Chuck problem

[Fred Floyd]

I'm pretty much new to woodturning. Today I started out on a project to make some drawer pulls. My design called for a 1-1/2" diameter . Chucked a 1-3/4x 1-3/4 block into my Oneway Stronghold chuck and away I went. I turned one end down to about 1-5/8 and then proceeded to turn the piece around. Lo and behold!!! The standard #2 jaws will only go down to 1-3/4. I have the #1 jaws, but they are too tall for the block to bottom out in the chuck.

So, I'm stuck. Oneway doesn't seem to have a solution for the problem on their website. Seems like the Nova Chuck is smaller and might handle a smaller diameter. Anyone have experience with this type of problem?

[Tom Hintz]

Welcome to the dreaded learning curve in woodturning! Hopefully knowing you are not the first, nor the last, to go through this will bring some level of sollace.

One thing we have to remember when turning small stuff is the minimum capacity of the chuck so we can leave a tenon (spigot if you want to sound lathe-cool) to grab, finish the piece and then part it off.
Another thing is the piece usually does not have to butt all the way to the bottom of the jaws. If you can get it centered, the jaws usually have enough grip to hold it.
If you can't use the live center in the tailstock to center it, try bringing the end of the tool rest up to the side of the piece and turning it by hand. You can watch the gap between the piece and the end of the tool rest to make little corrections to get it centered. Not an exact science but it can work in a pinch!
Good luck!

[Blake McCully]

My design called for a 1-1/2" diameter . Chucked a 1-3/4x 1-3/4 block into my Oneway Stronghold chuck and away I went. I turned one end down to about 1-5/8 and then proceeded to turn the piece around. Lo and behold!!! The standard #2 jaws will only go down to 1-3/4. I have the #1 jaws, but they are too tall for the block to bottom out in the chuck.

Fred,
Tom's idea is exactly on the money. I am assuming (dangerous thing to do) that the 1 5/8" diameter will be tha actual pull part. If this is so, then did you plan to reverse it and put the spigot/tennon on the exposed part? Maybe what you can do with the others, is turn the spigot first, probably best to do this with all the pulls, and make sure that you have a nice flat shoulder at the bottom of the spigot. Then when you put on your #1 jaws, there will be something for them to butt against. In most cases, at least from what I've read and have been taught, you really don't want your material to rest on the chuck face. In many cases that are of your work may not be exactly square. That's why you square up the shoulder of your spigot.

If I hit the mark, you can just disregard this. It is just my $0.02 anyway. At any rate, have fun and ask a lot of questions.

Happy Easter.

[Carole Valentine]

Could you glue it to a block and mount it?