Chuck preference, lever vs key

[mickey cassiba]

I'm not looking for a brand recommendation, just want to know your preferences and why. I'm finally to the point in my turnings that I need a chuck or three. My metal working chucks are just too heavy, not to mention the jaws are less than ideal for woodworking. Most of the chucks I've looked at come either way, is there an advantage to one or the other?

[Ken Hill]

I have both, and love the key BUT could easily do with the levers. For me, one key is easier to keep track of then two levers, its easier to use the key when trying to mount something if the chuck is already on the lathe etc.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

The levers are great to use if you have 3 hands... LOL

The keys are the way to go if you're starting, but the levers work just as well, but a little tricky to use. You can use the spindle lock to help, IF your lock doesn't self retract.

[mickey cassiba]

Thanks fellas...I'm used to a key type chuck, but was wondering if the levers gave a tighter grip or what. My lathe has no spindle lock, an older Delta Midi(LA200). I'm close to pulling the trigger on a four jaw, but with limited money I want the best bang for the buck. Purchase is still a couple weeks away so more input will be greatly appreciated.

[Jim Heikes]

I'm also a key believer. My Strongholds (4) have never failed me yet.

[John Keeton]

Mickey, I prefer the key for most things, but I do have an original Nova with tommy bars dedicated to my soft jaws and prefer that setup only for that purpose. I think Woodcraft has the SN2 on sale still for $139 - a good buy!

[Donny Lawson]

I think the key type is the way to go. That is what I have and it works great and has never failed me. I just think the levers would be a little more difficult since you really need 3 hands when chucking a bigger piece.

[Roger Chandler]

Definitely the KEY!

[Bob Hamilton]

I have both and use the tommy bar chucks far more often than the keyed chucks. I find them much quicker to adjust and no less convenient to use. You will certainly get a tighter grip with the 5 to 1 mechanical advantage that a key gives you but if you are expanding into a recess you run a much higher risk of breaking it out since you get much less feedback on how much pressure you are exerting on the wood. I keep my biggest jaws on my keyed chuck (Talon) and the medium and small jaws on my tommy bar chucks.

Frankly, anyone who says it takes 3 hands to operate a tommy bar chuck must need 2 hands to operate a pair of pliers.

Take care
Bob

[Roland Martin]

My first chuck was a PSI utility chuck with levers and really dislike the lever concept, at least this particular chuck. It didn't take long at all before the holes on the chuck got elongated and the levers started slipping and wouldn't allow for decent tightening, I'm certain the steel they use is not great, or the holes aren't deep enough to keep that from happening. I've since got a SN2 and really like that chuck, I'm considering getting another, Woodcraft's sale at $139 is a steal, IMO. Of course you'll have to spend another $30 for an insert.

[Bob Haverstock]

I have both and use the tommy bar chucks far more often than the keyed chucks. I find them much quicker to adjust and no less convenient to use. You will certainly get a tighter grip with the 5 to 1 mechanical advantage that a key gives you but if you are expanding into a recess you run a much higher risk of breaking it out since you get much less feedback on how much pressure you are exerting on the wood. I keep my biggest jaws on my keyed chuck (Talon) and the medium and small jaws on my tommy bar chucks.

Frankly, anyone who says it takes 3 hands to operate a tommy bar chuck must need 2 hands to operate a pair of pliers.

Take care
Bob

I agree with Bob. I like the feel of the bars, they gives more feedback.

Bob Haverstock

[Steve Schlumpf]

I have a key and love it. Our turning club has both and with some heavy handed use, the tommy bars are no longer straight! Makes it challenging to operate the chuck! Plus - as mentioned, the holes are also beginning to elongate, which just adds to the effort needed to use the chuck.

[Bill Blasic]

Mickey,
I have more than a few tommy bar chucks and more than a few keyed chucks. You get used to what you have and use, in general I find the tommy bar chucks faster to use as I go from side to side tightening with the keyed chucks and its a quick pull to tighten the tommy bar chucks. As mentioned the Super Nova II is on sale now but I'm sure you'll see the Precision Midi on sale soon at Woodcraft and it sells usually for $79 on sale. I mainly use the tommy bar chucks on the midi lathes. For the lathe you are using the Precision Midi or the keyed G3 are a better match for that lathe in my opinion.

[Jim Burr]

Keep the Key!

[mickey cassiba]

My question was more about utility, rather than brand...didn't want to start any sort of "brand" war. My thanks though for the heads up on pricing, I finally got my PSI catalog out of "time out", Charlotte finally told me where she had hidden it.

[Tim Thiebaut]

I only have one chuck and it uses the Key, I bought it because it used the Key and not the bars.

[Reed Gray]

Two hands to operate a pair of pliers. I love that.

I prefer the keyed chuck as that is what I learned on. I have had no problem with feeling the tension I am getting when expanding into a recess. Done it so many times, I don't have to think about it. I had some failures, and figured out what I did wrong, and corrected for it. Snug it up in one key hole, rotate, and snug it up in the next one. Go around a couple of times on bigger pieces. You can over tighten and blow out the shoulders of your recess. Thing is to have the proper amount of shoulder to support the compression load. I did try one of the levered chucks once, and didn't like it. I couldn't get the grip I could with the keyed chucks. If I had some one to show me the tricks, I could probably have gotten the hang of it. I do prefer the hex key to a pinion gear key (like on your drill chucks).

robo hippy

[John Hart]

Yeah...Bob Hamilton...That was priceless.

Nuther vote for Tommy Bars. I like mine.....a lot.;)

....I mean.....It's not that I love them. That would be just too weird.:rolleyes:

[Andrew Kertesz]

If you are looking at PSI products check Amazon first as they are usually cheaper than PSI on their own products. I saved about $30.00 on a chuck and got free shipping

[mickey cassiba]

If you are looking at PSI products check Amazon first as they are usually cheaper than PSI on their own products. I saved about $30.00 on a chuck and got free shipping
Actually, after reading Bill B's post, I started looking around on the 'net and found a few better prices. I've got a few more weeks 'til the eagle flies, so I will keep looking.
All said and done, I'm leaning toward the key type, it's a system I'm familiar with. I sure will be glad to move up from my 3 jaw chucks though...the suckers weigh 12 pounds. While the mass is great for keeping things spinning, I know the poor little motor hates starting them off. That and the narrow jaws make it real exciting come catch time. I've launched a few chunks across the yard...anyone know where I might find a ballistic nylon apron?

[Jon McElwain]

I like my keyed chucks, however I also have a chuck with the tommy bars which I like quite a lot too. The thing I like about the bar chuck is that the chuck can be operated by hand without a key or bars. It is nice to just pick up the chuck, adjust it to size by hand, then use the bars only for tightening.

[Michael Mills]

I have both types also. I guess I like the keyed better even though at times even they can be awkward. My tommy bar type has four holes in the outer ring and three in the inner ring. Select the right holes and you can loosen or tighten them with one hand (the same way you would install/remove a bit in a router).

[bob edwards]

I may not fully understand your question. You seem to be comparing a chuck that uses two "tommy bars" to adjust the jaws with one that employs a "key" that resembles a drill motor chuck key. If that is the limit of your consideration I would vote for the "Chuck Key" type, hands down. Having said that, if I could choose any chuck on the market I would choose one with an "Allen wrench" type adjustment. I have all three and much prefer the later. As stated, the tommy bar type takes all you hands and is rather awkward to use. The chuck key type gets sloppy with time and is less positive than the allen wrench type. Finely the allen wrench can be replaced if lost with an off the shelf tool. The Key cannot.
Good luck in your search!!

[Dick Wilson]

Thanks fellas...I'm used to a key type chuck, but was wondering if the levers gave a tighter grip or what. My lathe has no spindle lock, an older Delta Midi(LA200). I'm close to pulling the trigger on a four jaw, but with limited money I want the best bang for the buck. Purchase is still a couple weeks away so more input will be greatly appreciated.

Mickey, I don't own a lever chuck. Like previously mentioned, you almost have to have 3 hands, particularly if the blank has any weight to it. In the classes I have taught at WoodCraft they have Jet Midis and have lever chucks. IMHO it is more difficult to get them tight on the tenon compared with a key chuck. I can't count the number of times beginning turners have knocked the turning out of the lathe.

I am presuming that you are fairly new to turning. As to what chuck to buy, that depends on your wallet and what you feel comfortable spending. You might want to check out Penn State among others. Never bought a chuck from PS but they seem reasonable. Good luck, Dick

[mickey cassiba]

I may not fully understand your question. You seem to be comparing a chuck that uses two "tommy bars" to adjust the jaws with one that employs a "key" that resembles a drill motor chuck key. If that is the limit of your consideration I would vote for the "Chuck Key" type, hands down. Having said that, if I could choose any chuck on the market I would choose one with an "Allen wrench" type adjustment. I have all three and much prefer the later. As stated, the tommy bar type takes all you hands and is rather awkward to use. The chuck key type gets sloppy with time and is less positive than the allen wrench type. Finely the allen wrench can be replaced if lost with an off the shelf tool. The Key cannot.
Good luck in your search!!
Definitely with you on the type of key...The ones I am familiar with use a square key(mine have some odd metric square)which just happened to be 3/8" on the small ones, 1/2" on the mediums and 1" on the ginormous ones. Pretty handy to tighten up with a ratchet & extension. Agree right off, though a drill chuck type key is not for me...

[curtis rosche]

i have a grizzly chuck with tommy bars, i find it works great, just have to remember that it will bend the bars if you over tighten it, and it can round out the holes. but if you use it right it wont do either. we had both types of chucks in high school. both worked bad. the holes for the bars were round and the bars were bent. or the key for the other chuck had been dropped and the gear had cracked and broken.

i find it easier to have one with bars. you can set the chuck on a tble or the bed ways, and then you set your peice of wood on it and then tighten with on hand holding the peice of wood level. if you tried that with a key chuck you will never get it right cause when it gets tight the whole chuck will try to rotate and it will mess up the alignment of the peice. its a personal preference based on how you work. if you plan on chucking everything up with your chuck on the lathe go with a key

[Richard Jones]

6 chucks, 5 keyed, one with tommy bars, a Nova midi, and I use that one on my cole jaws exclusively. The comment about needing three hands is sure true for me.

R

[mickey cassiba]

Hmmm, the three hand thing has the gadget guy in me piqued. I may go one and one, just to check it out. Just wait 'til I get started on jaws:-). Definitely going with a 4 jaw, square, or hex key. Since the little lathe is only 5" over ways, and I'm mainly leaning toward pepper-mill sized stuff, along with a little artsy spindle(short, I broke my warped extension trying to straighten it)stuff, only see about a gazillion choices out there. Back to the old threads. Already ordered my pen stuff... see how that all works out(Momma said I was a good boy this year, even if I did lose my job). Now if I can talk her into a camera, you can watch me suffer through the birth pangs! Had an incredible launch a few weeks ago, trying to master the skew that Mr Nichols made for me. No one hurt, but the neighbor's cat has been giving me the stink-eye ever since. Thank you all very much for helping me to become broker than I ever imagined!

[Bill Neddow]

I find that with a key, mounting a bowl is a two-handed operation. Hold the bowl in the chuck with one hand and tighten the key with the other. With a leaver it is a three-hand operation. One hand to hold the bowl and two to work the levers. Either that, or it is a two hand and beer belly operation. I find it very awkward. I have a perfectly good lever chuck and gave it away to a friend as I never used it. I prefer my keyed chucks.

[David E Keller]

I've only used chucks with keys, but I prefer the 'allen' keys to the other. I think the bars would be fine as long as your spindle lock doesn't auto release... The spindle lock can be your 'third hand'. I saw something in the AAW journal about using a magnet over the spindle lock on lathes like the PM to prevent it from 'premature release'... Gonna have to try that.

[Tom Wilson66]

Made a third hand for the lever type chuck by bending a rod of the same diameter as the lever bar into an "s" shape, the lower end of which fits around the ways of the lathe bed and the upper end fits into one hole in the chuck. This keeps the jaws from moving while tightening and is my favorite way to hold the work. Hav en't had a lot of flying objects.

[curtis rosche]

why does everyone say it takes three hands for a chuck? the holes for the bars are offset so that there is always a position to put them that will fit in your hand like pliers so you can tighten with one hand. how come very few realized that?

[Reed Gray]

If you look at Mike Mahoney's newest video, Turning Herilooms, he uses a tommy bar chuck, one bar, the spindle lock, and hand holds the bowl. Not sure what type of chuck it is though. I thought he used only Vicmark.

robo hippy

[Lupe Duncan]

I use the Tommy bar type Nova.

Lock the spindle(which I understand not everybody has, I didn't) with 1 bar. It seems easier to me tan the keyed chuck i got(Barracuda II).