Wanted: An accurate chuck

[Jim Underwood]

I want an accurate chuck.

When I first started turning, I had a Jet 1014 and a couple Nova chucks. The first one I bought new was the Nova midi with the tommy bars and and it had very small jaw movement.. The second one was a used original Nova chuck with tommy bars, and an assortment of jaws. Both of these had dovetail style jaws and for the money were pretty accurate.

Then I got a Jet 1642 lathe (since sold), and the Nova G3 chuck, and a Oneway Talon. I haven't been pleased with either one of these. They both have their problems. The G3 has some small jaws on it at the moment, but the thing wobbles despite my best efforts to get it running true. I've taken the insert out and put the dial indicator on it, trued it up, and checked again. There's less than .0005" runout on the insert at the moment, but the thing wobbles at the business end enough to see it.
The Talon jaws have never been right from day one. I tried and tried to get them trued up, but those serrated jaws are just... well... less than optimal if you want to re-turn something.

Anyway, I'm about fed up with these chucks, and wonder whether there are chucks that are accurate right out of the box? Vicmarc perhaps?

What say you?

[Jeramie Johnson]

I have been very pleased with my Hurricane chucks. I think they are similar to the Vicmarcs. I re-turn items 75% of the time, as I do not have the time to cut-prep-turn-finish. But my disclaimer is that I do not have investment in any other brands, but I love that the backs of these are sealed.

[Dick Strauss]

Jim mark your #1 jaw outline on the wood before removing the piece. When you want to return the piece realign the marks with jaw #1. You may have to wiggle slightly to get it to set in the same grooves made by the jaws.

[Michael Mason]

I have 2 vicmarcs, a 120 and 150. I am very pleased with both. They are very heavy duty, and both run true. I ordered a Hurricane a couple of weeks ago because they were on sale, and while it seems to be a good chuck, it is much lighter in weight and is not nearly as smooth as either vicmarc. I am not downing the hurricane, it works just fine, I just think the vicmarc chucks are in another class. Just my opinion.

[John K Jordan]

...The G3 has some small jaws on it at the moment, but the thing wobbles despite my best efforts to get it running true. I've taken the insert out and put the dial indicator on it, trued it up, and checked again. There's less than .0005" runout on the insert at the moment, but the thing wobbles at the business end enough to see it.
The Talon jaws have never been right from day one. I tried and tried to get them trued up, but those serrated jaws are just... well... less than optimal if you want to re-turn something.


"Wobble" as in runout or as in play (rocks if you grab it and push/pull)?

You might check the insert and body of the G3 and the lathe spindle for a scratch or burr or something preventing it from seating correctly. Even a bit of sawdust on the spindle can cause problems so a burr could be bad. Also, if you are using one of those plastic or fiber washers to make chucks easier to remove try removing it. They are notorious for causing wobble. I have 14 Nova chucks, some G3, some SN, and some SN2 and I haven't seen a wobble on any of them.

It is difficult or impossible to reinsert a tenon and get the piece to tighten perfectly. The best chance is as mentioned, mark the jaws and carefully tighten in the exact indentations. (and don't over-tighten) I just make a mark on the wood between jaws #4 and #1. However, I try to organize workflow so I don't have to rechuck. In my experience it is easier to reseat a chuck in a recess than on a tenon, especially if the recess is made correctly - just barely larger than the chuck jaws.

BTW, a slight wobble, as long as there is no play would be annoying but should not affect the turning. If consistent every time the chuck was remounted it wouldn't even adversely affect rechucking. Unlike the morse taper, lathe spindle threads are notoriously imprecise. Some are worn, some downright sloppy even when new.

JKJ

[Marvin Hasenak]

Accuracy and wood chucks don't fit in the same sentence, the wood will give and throw it off. But if you want an accurate chuck, look at the metal lathe chucks. They will repeatedly repeat their settings, but only if you do not squeeze the wood. They are usually a lot more expensive and will not have the variety of jaws that woodturners are used to.

[allen thunem]

just a thought here. how accurate do you need it to be to turn wood , which by nature is prone to constant movement??
Regardless of accurate the chuck may or may not be at the start of the project, the project wont end up that way when finished unless of course it is an engineered medium. Not seen many chunks of wood that maintain their shape after final finishing.
it is after all just wood.
just my 2 pesos

[John Keeton]

There is another possibility - the face of your spindle shoulder could be milled "out of flat." I have seen this on other lathes, and it will throw a chuck - any chuck - out of true because the chuck will not mount parallel to the spindle when shouldered/seated. Check this without a chuck mounted and make sure the face is flat and true.

[Jim Underwood]

Jim mark your #1 jaw outline on the wood before removing the piece. When you want to return the piece realign the marks with jaw #1. You may have to wiggle slightly to get it to set in the same grooves made by the jaws.

That's standard practice for me.
It's ok, but doesn't really do the trick. I think the problem with my Oneway is that the jaws were manufactured all crookedy to start. There's a forum thread on this chuck somewhere here that shows the problem. I should have contacted the reseller or Oneway immediately but failed to do so. Instead I tried to make it true using a scraper. Limited success.

[Jim Underwood]

Accuracy and wood chucks don't fit in the same sentence, the wood will give and throw it off. But if you want an accurate chuck, look at the metal lathe chucks. They will repeatedly repeat their settings, but only if you do not squeeze the wood. They are usually a lot more expensive and will not have the variety of jaws that woodturners are used to.

Ok. We're just going to have to agree to disagree on that... When turning a tenon on kiln dried wood, and IMMEDIATELY rechucking it, the effects of wood movement are negligible. And no, I don't want one of those knucklebusting metal lathe chucks on my wood lathe. Just not gonna happen.

[Jim Underwood]

There is another possibility - the face of your spindle shoulder could be milled "out of flat." I have seen this on other lathes, and it will throw a chuck - any chuck - out of true because the chuck will not mount parallel to the spindle when shouldered/seated. Check this without a chuck mounted and make sure the face is flat and true.

Yep. I should have measured that. It's a brand spanking new lathe, so I didn't think it would be a problem. I'll check it next time I'm up there...

[Jim Underwood]

just a thought here. how accurate do you need it to be to turn wood , which by nature is prone to constant movement??
Regardless of accurate the chuck may or may not be at the start of the project, the project wont end up that way when finished unless of course it is an engineered medium. Not seen many chunks of wood that maintain their shape after final finishing.
it is after all just wood.
just my 2 pesos

It should be accurate enough that when I turn a tenon on kiln dried wood and then turn it around, that if I get a 90 degree shoulder flush with the jaw faces, that I should see very little wobble once I turn the lathe back on. I see demonstrators do it all the time. If you're turning boxes, then you NEED to have this kind of accuracy...

[Jim Underwood]

"Wobble" as in runout or as in play (rocks if you grab it and push/pull)?

You might check the insert and body of the G3 and the lathe spindle for a scratch or burr or something preventing it from seating correctly. Even a bit of sawdust on the spindle can cause problems so a burr could be bad. Also, if you are using one of those plastic or fiber washers to make chucks easier to remove try removing it. They are notorious for causing wobble. I have 14 Nova chucks, some G3, some SN, and some SN2 and I haven't seen a wobble on any of them.

It is difficult or impossible to reinsert a tenon and get the piece to tighten perfectly. The best chance is as mentioned, mark the jaws and carefully tighten in the exact indentations. (and don't over-tighten) I just make a mark on the wood between jaws #4 and #1. However, I try to organize workflow so I don't have to rechuck. In my experience it is easier to reseat a chuck in a recess than on a tenon, especially if the recess is made correctly - just barely larger than the chuck jaws.

BTW, a slight wobble, as long as there is no play would be annoying but should not affect the turning. If consistent every time the chuck was remounted it wouldn't even adversely affect rechucking. Unlike the morse taper, lathe spindle threads are notoriously imprecise. Some are worn, some downright sloppy even when new.

JKJ

Wobble as in runout. There's no play. Brand new lathe, tight chuck. No plastic washer.
I'll buy the idea that the spindle threads are sloppy, but seems like tightening against a flat spindle shoulder should line it up...
I think John Keeton might be onto to something. I'll check the shoulder runout.

[Jim Underwood]

I have 2 vicmarcs, a 120 and 150. I am very pleased with both. They are very heavy duty, and both run true. I ordered a Hurricane a couple of weeks ago because they were on sale, and while it seems to be a good chuck, it is much lighter in weight and is not nearly as smooth as either vicmarc. I am not downing the hurricane, it works just fine, I just think the vicmarc chucks are in another class. Just my opinion.

That's been my impression too. One of the best woodworkers I know, Don Russell, has a whole fleet of them in custom made boxes. I'll check into them.

[Jim Underwood]

I have been very pleased with my Hurricane chucks. I think they are similar to the Vicmarcs. I re-turn items 75% of the time, as I do not have the time to cut-prep-turn-finish. But my disclaimer is that I do not have investment in any other brands, but I love that the backs of these are sealed.

Thanks Jeramie, I'll look into those too.

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

I've been very pleased with Vicmarc chucks. I also have a Oneway Stronghold chuck that I didn't really care for until I changed out the jaws to dovetailed jaws. Since I put the dovetail jaws on it I've been pleased with it as well. I didn't like the serrated jaws at all.

[Jim Underwood]

Thank you all for your input. It's much appreciated. I've been reminded of some fundamentals and will re-check some things.

I'm also gonna look into some Vicmarc chucks in the meantime....

[Jim Underwood]

I've been very pleased with Vicmarc chucks. I also have a Oneway Stronghold chuck that I didn't really care for until I changed out the jaws to dovetailed jaws. Since I put the dovetail jaws on it I've been pleased with it as well. I didn't like the serrated jaws at all.

That's good to know. Thanks!

[Don Jarvie]

I just picked up a Hurricane 125 and used it the first time. It has a nice fit and tightened right up. I just upgraded from a Nova Midi so I went from a Kia to a Caddy. The 150 dollar price tag and recommendations here sold me. Worth considering.

[Doug Ladendorf]

When I switched lathes I sold my Novas and went Vicmarc all the way. No regrets. They are a pleasure to use.

[John K Jordan]

Yep. I should have measured that. It's a brand spanking new lathe, so I didn't think it would be a problem. I'll check it next time I'm up there...

The lathe spindle shoulder is an excellent thing to check, suspect if the runout at is more the further away from the headstock.

However, if the lathe spindle shoulder is not right it seems you should see the same wobble problem on your other chuck or any chuck. (I can imagine if the spindle threads on the second chuck were machined to a higher precision it might run true anyway.) If only the G3 has runout maybe borrow another G3 to check?

Oh, I just remembered someone once said he got a lathe insert that had some problem in the machining and never would seat in the chuck correctly. Perhaps borrow another insert to try? Also, there were reports of non-Teknatool/Nova inserts being inferior, in case that applies to your issue.

Good luck with this. I wouldn't tolerate a chuck with runout.

JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

A few months ago I had bought a Grizzly chuck that had bad runout. After a lot of checking, I chucked up a 2" round cylinder of aluminum and it had the same problem. After that, I noticed that three of the jaws had some normal play between the jaw and the scroll underneath. But one did not. So, basically one jaw was not in line with the other three. I suspect that there may have been a manufacturing burr or some mechanical damage (i.e., a dent).

On metal lathe chucks, the machinists will avoid using a scroll chuck for critical operations because they frequently have runout. So in those cases the machinists will consider:
1. Use a 4-jaw independent adjustable chuck
2. Use a scroll chuck that has independently adjustable (adjust-true?) jaws
3. Use aluminum soft jaws that are re-turned to true at a particular diameter just before doing the critical stuff.
4. Re-true the jaws by grinding them. It can be done but the procedure and limitations are too lengthy to post here - - better to Google truing a 3 jaw lathe chuck.

[Steve Arnold]

I've had first hand experience with only two chucks; the Nova G3 and the Vicmarc VM100. In my opinion, there is no comparison between the two. I feel that the Vicmarc is head-and-shoulders better than the Nova. You'll pay more for a Vicmarc, but to me, it's well worth it.

[Bill Blasic]

I have a boatload of chucks, Nova, Oneway, Vicmarc, Axminster and Chucks Plus. Half of what I have are Novas. When I reach into the cupboard I reach for the jaws I need not what chuck they are on. I do not consider any of these chucks to be better than the other. They all run true and without problem. I have found that most folks who have trouble with their piece not running true when turning them around to be mounted on the chuck have not made their very last cut on the tenon and tenon face. My last cut is a light cut on the tenon and tenon face which trues it to all I have done to the piece. That gives you the best shot at running true. For me the only difference in all these chucks is the way (direction you turn) they open and close.

[John Keeton]

I don't have the variety of brands that Bill has (WOW!), but I do have 6 Nova chucks - 5 SN2s and one old original Nova. All of them run sufficiently true for the work I do, some of which is fairly detailed. I don't detect any visible runout though I have never put a gauge on them. There are many things that can affect the stability or "true" of a chuck and given that both of your Novas seem to be "out" I would exhaust all other possibilities before I started buying chucks.

[Greg McClurg]

+1 for the Vicmarcs...very high quality in my opinion.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I want an accurate chuck.
/snip//snip/

The Talon jaws have never been right from day one. I tried and tried to get them trued up, but those serrated jaws are just... well... less than optimal if you want to re-turn something.

/snip/

What say you?

Does the Talon body have a runout like your Nova chucks ??

If not, as I would expect, (or there is a problem with your lathe) and you have to mount and re-mount your work, than the dovetail jaws from Oneway for you Talon might be a better choice for you, they are not that expensive, and the Oneway Talon is a high quality chuck that will serve you well for a long time.

[Jason Edwards]

Don't forget Bulldog chucks from Chucks Plus in Texas. I' told they are made in the same factory that the Vicmarc chucks are made and all the jaws are compatible. Less expensive than the Vicmarcs and the quality, I think, is just as good. Vicmarc's used to be made in Australia, but many of the parts now come from Asia. Not saying that's bad, but is is different than it used to be.

[Steve Peterson]

I am surprised that there is so much runout in a brand new chuck. I have several older Nova SN2 chucks with no issues. Supposedly Nova moved their manufacturing offshore and I don't know if the quality is the same. The biggest complaint I have heard about is the inserts. The cheap knock-off insert has been reported to have issues that are solved by going with the slightly more expensive Nova insert.

Steve

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I am surprised that there is so much runout in a brand new chuck. I have several older Nova SN2 chucks with no issues. Supposedly Nova moved their manufacturing offshore and I don't know if the quality is the same. The biggest complaint I have heard about is the inserts. The cheap knock-off insert has been reported to have issues that are solved by going with the slightly more expensive Nova insert.

Steve

Oh there have been numerous problems with the Nova chucks well before the manufacturing went to China, all kinds of jaw mismatches etc, that got straightened out and then we have the move to China and other problems cropped up, it still is often the chuck people buy for the price, not the quality IMO.

Something that has been called the race to the bottom, all for the lower cost, rather than Quality, I’ve stayed with the Oneway chucks as it had and still has the quality I want.

[Jim Underwood]

For a recap of what happened with my Talon Chuck you can read this thread:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?141897-Couldn-t-stand-it-anymore
The picture of the problem (on the Talon chuck) is on the second page, but it looks like this:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=152793&d=1276104158

[Joe Shanaphy]

I have what may be a silly question. Does anyone have any experience with the Vicmarc direct-threaded chucks versus the Vicmarcs that use an insert? It SEEMS to me that the direct thread should be more precisely machined and without the one extra "variable" of an insert.

[Jim Underwood]

No experience with them, but that configuration made sense to me too.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I have what may be a silly question. Does anyone have any experience with the Vicmarc direct-threaded chucks versus the Vicmarcs that use an insert? It SEEMS to me that the direct thread should be more precisely machined and without the one extra "variable" of an insert.

Chuck Info here.

349136

As I have no Vicmarc chuck, is the 1 1/4” female thread maybe a regular size used for their inserts for smaller size spindles ???

[paul cottingham]

I'm just a baby newbie turner, but a fairly experienced woodworker, and I have a Oneway Talon Chuck. I haven't had any problems with it, and I'm using it on an old beaver lathe. But...I am nowhere near as picky as most people. So what isn't bugging me (or my turning buddy) might be intolerable to you. I also turn green wood.

[Peter Blair]

I don't have any but I know some swear by the Aminster Chucks that can be purchased at Lee Valley.

[Alan Trout]

Jim,

Using chucks really comes down to one thing, best practices/process. I use mostly Oneway serrated jaws anymore for my turning. I can get them to re-chuck on dry wood or plastic every bit as well as a Vicmarc or Nova chucks with a dovetail jaw. I like the serrated jaws for different reasons and unless you are doing what I am it really does not matter in the discussion, other than they can be re-chucked very accurately. And yes I come from a machine tool background and I am very picky about accuracy, probably more so than most professional turners. On wet wood turning and then drying you need use a friction chuck and the drive point from where you started between center to true up the tenon before you finish turn your bowl. This will give you as accurate a re-chuck as possible after drying. On dry wood you need to mark the jaws so you can put the chuck back exactly where it was. I will take pencil or fine line marker and mark between just one set of jaws and then number it to the slide it corresponds to. Usually the slide just above. You can mark all if you like but its not needed. When you start to tighten the jaws move the item chucked back and forth just slightly. You can feel where it fits best and then finish your tightening. That is as accurate as you are going to get with a moveable material. I don't think you need to throw money at another chuck, Just work on your process and perfect it. Practice and technique is almost always better than spending money.

Alan

[Jim Underwood]

Jim,

Using chucks really comes down to one thing, best practices/process. I use mostly Oneway serrated jaws anymore for my turning. I can get them to re-chuck on dry wood or plastic every bit as well as a Vicmarc or Nova chucks with a dovetail jaw. I like the serrated jaws for different reasons and unless you are doing what I am it really does not matter in the discussion, other than they can be re-chucked very accurately. And yes I come from a machine tool background and I am very picky about accuracy, probably more so than most professional turners. On wet wood turning and then drying you need use a friction chuck and the drive point from where you started between center to true up the tenon before you finish turn your bowl. This will give you as accurate a re-chuck as possible after drying. On dry wood you need to mark the jaws so you can put the chuck back exactly where it was. I will take pencil or fine line marker and mark between just one set of jaws and then number it to the slide it corresponds to. Usually the slide just above. You can mark all if you like but its not needed. When you start to tighten the jaws move the item chucked back and forth just slightly. You can feel where it fits best and then finish your tightening. That is as accurate as you are going to get with a moveable material. I don't think you need to throw money at another chuck, Just work on your process and perfect it. Practice and technique is almost always better than spending money.

Alan

I get the process. That process is what I practice.... But this ain't that problem... The chucks and jaws are wobbly. ESPECIALLY that G3. It doesn't matter if I mark the workpiece with pencil lines and jaw numbers... or wiggle it into the previous position, or tighten the tailstock up against the work piece to force the workpiece into the jaw faces.

If the piece gets a tenon turned on it, and then is reversed in the chuck, the piece wobbles because the CHUCK is the problem....
See the picture below for the misaligned jaws on the Oneway Talon:

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I get the process. That process is what I practice.... But this ain't that problem... The chucks and jaws are wobbly. ESPECIALLY that G3. It doesn't matter if I mark the workpiece with pencil lines and jaw numbers... or wiggle it into the previous position, or tighten the tailstock up against the work piece to force the workpiece into the jaw faces.

If the piece gets a tenon turned on it, and then is reversed in the chuck, the piece wobbles because the CHUCK is the problem....
See the picture below for the misaligned jaws on the Oneway Talon:

Are you saying that the Oneway Talon chuck is wobbling ?? or are the Nova chucks wobbling ??

Did you purchase the Talon chuck new, or was it a used chuck, and I can not understand that if you bought a new chuck that had defective jaws, why you did not return them, unless the jaws were damaged while being used.

You should be able to try the jaws from a friend’s Talon chuck on your chuck to find if there is anything wrong with the Talon chuck.

As for the nova chucks there are several reports about problems with wobbling, caused by using an aftermarket insert, try an original if you have one of those problematic inserts.

tarring one chuck with the problems of another doesn’t help anything here.

[Alan Trout]

I agree with Leo on this. I have 5 Nova chucks and 4 Oneway chucks and I do not have an issue with wobble with any of them. I use them on my Robust, Nova DVR and Woodfast lathes and they work equally as well on all of them. Again I have heard of some bad inserts with the Nova chucks. IMHO the Oneway has the best insert system of them all. The Taper insert that they use should be the most accurate. If you like a Dovetail jaw Oneway makes those and are worth a try, as they are way cheaper than another chuck.

Good Luck,

Alan

[Jim Underwood]

The Nova G3 (bought brand new) probably has an insert problem, because the whole chuck is wobbling. But I thought that it was an OEM insert in the red and black box... so I don't know if that's an aftermarket insert or not...I dunno about the jaws at this point because the whole chuck wobbles. GrAH!

The Oneway Talon was bought new from Hartville tools, and yes, when I realized there was a problem I should have reported it immediately. But for some reason I didn't. I don't really remember how it all went down. But I'm fairly sure the problem is/was the jaws... I linked to the picture of it twice already. Dunno why the picture doesn't actually show up now... By the time I had analyzed what was going on (see the previous link to the thread) it was WAY too late anyway, so I attempted to fix it myself.

When a guy buys TWO brand new chucks and they both are inaccurate (for whatever reason), then one's confidence in these manufacturers kinda ebbs... OH, and then there was the saga with the Jet 1642 I bought new, where the centers wouldn't line up despite getting two replacement tailstocks, and finally the motor shaft bending. Lets' just say I'm no longer a fan of Jet either...



***The two other NOVA chucks I don't remember every having any problems with. The midi chuck (my first new chuck) and the original Nova chuck (bought used) were both used on my Jet 1014 (also bought new- but had to exchange it for another because the motor pulley wasn't concentric and the headstock bearings knocked)***

Isn't there a manufacturer whose product isn't acceptably accurate right out of the box? This is why I'm looking at Vicmarc chucks. Can I pay a little more and get the quality I desire? Can you understand why I'm a bit fed up?

[Ronald Blue]

If the jaws are indeed not true to their mounts if they can't be returned for whatever the reason locate a machinist to correct the problem for you. They can chuck your chuck in a 4 jaw chuck on a metal lathe and indicate it in to be true and bore the ID of your jaws and turn the OD as well. You will want something like a rod chucked in the chuck to have pressure on the jaws while they are being machined. This is common practice on CNC machines to bore their "soft" jaws for the parts being machined. I would first be seeing if you can get Nova or whomever made them to make it right. Good luck.

[Roger Chandler]

Just for thought, Jim.........if your insert is one that is a taper, like on the oneway, then there should be three screws that hold the insert to the chuck body. To make the insert seat plumb/true, then one needs to turn the holding screws in sequence, a turn or at most two turns at a time. If one tightens down one screw all the way, there is no way an insert will seat correctly. Turn a couple turns, go to next screw, tighten a couple of turns, go to next screw and so on until the insert is seated all the way down and tight. Not following this sequence can and does induce wobble into the chuck, so I encourage you to take the screws out of your inserts, and follow that proceedure. Not sure what to tell you on the Nova chucks, other than the off brand inserts for the Nova chucks sold by Woodcraft were faulty at times, and only a genuine Nova insert fixes it.

[John Keeton]

Lot of good suggestions here. I am not familiar with your Stratos lathe. How long have you had it, and have you had ANY chucks spin true on it? If it is a standard spindle thread - 1.25" x 8tpi, or other standard thread, I would spin the chucks on another lathe to see if you get the same issues. If not, then it probably is your lathe.

If the problems are still there, then Roger's thoughts on the Oneway chuck seem to be the next step with it. However, I would remove the jaws, make the correction on the insert as recommended, and see if the chuck body spins true. If not, then you may have an issue with either the insert or the chuck body. I would redo the tightening of the insert again. If it spins true, attach the jaws with the screws in, but not tight, close the jaws and tighten the screws in rotation. If it doesn't spin true, then you probably have an issue with the jaws.

On the Nova, make sure the insert is a Nova insert. See if you can borrow another insert to try. Remove the jaws and see if the chuck body spins true. Repeat same as with the Oneway chuck.

With regard to both chucks, be certain they shoulder up on the face of the spindle and don't just bottom out on the threaded spindle.

Jim, I know you are frustrated and I do hope this resolves for you.

There are so many possibilities here that I would exhaust all of them before I started blaming the chucks. Obviously, there can be and are occasional machining issues with chucks of any brand, but it just seems very unlikely you would have two chucks, different brands, that do not spin true.

[Dom Garafalo]

There are so many possibilities here that I would exhaust all of them before I started blaming the chucks. Obviously, there can be and are occasional machining issues with chucks of any brand, but it just seems very unlikely you would have two chucks, different brands, that do not spin true

Jim, I think John is right that it is extremely unlikely that two good quality chucks are both problematic. I'm a new turner and over the last 6 months I bought 2 new Nova G3 chucks with Nova brand thread inserts and they both run perfectly on my Jet 1221. If it was me, I'd invest in a genuine Nova thread insert for the G3 and if that didn't solve the problem I'd take that chuck and insert and try it on someone else's lathe that is known to run true. That will narrow down the possibilities. I certainly wouldn't start buying new chucks until I was convinced that my lathe was not the problem. I hope you find your problem quickly.

[Terry Vaughan]

I have Vicmarcs. I found runout on one but it disappeared when I made sure the insert was screwed right in. I thought I'd done that, but it hadn't quite bottomed out in the chuck body. The tommy bar hole was too shallow so it was hard to crank the insert right in without damaging it. I also found the chuck body would come off the insert instead of the insert coming off the spindle. Threadlock fixed that, now it works fine, no runout that I can see.

[Jim Underwood]

Just for thought, Jim.........if your insert is one that is a taper, like on the oneway, then there should be three screws that hold the insert to the chuck body. To make the insert seat plumb/true, then one needs to turn the holding screws in sequence, a turn or at most two turns at a time. If one tightens down one screw all the way, there is no way an insert will seat correctly. Turn a couple turns, go to next screw, tighten a couple of turns, go to next screw and so on until the insert is seated all the way down and tight. Not following this sequence can and does induce wobble into the chuck, so I encourage you to take the screws out of your inserts, and follow that proceedure. Not sure what to tell you on the Nova chucks, other than the off brand inserts for the Nova chucks sold by Woodcraft were faulty at times, and only a genuine Nova insert fixes it.

This is great information. Thanks to all who mentioned the faulty Nova inserts. I'll order one and see if that fixes the problem with my G3.

As for the Talon, I think I'll order some replacement jaws and see if that fixes it. I remember measuring the runout on that thing every which way and just couldn't find any...

[Fred Belknap]

This is just a shot in the dark but the picture you posted makes it look like the jaws may be install out of sequence. I took my Talon apart years ago and remember that it has to go together a certain way.

[Jim Underwood]

Lot of good suggestions here. I am not familiar with your Stratos lathe. How long have you had it, and have you had ANY chucks spin true on it? If it is a standard spindle thread - 1.25" x 8tpi, or other standard thread, I would spin the chucks on another lathe to see if you get the same issues. If not, then it probably is your lathe.

If the problems are still there, then Roger's thoughts on the Oneway chuck seem to be the next step with it. However, I would remove the jaws, make the correction on the insert as recommended, and see if the chuck body spins true. If not, then you may have an issue with either the insert or the chuck body. I would redo the tightening of the insert again. If it spins true, attach the jaws with the screws in, but not tight, close the jaws and tighten the screws in rotation. If it doesn't spin true, then you probably have an issue with the jaws.

On the Nova, make sure the insert is a Nova insert. See if you can borrow another insert to try. Remove the jaws and see if the chuck body spins true. Repeat same as with the Oneway chuck.

With regard to both chucks, be certain they shoulder up on the face of the spindle and don't just bottom out on the threaded spindle.

Jim, I know you are frustrated and I do hope this resolves for you.

There are so many possibilities here that I would exhaust all of them before I started blaming the chucks. Obviously, there can be and are occasional machining issues with chucks of any brand, but it just seems very unlikely you would have two chucks, different brands, that do not spin true.

The Stratos is brand spanking new. (I won the giveaway at the AAW Symposium this summer :).) I doubt there's runout in the spindle, but I'll check. Both of these chucks (Talon and G3) had this problem on my Jet 1642, so I doubt it's the lathe...
I'm going to try to finish my review on it today.... There are some great features on this lathe, but there's room for improvement.

[William C Rogers]

Been an interesting thread. Being somewhat new I have not really noticed my chucks having wobble. How do you go about checking a chuck? Do you turn a piece of wood and measure that or do you measure directly on the chuck? What is considered acceptable runout and wobble?

[Joe Bradshaw]

I have been following this thread with much interest. Yesterday, I checked all of my Oneway Talon chucks for runout and misfitted jaws. I found no problems with any of them. They had various jaws(spigot jaws, #2 profile and dovetail, step jaws, #3 profile jaws and jumbo jaws). I agree with the others who say that your inserts may be the problem. Oh, and I tried my chucks on 3 different lathes. I hope that you gets problem solved. I really like my Oneway chucks.
Joe

[Leo Van Der Loo]

See this is the thing, it is not the Talon that is wobbling, the jaws are out, apparently the chuck was bought ON SALE, and I wonder if the jaws are actually genuine Oneway jaws, or some CHEAPER cloned jaws that were added to the chuck :eek: :confused:

It is the Nova chuck that is actually wobbling, and as we know that is nothing new, trying to make things CHEAPER by adding/using another than the original insert, ended up with headaches and problems, CHEAPER does NOT mean BETTER.

The pain of using a cheap tool lingers long after the joy of saving money has passed.

[Jim Underwood]

See this is the thing, it is not the Talon that is wobbling, the jaws are out, apparently the chuck was bought ON SALE, and I wonder if the jaws are actually genuine Oneway jaws, or some CHEAPER cloned jaws that were added to the chuck :eek: :confused:

It is the Nova chuck that is actually wobbling, and as we know that is nothing new, trying to make things CHEAPER by adding/using another than the original insert, ended up with headaches and problems, CHEAPER does NOT mean BETTER.

The pain of using a cheap tool lingers long after the joy of saving money has passed.


The Talon was bought on sale, but I believe the jaws are OEM, unless Hartville put some clones on there... I certainly didn't.

As for the Nova, I could have sworn I bought a genuine Nova insert, because I distinctly remember opening two red/black boxes with Nova inserts- one for my G3, and one for my Midi chuck.

But today, I bought some #2 smooth jaws for the Talon, and a "genuine Nova Insert" for the G3, and should have them this week. Then we'll see if anything gets corrected.

[Jim Underwood]

Today, I received the Gen-U-Wine Nova insert for my G3 chuck. I checked runout on the OD of the G3 chuck before installing. I had .002" at the very back of the chuck OD, and .004" runout in the midline between the keyholes and the scroll jaw base cutouts. (The back and the midline are about the only place one can have full contact around the circumference.) I also noted the "wobble" at the front when the toolrest was brought quite close to the front corner of the chuck. It did wobble significantly.

Then I removed the old insert, and inspected it. It has the same "L" stamped in it as the new one, which designates the 1-1/4" x 8 tpi Nova insert. This seems to confirm that I had indeed bought a Nova insert for this chuck.
Nevertheless I installed the new one, and remeasured the runout. It now has about .001" runout at the back and .002" runout at the midline. It was noticeably less wobbly also. I found this mostly concentric chuck body acceptable.

Once I did that, I removed the jaws, placed a straight rod between the bare jaw bases, and tightened the chuck down on the rod, and measured the runtout. It was less than .001". I find this acceptable.

Then I installed all three sets of jaws in my possession that fit this chuck and inspected them. I have the original dovetail jaws it came with the chuck when new, a set of step jaws, and a set of pin jaws.
However, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the jaws I own for this chuck, have the same twisted aspect illustrated in the drawing I shared earlier. This indicates that the manufacturer hasn't machined these jaws correctly. In each case ONLY the leading edge of each jaw contacts the work piece. And, the part of the jaw that does NOT touch misses touching by a significant amount. I did not measure, but I daresay it's at least .030" off.

I then checked my Oneway Talon, which exhibited the same problem and found that although the chuck body runs true, the jaws still have the same problem they originally had. Now I'm supposed to received the new dovetail jaws tomorrow, so we'll see if they exhibit the same problem....

This just irritates the $%!! out of me.:(

[John K Jordan]

...EVERY SINGLE ONE of the jaws I own for this chuck, have the same twisted aspect illustrated in the drawing I shared earlier. This indicates that the manufacturer hasn't machined these jaws correctly.

This is incredible. I have 14 Nova chucks of various types, some old, some recent, and I have no idea how many jaws. I have NEVER seen in any jaws or chucks the type of misalignment you described with the drawing. All of my jaws make perfect circles, at least within the tolerances of the very slight play in the slides.

If ALL the jaws you have mounted show this problem, I would suspect the grooves in chuck for the slides are not machined perfectly radially (or less likely, the slides are bad). If each was tilted a bit, every jaw you mounted would show the same problem. Do you have any way to test one of these problem jaws on someone else's chuck, perhaps one at a store?

In fact, when you first posted the diagram I was puzzled, how could they even make jaws that tightened rotated like that? They apparently machine the jaws in one piece, stepped locating ring on the bottom and everything, then saw them into four pieces. How could the location ring on the bottom of each jaw even be machined with a tilt relative to the front of the jaws unless, perhaps, the ring was not milled concentric with the jaws and then the jaws installed out of order? (That's a stretch!)

If the the jaws were not installed according to the procedure in the manual they might not line up correctly but still, the individual jaws wouldn't be twisted. If the jaws were installed out of order they will likely have uneven gaps between them, but it's hard to imagine them with a twist.

Try this: hold the jaws together (in the correct order) so they form a circle, working side down on the table, perhaps holding them with a rubber band if necessary. Does the location ring machined on the bottom side make a circle and is the circle concentric with the outside circumference of the jaw set?

Do you ever get up to Knoxville? If so, I'd love to examine your chuck and jaws and compare it to mine.

JKJ

[Van Huskey]

While I normally have very little to say in this corner of the forum and this thread isn't even about bandsaws, it is blindingly obvious to me what the problem is and I am completely flabbergasted that no one has identified the obvious. Jim simply used every bit of tool karma and luck in one shot winning the lathe, he is simply doomed to lead a life of disappointment and despair when it comes to new tool acquisitions, at this point anything less than 1/10th of an inch of runout in a chuck should be seen as a victory to be celebrated.

More germane to the thread and certainly more important to my spinny thing education is what is considered acceptable runout for a lathe/chuck/jaws "system"?

[John K Jordan]

More germane to the thread and certainly more important to my spinny thing education is what is considered acceptable runout for a lathe/chuck/jaws "system"?

Runout and wobble are not as important on wood chucks as they are on metal, partly because the wood compresses as you tighten the jaws and precision is naturally lost. Also, since you always true up the blank just after mounting, the piece will always be perfectly concentric with the axis of the lathe spindle itself regardless of how imprecise the chuck and jaw combination is.

Concentric jaws with low runout are in fact helpful when remounting things in the chuck but even that's not very important when using the recommended method of marking the position before removing the piece and taking care to reset the piece in the same jaw indentations every time. Due to the nature of wood, remounting is inherently imprecise.

Perfect jaws and chuck are also helpful if you first turn a tenon between centers and then insert that tenon into the chuck, seating it against a carefully turned shoulder. If there is wobble caused by tilt of the jaw axis, the amount of error seen at the free end of the piece would depend on the angle and the length of the piece. The worst that can happen is you may have to decrease the diameter a bit more than if the chuck was perfect.

If you turn a lidded box, you generally turn TWO tenons between centers, one on either end of the blank, divide the blank and mount each one in the chuck to turn the lid and the base. A perfect chuck would help keep things straight at first and help preserve the full diameter of the blank. However, even when turning boxes an imperfect chuck is not necessarily a big deal since both parts of the box including the mating surfaces are, again, always concentric with the axis of the lathe spindle. There is never a need to remount either part in the chuck, at least not using the method I use, taught by Richard Raffan.

All that said, I don't know of any numbers for "acceptable" runout on a woodturning chuck. I would also be very unhappy with a chuck that had visible wobble, either from parallel axis offset or angular tilt. If I pay good money for a chuck, I want it to be right. How far out it can be and still be useful is a personal issue. I don't see wobble in mine but I have never put a dial test indicator on one either.

BTW, the worst case for a chuck that is tilted off axis is when turning long, thin spindles with one end held tightly in the chuck and the other free or held by the tailstock. If the spindle blank is slender enough, the angle will be compounded by the relatively long distance to the end and there may not be enough wood left at the end for the desired diameter. However, two things help even with this: when turning a square blank I insert it loosely into the chuck, line it up visually with the ways or the point on the tailstock center, then tighten the jaws. The square blank held in the gaps between the round jaws is deformed enough to correct for any reasonable error in the chuck. Or far better: I often "chuck" thin spindles by turning a short morse taper on the blank (as discussed in another thread) and use the spindle taper as a jam chuck. This has several advantages, one being the work can be removed and remounted as often as I like and it is always perfectly registered.

JKJ

[Jim Underwood]

While I normally have very little to say in this corner of the forum and this thread isn't even about bandsaws, it is blindingly obvious to me what the problem is and I am completely flabbergasted that no one has identified the obvious. Jim simply used every bit of tool karma and luck in one shot winning the lathe, he is simply doomed to lead a life of disappointment and despair when it comes to new tool acquisitions,

HA HA HA! :) Thanks for the laugh. I needed that...



at this point anything less than 1/10th of an inch of runout in a chuck should be seen as a victory to be celebrated. I hope you're not equating 1/10 (.1") with ten thousandths (.010")...




More germane to the thread and certainly more important to my spinny thing education is what is considered acceptable runout for a lathe/chuck/jaws "system"?

Now there's a darn good question. I'd like to know what tolerances these manufacturers hold to...

[Jim Underwood]

This is incredible. I have 14 Nova chucks of various types, some old, some recent, and I have no idea how many jaws. I have NEVER seen in any jaws or chucks the type of misalignment you described with the drawing. All of my jaws make perfect circles, at least within the tolerances of the very slight play in the slides.

If ALL the jaws you have mounted show this problem, I would suspect the grooves in chuck for the slides are not machined perfectly radially (or less likely, the slides are bad). If each was tilted a bit, every jaw you mounted would show the same problem. Do you have any way to test one of these problem jaws on someone else's chuck, perhaps one at a store?

Now there's an idea. I'll see if my friend up the road has a Talon, and we'll mount these jaws on his chuck. I'm trying to remember who else might have some Nova Chucks.




In fact, when you first posted the diagram I was puzzled, how could they even make jaws that tightened rotated like that? They apparently machine the jaws in one piece, stepped locating ring on the bottom and everything, then saw them into four pieces. How could the location ring on the bottom of each jaw even be machined with a tilt relative to the front of the jaws unless, perhaps, the ring was not milled concentric with the jaws and then the jaws installed out of order? (That's a stretch!)

I was thinking about that last night. For these jaws to be out this bad, they'd have had to be milled separately after being cut apart wouldn't they?


If the the jaws were not installed according to the procedure in the manual they might not line up correctly but still, the individual jaws wouldn't be twisted. If the jaws were installed out of order they will likely have uneven gaps between them, but it's hard to imagine them with a twist.
I know, right? This is so frustrating...



Try this: hold the jaws together (in the correct order) so they form a circle, working side down on the table, perhaps holding them with a rubber band if necessary. Does the location ring machined on the bottom side make a circle and is the circle concentric with the outside circumference of the jaw set?
There's a thought. I'll take a look this evening when I get home. The new jaws for the Talon will probably be here, so I'll mount them and see how they're doing as well.




Do you ever get up to Knoxville? If so, I'd love to examine your chuck and jaws and compare it to mine.

JKJ

Nope. Never been there. I could possibly ship you a set though... Be easier if I could try it on a local set though, obviously...

[John Keeton]

With regard to Nova chucks, it has always been my understanding (not sure of the original source) that the jaws were milled as a unit and then sawed. Setting them together on a flat surface - table saw - should reveal any distortion. Same for setting the chuck upside down on a flat surface. One should be able to perceive if the slides are out of kilter.

I do agree - somethin' ain't right!! I do hope you get it resolved so you can get back on the lathe and not be burdened by this.

[Roger Chandler]

If there is slop in the scroll gear or the jaw slides it might have an effect on how true the jaws mount. Another possibility is that a jaw slide might be out [machined incorrectly] which could affect the runout of the jaws as well......

After all this, if I were Jim, I would call Teknatool directly and speak with the tech people, and just tell them all that he has gone through and ask them to replace the whole chuck apparatus and jaws........ask them to check the thing out before shipping, and send them your defective chuck with the original insert that you purchased.

I'm just sayin' ....;)

[Van Huskey]

I hope you're not equating 1/10 (.1") with ten thousandths (.010")...


No, I was saying in your current state of depleted karma and luck the best you can expect .1", any better than that and you should be popping champagne and dancing around the shop to this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM


It was just a continuation of the joke. :p

[Dom Garafalo]

Now I'm supposed to receive the new dovetail jaws tomorrow, so we'll see if they exhibit the same problem....

Any new discoveries? Just hoping you solved your problem.

[Brice Rogers]

When I read John Jordan's comments, it made me think of what could cause this and what could fix this. BTW, I'm cast and machined 2 or 3 sets of jaws so I am fairly familiar with the process, construction and things affecting tolerance. My jaws didn't do this.

The problem could be either the jaws or the chuck itself. The distance from the imaginary center to each ends of the arc are different. That means that either the bolt holes in the chuck don't point to perfect center or the bolt holes in the jaws don't point to the perfect center. The alignment ring on the back is typically not a terribly tight fit, so it could allow the jaws to each be rotated on their axis.

If a person were trying to correct the alignment, they could take a needle nose file (or a mill) and elongate either the outer ring of holes or the inner ring. That would allow things to align correctly. But that probably would not stay put under turning forces. That is what made me realize what the problem is.

Perhaps the OP could check the chuck to see if four holes are perfectly aligned, and also with the jaws in a circle if the same is true. But the tolerances that are driving him crazy are pretty small and it might be hard to visually see.

[Bert Delisle]

In my opinion one can not go wrong with Vicmarc or Oneway. I have both stronghold and talons and Vicmarc 120 love them. Occasionally have to change adaptors for demos on club lathes. Oneway Talon is my " go to" chuck for this case. The taper adaptor has fantastic repeatability when installed correctly. Vicmarc and Stronghold are my bowl chucks and have handled every thing I have tried, including coring a 23" x 12" bowl blank for nested bowls.
I have a couple or three vicmarc knock offs and a nova G3, they are far and away inferior compared to Vicmarc or Oneway. My Knock-off chucks work ok but rattle when spinning , only use them for light work, and the G3 scroll is opposite all my other chucks so get to collect a lot of dust between uses. well that is just my two cents worth.
Turn safe and have fun.
Bert

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I've got both Vic's and Oneways. Both are good chucks. I prefer the oneways - simple to clean, and all 7 of them are totally interchangeable. A set of versa-slides allows Vicmark jaws on the oneways when needed.
A while back a guy who used to demo for oneways mentioned that every now and again, it's a good idea to make certain the adapter is seated well. Give it a few taps then re tighten the screws. Amazingly, you'all get a few turns every time- at least I have.

[John K Jordan]

...That means that either the bolt holes in the chuck don't point to perfect center or the bolt holes in the jaws don't point to the perfect center. The alignment ring on the back is typically not a terribly tight fit, so it could allow the jaws to each be rotated on their axis.


The idea to check the bolt holes is a good one. In this case, I can't imagine it being an issue for one reason - every Nova chuck and jaw set I have here has fairly tight tolerances on the alignment rings. In fact, they are so tight I found the instructions in the manual were needed a few times, specifically to tap the jaws into the chuck slides with a block of wood, at least at first. Usually they fit well in the slot but even without tightening the screws the only play I've felt has been a tiny bit in the jaw slides in the chuck body.

The manual also instructs to install the screws until snug, back off 1/2 turn, then close the jaws and make sure they are a tight circle before tightening the screws. I assume this is to take care of any tolerance in the countersunk screw holes that might allow the jaws to be shifted a little to one side or the other. This has worked well for me for all my Nova jaws and chucks.

I can imagine that ignoring these instructions would result in sloppy jaw closure, but I can't imagine how it could result in the type of misalignment Jim illustrated. Very curious. I would still love to examine that chuck and jaws, compare them to some here, and perhaps measure things on the surface plate and maybe in a rotary table with a dial test indicator. Sometimes a second set of eyes can spot something. Or maybe Jim has it sorted out by now.

JKJ

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Don’t forget we never saw an actual picture of the jaws in the chuck.

And I know enough of machining to say that jaws can’t be machined as a set, the way it is shown in the picture, and the tolerances, even not being very tight in wood chucks, they could not be rotated that much to have them sit that way.


349976

[Michael Mills]

The step which John K mentioned in scrolling the jaws shut with the screws about 1/2 turn loose should correct alignment if they are off.
I have several Nova; on one G3 I had run out. Removing the insert and going around the interior of the chuck with an oiled q-tip picked up a very small shard of metal from the milling. Run out problem was solved.
I purchased a used SN on the bay for <$10 because it had run out problems. Three of the four jaws were installed in the wrong position. Reinstalling properly the chuck ran true.
I do not remember which was for the circumference and which for the face but I believe Nova states they should be less than .004 and .005.
My only problem with run out over .004 was when I tried to use a WC knockoff insert, IIRC it was .014 which was easy to see.

[John Sanford]

Then I installed all three sets of jaws in my possession that fit this chuck and inspected them. I have the original dovetail jaws it came with the chuck when new, a set of step jaws, and a set of pin jaws.
However, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the jaws I own for this chuck, have the same twisted aspect illustrated in the drawing I shared earlier. This indicates that the manufacturer hasn't machined these jaws correctly. In each case ONLY the leading edge of each jaw contacts the work piece. And, the part of the jaw that does NOT touch misses touching by a significant amount. I did not measure, but I daresay it's at least .030" off.


Actually, it sounds like the manufacturer didn't machine the CHUCK correctly, specifically, the mounting points for the jaws. That all three exhibit the same problem points at a common root, and what do all three have in common? The chuck.

I hope you can get this sorted out. Of course, if the Talon exhibits the same problem with it's new jaws, then, once again, have to go back to the common root. Which would be either the lathe, or the operator. Sorry.

I hope you can get it sorted out.

[Jim Underwood]

Sorry for the long absence. Been a little crazy what with a scheduled outpatient procedure that took more prep than I wanted... If I say more it will be TMI.:o Thank God that's OVER!

The Oneway Talon smooth jaws arived (#2 I think), and once put on, ran as true as one could expect. And they did VERY well for me turning a plate that had to be reverse turned. I like them much better than the OEM serrated jaws. Once I finished that, I put the serrated jaws on and inspected them once again. They are NOT twisted as I described in the pictures above. So I was wrong about that.
Apparently if one is to true these up one needs to open them to the original diameter that they were machined at. Once I did that, both sets of jaws were reasonably true. Where'd I'd made a mistake before was in assuming that they should be trued up with the jaws totally closed. NOT TRUE. Once should put a proper thickness spacer between the jaws to bring them out to the proper diameter, and then close the jaws on that, and THEN true them up. So my confidence in the Oneway chuck is restored. I think what happened is that I had too many new items have problems at once and just lost sight of basic troubleshooting procedure- follow the tree, don't skip around..... and deal with ONE problem at a time.

As for the NOVA G3, upon closer inspection, the original smooth dovetail jaws were twisted as described above, as were the pin jaws. The step jaws were not twisted. So I have two sets of jaws that seem to be twisted. I'll have to re-read this thread to remember the troubleshooting tips several of you have been kind enough to point out. The seating of the jaws in the grooves is a good tip. I'll check that as well...

Anyway, thanks to ALL of you for putting up with my rant and giving me some significant help and moral support... and the hilarious comment about my Lathe Karma being used up.

I'll let you know what happens with the G3. It might be up for sale and being replaced by another Talon...

PS.
OH YEAH, I'll try to get some pictures of the problem jaws and put 'em up here...

[robert baccus]

Let's see. I commonly turn 12 to 20" vases and urns. I use a single screw(with very strong wood) in a glueblock glued to green wood using 2" jaws on several Nova 2 chucks. I also use dovetail ring faceplates on 2" dovetail jaws and the same vases. The blanks run from 50#'s to 120#'s--green of course. Turned, waxed and then returned with a oneway stabilizer. Local woods as well as purchased woods are used and any runout is simply not tolerated. Now what can a chuck do more than this. I think all the namebrand chucks can do the same if the lathe and jaws are up to it. Add in some critical thinking and some confidence in you own abilites.

[Steve Doerr]

Jim,
I've been thinking about your questions and today I did a quick check on my chucks. I have two Super Nova 2's and two Nova Titans. The Titans run true and thus when I turn my turnings around they are spot on. I had one Super Nova 2 that I couldn't get any of my turnings to run true once I turned them around. Sure enough, the chuck itself was not running true. Thus, no matter how hard I try I will never be able to have my turnings run true. The question is, is it the chuck or the threaded insert that is not running true? The other Super Nova 2 is spot on. The lesson I have learned here is when I buy a new chuck, the first thing I will do is check to make sure it is running true. If not, back to the dealer it goes.

[John K Jordan]

The question is, is it the chuck or the threaded insert that is not running true? The other Super Nova 2 is spot on....

Could you swap inserts between the two SN2s and see if the problem moves with the insert?

JKJ

[Jim Silva]

5 pages long so may have missed someone else mentioning this but I've run into an issue like this that was caused when going from my DVR XP to a 3520b. The spindle of the PM is a hair longer than on the nova. This caused the chuck to wobble as it didn't bottom out against the machined shoulder of the spindle as it should have. Solution was to take a 1/8" piece of melanine (sp.. read thin, stable fiberboard like pegboard without the holes...) with a hole drilled in the center just barely able to fit over the threads on the spindle. This rests against the spindle shoulder and lets the chuck insert land flat eliminating the wobble.
Worth a try.

Jim

[Steve Doerr]

John, I'm not sure if I can get the inserts out. They're in there pretty tight. But a real good suggestion.

[John K Jordan]

John, I'm not sure if I can get the inserts out. They're in there pretty tight. But a real good suggestion.

I've read of problems people have when the insert has a small burr or debris on the threads. The manual instructs to carefully check the threads on the insert and chuck and file off any nicks or dents on the threads, then be sure to seat firmly holding the chuck in a vise. Might be worth at least taking the wobbly one off to check.

JKJ