Grizzly Chuck for a Powermatic 90

[Roy Turbett]

Just a heads up for my fellow Powermatic 90 owners who may be looking for a chuck with a 1 1/2" X 8 insert. The Grizzly 3 1/2" chuck is a knock-off of the Vicmarc 100 and is available with a 1 1/2" X 8 insert but the Vicmarc 100 isn't. I purchased a Grizzly chuck with a 1 1/2" X 8 insert for one of my Powermatic 90's and returned it because it didn't fit properly. The problem is that the threads aren't long enough to allow the chuck to seat properly against the spindle without adding some washers. I had this same problem with an adaptor I bought from an online catalog. I also found that the Grizzly jaws are not nearly as smooth as my Vicmarc 120 (a larger 5 1/2" chuck) but some members have said that this can be corrected by taking the chuck apart and cleaning it. The Grizzly sells for $113. I ended up buying a second Vicmarc 120 for $289. I was also out the shipping costs and a 10% restocking fee for the Grizzly.

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, Roy. I actually have two of those Grizzly chucks. Haven't noticed a problem, but will look a little closer into it.

[Ben Martin]

Mike and/or others,

How much experience do you guys have with this chuck on large bowl blanks?

I finally got my lifted PM90 up and running, ordered the Grizzly chuck and am now scared to use this thing. This chuck just appears terribly weak. I have a lot of 15-18" oak blanks that I would like to get on this thing and get it turning, but am scared that I need to upgrade to a "real" chuck like the Stronghold.

Also Roy, I believe I am having the same problem that you experienced, the adapter bottoms out before the threads tighten. And on top of that, 2 of the jaws on mine appear to be defective as they wobble around...

I think I am going to pack this thing back up and get a Stronghold...

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp325/martbj/2011-12-14_19-02-33_493.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp325/martbj/2011-12-14_19-02-46_290.jpg

[Bill White]

I guess that I've been lucky. I have the chuck on my Grizz lathe. Just finished a project with it. Works like a champ. I" x 12 tpi on the lathe and no adaptor was needed.
Bill

[Mike Cruz]

Ben your risers look great. What are you doing for a banjo? How much did you add...4"? Carefull, the center of gravity on your lathe has changed. I highly recommend not only bolting it down through the flanges on the ends, but also with angle irons around the headstock end cabinet. 6 of them ought to do it. If you are on concrete flooring, you'll be great. You also need to make a cover for that belt...makes it look a lot sharper... I have to say, I love your KEEP GUARD IN PLACE sticker (with the guard missing! :D)

As for the chuck. First of all, I would get one of these... http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT2?PMPXNO=1782200&PMTERM=08183162 . I got one and it works great. Accurate to something like .0005" or something. Use it for anything you put on the spindle that isn't Powermatic because many things that you get won't be long enough to seat all the way to the collar. Secondly, the Grizzly Vicmarc knockoff is a decent chuck. I have two of them. You have to watch out, though. I went through ordering 4 before I got two that had little to no runout. Two were definitely out. Considering that your tennon should be about 1/3 of your bowl size, this chuck is good up to about 12-14". I also have two Strongholds. For the big bowls, the Stronghold is better. This Grizzly chuck is the knockoff of the Vicmarc 90...which is their small chuck. They have the VM90/100 then the VM120 and bigger. For the money, The Grizzly chuck isn't bad. That said, you may have a bad one... Certainly not the quality of the Stronghold, though.

Congrats on getting the risers on! Have fun.

[Ben Martin]

Ben your risers look great. What are you doing for a banjo? How much did you add...4"? Carefull, the center of gravity on your lathe has changed. I highly recommend not only bolting it down through the flanges on the ends, but also with angle irons around the headstock end cabinet. 6 of them ought to do it. If you are on concrete flooring, you'll be great. You also need to make a cover for that belt...makes it look a lot sharper... I have to say, I love your KEEP GUARD IN PLACE sticker (with the guard missing! :D)

As for the chuck. First of all, I would get one of these... http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT2?PMPXNO=1782200&PMTERM=08183162 . I got one and it works great. Accurate to something like .0005" or something. Use it for anything you put on the spindle that isn't Powermatic because many things that you get won't be long enough to seat all the way to the collar. Secondly, the Grizzly Vicmarc knockoff is a decent chuck. I have two of them. You have to watch out, though. I went through ordering 4 before I got two that had little to no runout. Two were definitely out. Considering that your tennon should be about 1/3 of your bowl size, this chuck is good up to about 12-14". I also have two Strongholds. For the big bowls, the Stronghold is better. This Grizzly chuck is the knockoff of the Vicmarc 90...which is their small chuck. They have the VM90/100 then the VM120 and bigger. For the money, The Grizzly chuck isn't bad. That said, you may have a bad one... Certainly not the quality of the Stronghold, though.

Congrats on getting the risers on! Have fun.

Thanks Mike, it still isn't quite done. I have a line on another belt guard, and it looks like I can squeak a 4" slice out of it to put a fully cast guard back on it (with some welding or bolting the 3 parts together). I believe that these block were NOS PM91 risers, not sure though. I got them off a guy on OWWM, they are heavy, about 30lbs a piece. I also have the original guard (plastic one), need to get that attached too. I have a Oneway 20" banjo on order, should be in any day now.

I need to do a bit of shop re-organization before I can get fully up and running. I am only 5' 6" so I need to build a platform in front of it, probably will further stabilize it at that point in time.

[Bill Bolen]

I've got several of these chuck (newest about 2 years old) and they have been perfect for me. I might suggest that for a larger bowl get a set of their 100MM jaws. They will also take the VicMarc jaws and bolt right on. I keep a set of VicMarc Shark jaws on one and a set of 100MM jaws on another. Hope this works out for you. Fine looking lathe too. Those risers look good enough to have come right from the maker.

[Mike Cruz]

Ben, you lucky duck!!!!!!! How on earth did you get a hold of PM91 risers? I mean, I searched up and down for months, calling everywhere to locate a set. Begging on forums. Just couldn't find them... If you don't mind me asking, how much did they run you? And how long ago did you get them? If you don't want to make any of this info public, you can PM me (or not if you don't want to tell me either...). The banjo sounds like it'll work great.

Not sure if your plastic guard will work well now that you added the risers. Might just get in the way... Make sure you make that platform big...you don't want to step back and fall off. Post more pics if you can...now, and as you are working on it. Would love to see them...

[Ben Martin]

Mike, I have never seen a PM91 riser so am not 100% sure they are original, but they sure are nice. I got $250 in them, which was a deal in my book. They were posted on OWWM a couple weeks back and I pounced. The PO didnt know their origin and I painted them, he had bought them a while back. I will start a thread when I get some time on my lathe. The banjo arrived today so I am almost there. Do you have any good pics of when you made your belt guard?

As for the chuck, what a POS! Once I got the lathe fired up the thing vibrated like a jitter bug, the runout could have been measured in 1/8ths of an inch. Needless to say it will be getting returned and I already have a Stronghold on order...

[Mike Cruz]

Here you go, Ben. The first two show where the joints are. The middle one shows the expansion hole for the reeves drive jack shaft. The fourth one shows the seems up close, and the last one is of the whole thing.

[Mike Cruz]

As for the chuck, sounds like you got a bad one. That is the real problem with those chucks. It is almost as if they are Vicmarc rejects and it is a matter of just how bad...because the two that I have run true...

[Luke Townsley]

I had one of those grizzly chucks on my old lathe. I couldn't ever seem to hold a bowl on with it. Maybe it was just the operator. After dropping a few things, I started using alternate methods. I'm going to try a Vicmarc one of these days, but won't be buying the Grizzly again.

[Roy Turbett]

Luke-

Dovetail style chucks like the Vicmarc can be a little tricky if you don't cut the tenon right. The directions that came with the chuck are good but there is still a learning curve. The first problem I had was getting the dovetail angle right. Once I figured out how to use a skew that problem was solved. The second problem is a mistake many turners make by making the tenon too long so it bottoms out in the chuck. I even saw Scott Phillips do this in one of his videos. What is important is that there is a flat spot for the shoulder of chuck to rest against to support the piece being turned. If the tenon is too long, there isn't any shoulder support and the only thing holding the bowl is the tenon itself which can snap. Alot of my friends have the straight jaw Stronghold chuck but some of them are switching to the dovetail style because they think it holds better. Oneway is now offering the Stonghold with dovetail jaws.

[Roy Turbett]

Mike -

I really like the looks of your guard. I wish I had seen them before I started making mine this weekend. I'm doing mine out of laminated MDF and am going to put some fiberglass on the inside for strength.

[Roy Turbett]

Bill -

When you say that the Grizzly chuck will take the VicMarc jaws, I assume you are refering to VicMarc 100 accessories. My VicMarc 120 accessories didn't fit the Grizzly which is another reason I returned it.

Roy

[Mike Cruz]

Roy, the Grizzly chuck is the VM90 knockoff. The VM90 jaws will fit it, maybe the VM100, too. But you are right that the VM120 jaws will not.

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, Roy. At first, I was going to make it PERFECT. Then I realized that A) other parts of the lathe don't fit "perfectly" and B) you can see seams and imperfections in the cast iron. So, the little lines and such in the cover "go away". I have yet to have one person over that guessed that it was made...let alone out of wood. Everyone is surprized...

[Roy Turbett]

Mike -

I just finished my guard and won't need the fiberglass. The MDF was real easy to shape and sand. I'll be posting some pix to my rebuild thread at OWWM.

[Mike Cruz]

Can you post a pic of it here, too?