Reverse sanding with Vicmarc Chuck 120

[Curtis Myers]

I purchased a Vicmarc 120 chuck several months ago. It is a direct thread 1-1/4 x 8.
It is a very nice chuck, strong, heavy duty, nickel plated etc.... I really like it. The only other brand of chucks I have experience with are the Nova chucks and they have set screws to lock the chuck for sanding in reverse.
The Vicmarc 120 chuck does not have the set screw for turning/sanding in reverse. I'm told they have a collar which fits over the grooves of the insert and the Vicmarc spindle. I do not have a Vicmarc lathe so the collar will not help me.


One of the venders on the phone said he reverse sands with a Vicmarc 120 routinely without an issue. He also said just make sure to run in forward first to set the chuck prior to going into reverse and do NOT use the plastic spindle washer. Sanding should be a slow speed operation.
Is this acceptable practice?

What do you all do for reverse sanding with a non-locking chuck like a Vicmarc 120?

[Michael Mason]

I have a 120 and a 150 and sand in reverse will them all of the time on my AB. I have never had a problem and like you said I do not use a washer. All that said, I still wish it had some sort of locking mechanism.

[Jack Lilley]

I have a Nova II and a Hurricane 100 (my favorite). I use both of them to sand in reverse all the time and never use the set screws to secure them to the spindle.

[Curtis Myers]

I have a 120 and a 150 and sand in reverse will them all of the time on my AB. I have never had a problem and like you said I do not use a washer. All that said, I still wish it had some sort of locking mechanism.

How do you like the 150 compared to the 120?

[Michael Mason]

How do you like the 150 compared to the 120?

Honestly, I think the 120 could do most everything I turn. It is built like a tank. I use the 150 when I get over about 15" in diameter. It is a HUGE chuck and I bought it because I core a lot of bowls and wanted the extra big tenon for safety. Now that I am used to the McNaughton coring tool, I believe I could just put the bigger jaws on the 120 and do it safely. Like the 120, it is an extremely well made chuck.

[Dwight Rutherford]

I have both a 120 and a 150 and sand in reverse with both. Never had a problem. Do sand at about 300 RPM and soft start.
BTW: they are not direct thread,both of the chucks have a Vicmarc insert to fit my 1 1/4 X 8 spindle.

[Dennis Ford]

I do it frequently, not a problem if the chuck is tight on the spindle. I do not use a plastic washer but do keep the spindle lubricated and tighten the chuck onto it before turning or sanding.

[Brice Rogers]

A question and an idea:
1. Why sand in reverse? Is it to help make the dust go away from you?
2. I've wondered if a person put a threaded rod through the spindle with a nut and washer to fit inside the chuck (assuming that there is room) and a nut and washer at the other end (where the hand wheel might be) if this would be a good insurance policy in case the chuck tried to unscrew.

[Reed Gray]

Well, I also sand with the Vicmark chucks. Most of the time I am using my smaller one with extended jaws. Lathe is set at about 20 rpm, and I am power sanding. With the power sanding, I don't need to reverse sand, but I do use opposite edges, like high or low, or right or left so I can get a different swirl pattern to make sure I am getting all the scratches out before stepping up to the next grit. Some times I do hand sand, and have had a few times where the chuck did unwind from the headstock. When I am hand sanding, most of the time it is hollow forms or rolling pins. Even then, I am keeping my rpm down to 300 or so at the most. If it starts to come loose, just take your hands off, and it will stop unwinding. I do make sure to hand tighten the chuck first. If it is coming loose, then it is because I am using too much hand pressure, and I have learned how much is too much. Probably the 2 most common mistakes in sanding are too high rpm, and too much pressure. If your hands are getting warm or hot, then you are going too fast, and/or using too much pressure, and/or your abrasives are dull.

I turn every bowl I can on my larger Vickmark. I core, and with the larger Vickmark, there is a very noticeable difference in vibration, and I figure that is the mass of the chuck as much as anything. You can put the larger jaws on the smaller chuck, but that does not reduce the vibration. I do use a recess in all bowls.

robo hippy

[Paul Williams]

I have 2 SN2 chucks. The set screws hit the threads on my spindle so I never use them. As robo hippy mentioned I can cause it to unscrew with too much pressure. I also have had it unscrew by starting a large/heavy blank at too fast a speed in reverse. I had not hand tightened the chuck to the spindle before starting in reverse. That was the only time that I didn't get adequate warning that the chuck was unscrewing.

[Scott Hackler]

I have a 120 and I sand forward and reverse, with ever single project. Usually on low (no rpm reading) and power sand, going through all grits both directions. Never had this chuck or my SN2s unscrewing on the new lathe. BUT.... on the old Nova 1624 lathe , when I first started turning.... I sanded with the lathe going really fast and I applied 10x too much pressure... and once I have a SN2 unscrew off the lathe. It happened really fast and I didn't realize what was happening until it was on the floor.

Basically, I slow the lathe down and lightened up with the pressure and let the drill and sand paper do the work. Those methods improved my overall finish 1000%.

[Curtis Myers]

1. Why sand in reverse? Is it to help make the dust go away from you?


Turning and or sanding in forward can sometimes lift the wood fibers. Sanding in reverse helps cut those lifted wood fibers from the opposite direction.
E.g. I sand both forward and reverse as needed.

[Curtis Myers]

I turn every bowl I can on my larger Vickmark. I core, and with the larger Vickmark, there is a very noticeable difference in vibration, and I figure that is the mass of the chuck as much as anything. You can put the larger jaws on the smaller chuck, but that does not reduce the vibration. I do use a recess in all bowls.

robo hippy


I would like to understand the vibration comment above. Are you saying the larger Vicmarc vibrates more or less then some smaller Chuck???
Which Vicamrc Chuck and is it a direct thread or using an adapter?

All the Best
Curt

[Bill Boehme]

I would like to understand the vibration comment above. Are you saying the larger Vicmarc vibrates more or less then some smaller Chuck???
Which Vicamrc Chuck and is it a direct thread or using an adapter?

All the Best
Curt

Curt, I have the same question. Reed's comment left me scratching my head. I was considering getting a Vicmarc 150, but if it isn't well balanced, I might just stick with my 120. I have some 7" jaws and was considering larger jaws for some large coring or maybe a large 8" or 10" Oneway faceplate.

[Reed Gray]

The bigger Vickmark vibrates less because it has more mass, kind of like the difference between turning a 15 inch bowl on a Nova DVR and turning a 15 inch bowl on an American Beauty. They both get the job done, but the extra mass helps to dampen vibrations. It isn't as noticeable if you turn the piece entirely with the tailstock engaged because that way the vibrations are distributed between two points rather than one.

I core with a recess, and my Vickmark that has standard dove tail jaws which when closed will just squeak into a 2 5/8 forstner bit hole. No idea what the model is...

Hope that makes more sense...

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

I don't lock any of my chucks and when I sand, turn, or finish scrape in reverse they have not loosened. I do tighten by hand like this: screw the chuck most of the way then give the last 1/4 turn or so a quick spin with my wrist. This locks the chuck tightly on the spindle. It does take a wrench to get it off. (I will never, ever, loosen a chuck by putting force on the chuck key.) In case anyone may think spinning the chuck on might be hard on things, I can only say nearly 15 years of doing it this way has damaged nothing.

Several reasons to sand in reverse: one is the fiber thing you mentioned, alternating the direction may help. (Raising the grain with alcohol also helps.) Second, reverse does throw the dust away. Third, I can see the surface better, whether sanding or scraping.

That said, what little sanding I do is mostly with the lathe off, sanding mostly with the grain/figure. I haven't power sanded for years. (I use small, handheld cabinet scrapers with lathe running at low speed or off.)

[robert baccus]

I sand and cut on a nova-2 with o problem. I use anti-seizing compound on all my chucks. They prevent seizeures and reverseing due to metal dust and fibers in the stuff. Available at any parts store. Most machine shops swear by it. It is too late to spell well.