savannah chucks

[jeff oldham]

I seen on amazon where they had a savannah chuck,,it looks like a knock off of one of penn states chucks,,,has anyone got any info they can share,,,I was wandering if the jaws interchanged,,,

[John K Jordan]

I seen on amazon where they had a savannah chuck,,it looks like a knock off of one of penn states chucks,,,has anyone got any info they can share,,,I was wandering if the jaws interchanged,,,

I have no info on those other than taking a look at a picture. If you are looking at the "tommy bar" chucks and you haven't tried one, you might do that before you buy one. I think they are a pain to use compared to a chuck with a key.

You can usually get a Teknatool Nova G3 chuck for not much more. The Nova jaws will fit other Nova chucks. (Of course, this doesn't help if you already have one of the penn state chucks and are more concerned with the jaw interchangeability between those.)

[david privett]

tommy bar chucks are great if you can grow a extra arm or two so you can use them.

[robert baccus]

Yeah--I had the tommy bar hole on one waller out--bummer yeah.

[Bill Blasic]

Once you learn how to use a tommy bar chuck there is nothing faster. If you have a spindle lock it makes it easier to use but not faster.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I was turning a few dozen ornaments out of 1.25 inch square stock Linden. The Penn State chuck with tommy bars was so much faster to release the stubb and mount the next piece.. It takes a little getting used to, but I got to the point, I could tighten with just my left hand. Still took two hands to loosen, but I liked it much better than for that work than my G3. I was thinking a getting a cup chuck made for the size stock I was working with, but the tommy bars is almost as fast as a cup chuck and unlike a cup chuck puts no abuse on the lathe bearings..

[John K Jordan]

...and unlike a cup chuck puts no abuse on the lathe bearings..

Why does a cup chuck abuse the bearings?


A tommy bar chuck can be quicker but I think they are more of a problem when seating a face-turning piece perfectly into a recess or tenon, especially when reversing the piece after turning one side. You can bring up the tailstock to keep the piece in place while using two hands to tighten, being careful not to let a point on a live center keep it from seating properly.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

cup chucks I have seen involve banging the stock into a solid metal socket with a mallet. The lateral banging against the spindle forces it back against the bearings. I have seen a few in video's on line, but also saw one in person. That guy was using a small 10 x 16 bench top lathe and when he pounded the stock into the chuck, the lathe even moved sideways. It is the same abuse as if someone left the spur drive in the spindle and used a mallet to run the stock up against the spur drive while still in the spindle. I have 4 lathe manuals here and each warns to seat the spur drive into the stock off the machine.

[John K Jordan]

cup chucks I have seen involve banging the stock into a solid metal socket with a mallet. ...

Yikes! I also learned from manuals, books, experienced turners, and by logic to NEVER strike the end of the spindle. I can't imagine people still doing that but it might explain the occasional post about bearings not lasting too long. This is something to consider when shopping for a used lathe!

Those few times I needed to seat something I did it off the lathe. I've just about quit using spur centers in favor of steb centers - plenty of holding power for even large spindles unless tools and technique need honing.

JKJ

[Jeffrey J Smith]

If your spindle lock is a one-hand operation, (and stays on without holding in place) tommy bar chucks are quick and easy. I’ve got a Oneway that gets used constantly for smaller projects.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I don’t know how you could beat a steb center for speed in mounting and dismounting same size pieces of wood, as one does not even need to stop the lathe to mount or dismount.

Just set the wood on the center pin and then crank the tailstock in, seen this on some turners website.

As for cup chucks, some lathes designed for this will take the rough mallet mounting of the work pieces all day and every day in production turning.

Doing this on the wimpy low quality ball bearings of the typical Chinese build lathes, I would advice against that :D.

Here is a lathe that can and does handle the cup chuck wood mounting every day, just look at the expertise that this turner has, takes a while to get that and if trying to make a living it has to be done each and every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhR9ALVd0Js

[Peter Blair]

Jeffrey, have you ever had an issue with it opening on it's own when turning in reverse? I was warned at our club that this might happen?

If your spindle lock is a one-hand operation, (and stays on without holding in place) tommy bar chucks are quick and easy. I’ve got a Oneway that gets used constantly for smaller projects.