Chuck Advice Needed

[Noah Barfield]

Hi all,

A couple of months ago, I wound up buying Dan's Barracuda2 special edition TN chuck set. It's a great set, filled with all sorts of jaws. At the time, I had a Craftsman tube lathe.

I've sold the Craftsman and bought a Jet 1642-2. I also bought a Oneway Stronghold chuck (with a set of standard jaws) to go with it.

I've toyed with the idea of selling the Barracuda2, but it's got so many cool attachments (and the equivalent attachments for the Stronghold are out of my price range right now). PSI sells an adapter that would "adapt down" from the Jet's 1 1/4 8tpi spindle to the Barracuda2's 1" 8tpi receiver. The drawback, though, is that the adapter moves the chuck further away from the motor, thus increasing the potential for vibration.

So, would you advise buying the adapter, or should I sell the Barracuda2 and save up for additional Stronghold jaws?

Thanks,

Noah

[Noah Barfield]

BTW, I forgot to mention that I'm mostly interested in turning bowls right now.

Noah

[Paul Williams]

In my opinion adapting down as you suggest is more trouble prone that adapting up via an insert. You mentioned vibration. Also the offset will provide an additional lever arm for the weight of the blank reducing the capacity. It also increases the opportunity for runout. However, I would still try it. Limit the size and weight that you put on the chuck and use it until you can afford the similar jaws for your new chuck.

[Noah Barfield]

In my opinion adapting down as you suggest is more trouble prone that adapting up via an insert. You mentioned vibration. Also the offset will provide an additional lever arm for the weight of the blank reducing the capacity. It also increases the opportunity for runout. However, I would still try it. Limit the size and weight that you put on the chuck and use it until you can afford the similar jaws for your new chuck.

Sorry--newb clarifying question: what is runout?

Noah

[Michael Mills]

JMO but if you have a proper transfer of power there should really be no noticeable difference. You also have a larger spindle to carry the weight. Does a faceplate work better than your chuck? With the chuck the power is transferred to the insert, then the chuck, then the jaws, then the wood; instead of directly to the wood as a faceplate does.
I don’t have your chuck but my Novas they all use an insert/adapter. Never been a problem. Yours is going down in size rather than up but if the fit is proper…

[Doug W Swanson]

You could always try the adapter and see if there is a lot of of wobble when you turn a bowl. If they aren't that expensive, I would try that first. Then you're not shelling out a ton of money that you don't have to.

JMO

[Don McManus]

Sorry--newb clarifying question: what is runout?

Noah

Total Indicated Runout is how many thousandths "out of round" a dial indicator measures, peak to peak, on a piece when spun over a 360 degree spin. A perfectly round, perfectly axial, perfectly smooth bar will spin with no TIR. A perfectly round, smooth bar installed cockeyed, will wobble, so it has a TIR that increases along its length. Three jaw chucks are usually not as well centered as say, a precision collet chuck, which may have TIR in the ten-thousandths.

TIR often gets shortened to runout.
Don

[Dave Bunge]

I have one of the PSI Barracuda chucks. When I upgraded to a larger lathe, I bought this adaptor from one of the large on-line retailers: PSI Woodworking LA11418 Headstock Spindle Adapter (1-1/4-Inch-by-8tpi to 1-Inch-by-8tpi Chuck). I've not had any problems. In fact it runs better now than it did on my 1950's vintage shopsmith.

[Noah Barfield]

Thanks everyone for your replies--I'll go ahead and order that adapter!

Noah

[John Beaver]

I had the same situation a while back. I bought the adapter and it works fine. It's worth it to have access to all the different jaws that come with the Barracuda.

[Russell Neyman]

Your concern about vibration shows that you have a fundamental understanding of turning, and that's good. I you're going to turn bowls of any size, vibration is going to be a concern with or without the extra length. Sooner or later you'll have to invest in a steadyrest, and that would undoubtedly resolve 90 percent of any vibration issues you might encounter. You might as well buy it now.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the various jaws that attach to the Barracuda2 mostly for smaller items or low speed turning? That alone eliminates most of your vibration potential.

I have all sorts of chucks: A large four-jaw One-Way, a couple of Novas, a three-jaw machinist's version, and even a Barracuda. The truth is all of these work quite well under the appropriate circumstances -- bowl blank, speed, chuck, and the use of a free tailstock.

[James Combs]

Thanks everyone for your replies--I'll go ahead and order that adapter!

Noah

I was in the same boat when I bought my Jet 1642-2. I had a Grizzly G0658 which has a 1"-8tpi spindle. I had three Novas that I had used on the Griz. I purchased the PSI adapter but was not impressed with the run-out. As far as I was concerned it was excessive, don't remember the numbers but I felt it was too much. It was enough that I could not use my Beal Collet system. I finally found this one (http://bestwoodtools.stores.yahoo.net/precspinad.html) at Bestwood Tools. It had absolutely no detectable run-out plus I purchased the one with the MT2 taper through hole which allowed me to continue to use MT2 taper fittings in the spindle and it allowed me to add a vacuum chuck system to the lathe without modifying the adapter. YMMV

Edit: If you haven't ordered yet I would seriously consider the Bestwood Adapter over the PSI. The adapter I got was the AD-202 1-1/4"-8tpi to 1"-8tpi which should be the same one you need. I have no affiliation with Bestwood, I just know a good product when I use it.