Jacobs Chuck for wood lathe

[Ron Blank]

I am a new turner who would rather spend a little more up front then buy something less expensive or something that won't work as well as I need it to. That said I am interested in purchasing a chuck to be used in my tail stock for drilling into my projects. I am told to purchase a Jacobs Chuck. As I am doing my research I see that to purchase a good Jacobs Chuck my cost will be in excess of $200.00. Several of the woodturning mail order sites sell other chucks for less than $50.00. These chucks are manufactured by companies that sell other woodturning tools that are considered to be top of the line.

If it matters for your comment my lathe is a Powermatic 3520b

Will I be satisfied with one of these other chucks or should I purchase a "Jacobs Chuck"?

[cody michael]

I'm a beginner but I have the harbor freight one that is like 10-15$ always worked well for me

[Joseph M Lary]

Go to harbor freight tools they sell a Jacobs chuck Im sure its under 20 dollars I always have a coupon for 20% off . I have 5 or 6 now I set them up with bits i use the most . I have never got a bad one.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have a PM-3520B and I purchased both of my Jacobs chucks from Woodcraft. Just make sure to get one with a #2 Morse Taper IIRC. I think I paid under $20 each for mine.

[Brian Myers]

Or look around for a used Jacobs chuck, the ball bearing models last a long time. I have Jacobs brand chucks and a couple of made in Taiwan chucks , they all work the same. You will probably find you will want more than one anyway. If you think you will ever use it in your headstock then you will want an arbor that will accept a drawbar not a tanged arbor. A tanged arbor is fine for tailstock use.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Brian's point is spot on. Be sure any chuck you get has an arbor that is drilled and tapped for a draw bar. I picked up some allthread, a nut, some flat washers to fit and a wing nut to fit the allthread to make a draw bar. Chasing half finished projects around the shop isn't fun!

[Michael Mills]

Unless you are going to use it a lot you can probably just pop out the chuck from your drill press. Swap it back and forth as needed.
Of course your drill press MT and tailstock will have to be the same, mine are both 2MT so no problem.

[Ralph Lindberg]

'Bangs head"... I'm trying to recall the firm that Dave (D-Way Tools) recommends. They have a keyless chuck that closes all the way, with great roller bearings. He said they held up well.
A Chuck plus a MT2 taper was under $100.
They were at the AAW Twin Cities Symposium
At one point WoodCraft was carrying them

[Bob Mezzatesta]

Got mine at Lee Valley. Reasonable price and works fine. Uses a chuck key which I prefer.

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm a beginner but I have the harbor freight one that is like 10-15$ always worked well for me

I'm a pretty new turner with the same lathe you have. I have three of these - work well. When making more than one pepper mill I can leave different sized drill bits on them. I also purchased a keyless version from PSI I believe.

(FYI the HF do not have threaded hole in the end but the PSI does)

Mike

[Jon Shank]

I have both the HF keyed chuck and the PSI key-less, both work just fine. I agree with the other guys who mention the threaded taper for holding work in the headstock, the PSI has this like they have said. If I was just going to get one I'd take that. Turns nice and true, grips well, no complaints. Harbor Freight all of the above except the threading.

Jon

[Keith Outten]

Its my understanding that there are two quality levels of Jacobs chucks. I expect that is why you often see two very different prices.

[Jon Nuckles]

I bought a keyless chuck that was about $30 and it is almost impossible to tighten it enough to keep a forstner bit from slipping. I wish I'd bought a better one or a keyed one. I don't recall the brand right now.

[David Delo]

What type of drilling application are you wanting to perform? I've been doing more and more deeper than normal hollowing (11" to 14") lately and found the Carter Strongbore to be an excellent choice for deeper starter hole drilling. I don't always drill a hole on a bowl but always on a vase or HF. Always had a hard time not spinning a forstner bit in the Jacobs chuck so I switched methods. YMMV.
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[Thom Sturgill]

I have one of the HF chucks that I stopped using on the lathe and put on my Jet drill press as I could not find a key that fit the chuck on it (I purchased it used with missing key). I also have a 1/2" keyless chuck that I bought several years ago from Woodcraft (I believe). It did not have a MT adapter with it - I had to purchase that separately. It has no manufacturers mark that I can see just marked as 1/2" JT33. It has performed flawlessly.

[Tom Giacomo]

I have the 3520 and have been using the HF chuck for years and I have done some very deep drilling.

[charlie knighton]

what ever you buy, also get a sanding attachment for the Jacobs chuck, the morse taper allows you to put it in the headstock with different grits instead of using a drill, its a handy tool to have

[Scott Hackler]

I bought a keyed version from Harbor Freight in 2009 and have used it a bunch. Works perfectly and I have no complaints. This is actually one of a few things where the el cheapo HF tools are the right choice. $20 or so.

As far as deep drilling, the Jacob's chuck seems less important than the mass of the drill bit shafts/holders. I have made quite a few 10" pepper mills and I drill all the way through the large section (I do not drill half from the bottom and then half from the top.) Works well, but I bought the HD fortner bits and HD holder from Craftsupplies.

[Jack Mincey]

When buying a Jacobs chuck make sure you order one that is for holding drill bits. I have one that is for drilling and another that is for holding dowel rods. The one for dowel rods would only work for 3/8" bits are bigger. It works great holding dowel rods for when I'm making crow calls or wine stoppers though.
Jack

[David Delo]

I bought a keyed version from Harbor Freight in 2009 and have used it a bunch. Works perfectly and I have no complaints. This is actually one of a few things where the el cheapo HF tools are the right choice. $20 or so.

As far as deep drilling, the Jacob's chuck seems less important than the mass of the drill bit shafts/holders. I have made quite a few 10" pepper mills and I drill all the way through the large section (I do not drill half from the bottom and then half from the top.) Works well, but I bought the HD fortner bits and HD holder from Craftsupplies.

Scott,

I too went the HF Jacabos and CSUSA bit extender route. Sometimes worked fine and other times I just couldn't get the keyed chuck tight enough (even when using a cheater bar). This is the Apprentice labeled one they sell. Ended up just buggering up the shaft. Is this extender the same one you speak of???
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[Scott Hackler]

I am not for sure, but it sure looks like the one I use. Strange that you cant get the chuck tight enough. I never had an issue and only tighten the Jacobs chuck with the key. I wonder if there is something wrong with yours. Of course I do subscribe to the drilling method of slowly drilling while the lahe speed is about 600 rpm and I usually have an air hose blowing into the hole while I go...while backing the bit out a lot to clean it all out.

[David Delo]

Thought it might be a goofy one because I have another HF chuck on the drill press and haven't had that type of problem with it but then I'm not drilling that deep on it to exert those kind of forces. Anyway, the Strongbore worked for me and haven't had one hiccup so it's become the go to tool for me. I usually only run around 200 rpm with about 1" deep plunges before it gets to difficult to retract in wet wood and a little better than 1.5" in dry. Thanks for your info.