realize it is $50 more, but you will get a superior tool, I would imagine, and one for which jaws will be interchangeable and readily available. Were it that you do enjoy turning as much as most of us, you will be buying more chucks. I have three and that isn't enough!

Also, the Nova G3 also goes on sale often, and it is a good chuck.

What type of lathe do you have, and what is the spindle size?

Another less expensive option that is mentioned sometimes are the Barracuda chucks from PSI. Some of them are more affordable.

Just my thoughts.

[Harvey Schneider]

Don,
If you are going to be doing only spindle work, you won't need a chuck.
Traditionally spindles are turned between centers. A spur drive for the headstock and live center for the tailstock are included in most lathe packages.
Harvey in Southbury, CT

[alex carey]

not sure exactly what your turning but it may be that you don't even need a chuck for it? If its all spindle turning there is a good chance you could use a simple and cheap faceplate or spur driver.

[David E Keller]

Another option is the four jaw chuck from Grizzly... I've got one, and I think I'll get another soon. They're $99, and use a T-handle style wrench like the vicmarc chucks.

I agree with the others... For pure spindle work, you can likely do without.

[Ryan Baker]

There isn't really anything wrong with the two-bar (known as Tommy bars) adjustment chucks other than they sometimes require more hands to operate than one has available.

The WoodRiver chuck is an 'OK' chuck -- certainly not great, but there are far worse. Another good chuck at the lower end of the price scale is the $99 vicmarc-compatible chuck from Grizzly.

The big three names in the wood lathe chhuck business are Teknatool (Supernova2), Oneway (Talon and Stronghold), and Vicmarc. You can't really go wrong with any of those. (Note that Woodcraft has a special of $129 on the Supernova2 this month.)

A lot of your choice depends on your needs. You don't mention what lathe you have, but as you are primarily focused on spindle work, you probably don't need a lot of large-diameter or heavy part capacity. The Supernova2, Talon, or small Vicmarc (or similar) would be plenty large enough for your needs. Teknatool also has the G3 and midi chucks, which also may be good choices depending on your lathe model.

One of the advantages to the larger brands is that you will have a much larger selection of jaws available to you. That will become more important the more turning you do. It does add significantly to the cost however. Some of the lower-end chucks come in kits with several jaw sets, which may serve your needs for a while -- especially if that's what you budget will allow. The more expensive chucks will run truer, hold stronger, last longer, and give you room to grow in the future without losing your investment. Replaceable inserts will allow you to move to a different lathe in the future without losing your chuck/jaw investment.

Of course, if you are mostly doing spindle turning, you might ask whether you really need a chuck. A good multi-spur (stebcenter type) drive center is usually much more useful for spindle work, as long as you can use the tailstock.

(Looks like the other guys said all that while I was typing...)

[Don Dorn]

This is great advise and I thank you all. I suspected that I might not need a chuck and that's been confirmed. That said, it wouldn't hurt me a bit to have one should I ever venture out and the Super Nova 2 is not out of my range if it's a decent chuck I can can use.

Don't some people use a chuck as their spur? My friend mentioned it as a possibility and felt that it helps create a more secure fit to the headstock.

It's time to do some research on some entry level lathe tools which I have not done yet so I won't bother you with that. However, I was thinking that in addition to a decent set, get a cheap set of HF with the primary intent of using them to learn sharpening on until gone. Flawed thought?

I'm afraid my entry level lathe will cause some scoffing in that it's a HF 34706. From what little I've played with it, it seems quiet and the variable speed seems to work well. It's 3/4 hp which means nothing to me in the realm of lathes. It seems to have gotten decent reviews for entry level so I bought one as a store is less than a mile from me. My intent is that if it's something for initial spindle turning and if I enjoy, I'll put out for a high quality lathe.

[Michael James]

Welcome to the vortex............ a "famous" turner told our group last month that "they" should give the lathe away as an incentive to buy all the other stuff.

It's the red pill, or the blue pill Neo.:cool:
michael

[John Hart]

I hope you enjoy your spindle turning Don.....As you get tugged harder and harder into the abyss.

I look forward to your transformation.:)

Oh...by the way...I use my tommy bar chuck all the time. It treats me well. The rest of the time, I use faceplates mostly.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ditto what others have said. If just doing spindle work you really don't need a chuck.

[Tony Kent]

Hello
Just my .02 cents worth, for cost etc I just bought the HF lathe and the grizzly 99 dollar chuck and so far have been happy with them both. Of course I would rather have my nova2 and delta 16 inch lathe ,but they are in storage, it's been kind of fun turning on the hf lathe since it is what I started out with. Point being to all my babbles is that for learning to turn the HF lathe is a great deal and the grizz chuck is pretty good too. Just be safe and if you have a turner near you some hands on learning will really help since your past experience hasn't been all that fun. Take care and be safe.....face shield, safety comes first, then have fun!

[John Keeton]

Don, my first lathe was the 34706, and it is a super little lathe. Had this bunch not suckered me into the bowl and form thing (I could have been quite happy doing furniture legs!!;)), then I would still be using it! And, my first set of tools were HF, and I still use several of them.

[Bob Hamilton]

If you can operate a pair of pliers with one hand then you can operate a tommy bar chuck with one hand. I have both tommy bar chucks and key operated chucks and I use the tommy bar chucks 90% of the time. They grip well enough to hold anything an entry level lathe is capable of safely spinning.

Just because there are two tommy bars doesn't mean you have to hold one in each hand.

Take care
Bob

[Bill Blasic]

Bob,
I agree 100%, I have at least 4 of the Nova Precision Midi chucks and use them with different sets of jaws.
Bill

[William Hutchinson]

... natuarally, I don't want to spend an inordinate amount of money.


Don get the Nova SN2 on sale at Woodcraft while it's at a reasonable price. Things that once were fufu luxury accessories will become absolute necessities. Watching spinning wood seduces the subconscious and transforms rational adults into babbling pseudo-artisans; wasting exceeding large amounts time in esoteric discourses on forms, proportions and the finer points of grinding allen wrenches into mini hollowing tools. It's great fun and welcome to 'Hotel California'.

Oh and don't worry, you will quickly learn that spending an inordinate amount of money will come quite naturally.:D

[Joseph Crivelli]

This Thursday will mark 1 year since I got my Jet JWL-1220vs.
I bought the Woodriver chuck for the new lathe, and I have not been disappointed.

I've since bought the other jaws - #1, #3, and Large Flat.

I also took a chance and both the PSI C Series Alligator Jaws and #1 Step Jaws. The C Series jaws fit the WR chuck except that they're drilled for a smaller screw. I expanded the holes for the WR size screws and had to grind the screwhead to fit the C jaws (smaller diameter). The jaws work fine.

This is a very good beginner's chuck.

[Sean Hughto]

While a chuck is often unnecessary for spindle type turning, there are times when it is nice to have for spindle type projects. The benefit of a chuck can be that it allows shorter spindle oriented type blanks to be secured at only the drive end - no tail stock is required. This can be useful when you want to work on the end of the piece without having to part off. For example, this weekend I turned a quick handle for a socket chisel out of a piece of osage orange I found in my neighbor's firewood (I was helping stack it, and he was glad to let me have it when I asked); in order to turn the tapered tenon that fits in the socket, it is useful to be able to repeatedly test the fit while the handle is still on the lathe. I couldn't have easily done this without a chuck as it would require repeatedly taking the handle off the lathe and risking remounting it slightly out of position. There are many other examples like making scoops (allows the end to be hollowed) or tops (helps ensure a sharp centered point) etc., a chuck is very useful.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2505/4048237551_09f5c71637.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2748/4372529077_301f5a9098.jpg

[Michael Mills]

I have a Pinnacle (Woodriver), Nova SN2, and Nova G3. For the price I would go with a Nova. There is a world of difference in the quality even though the Woodriver will work for you.
If you get a Nova, make sure you get a Nova insert. There have been lots of problems caused by the generic inserts because they do not seat properly.
I believe the Woodriver comes with an insert but if you order it will still be around $95 with shipping and taxes added.
The Nova SN2 (on sale) should be around $165 with Nova insert, shipping, and taxes.
If you do an ebay search for Nova G3, you can buy it with Nova insert and shipping for $115. You can use almost all Nova jaws with it except the 100mm Powergip jaws.
Mike

[John Hart]

I think Sean Hughto takes great pictures

[Sean Hughto]

Hears 1 uf a burd dat injoyce da lacquer fumes too:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/2715718724_83d403e5eb.jpg

;-)

[John Hart]

heh heh....eees flyin'...but ain't!!!:D

[Don Dorn]

Thanks for the input. Even though I'm convinced many would fit the bill where I initially didn't, the one common denominator was the SuperNova2 was an excellent choice. I ordered it this afternoon.

I'll get a set of tools and practice, practice, practice. Hopefully, I won't hurt myself as catching the wood scares the bejebes out me. I used to think this turning stuff was just for grown ups. Guess I'll either grow up or hang on to that initial thought. Thank you again.

[Joseph M Lary]

Don if you want some help PM me we live in the same town maybe I can give some pointers , Im no pro by any means . and I dont do alot of spindle turning.