Can anybody point me towards the right lathe chuck for this?

[David Aguirre]

Hi,

Completely new here and to wood turning, so hopefully I'm posting in the right place.

I just picked up a wood lathe off craigslist. It's a DIY built floor model. The motor and everything runs great. The guy that I bought it from didn't have an actual chuck for it though. He apparently had moved the one he had to a newer lathe and sold that. Now I'm trying to find a chuck for this one.

It doesn't have the threaded post on the headstock that most of the chucks I'm finding online use though. It just has a tube with what I'm pretty sure is a MT2 on the inside, and smooth on the outside. It looks like whatever chuck he used before had set screws(can still see the marks from them). Any suggestions on a type of chuck that would work for this? The tube is about 1" in diameter. I'm not entirely sure what I'll end up turning on it, would love to mess around with things like bowls. Really just trying to figure out what kind of attachment the chuck needs to make this work.

It came with the spur drive center I think it's called, which fits in either the headstock or tail stock. And a live center is easy enough to get for it.

Thanks,
David
376298

[Marvin Hasenak]

What is diameter of the smooth part where the set screw marks are?

[John Keeton]

Time is money and money takes time. IMO getting this lathe to the point of being able to turn a bowl on it simply isn’t worth the time or money. I would find it a new home and move on to other options.

[Paul Williams]

My first turnings were on a home made lathe not too different than yours. I did not have a chuck and used a spur center or a face plate. That was about 45 years ago. I would not invest a lot of money or time in trying to get that to resemble a "modern lathe."
If turning is for you, you will outgrow that lathe so quick. I would try some spindle turning and see if this is a hobby you are going to enjoy. If the answer is yes I would look for a good used lathe or one of the smaller bench top models. Then regulate this lath to polishing or sharpening duties.

[Brice Rogers]

The larger Harbor Freight lathes (12x36?) often is sold on Craig's list for $100-200, and sometimes with a chuck for the same price. The Harbor Freight lathe is a low end lathe but is much more advanced than the one that you have. Buying a decent chuck typically starts around $100. A chuck with a bunch of different jaws can easily cost over two hundred bucks. A unique chuck like you are trying to find with a MT2 drive, or an adapter to MT2 and a mandatory draw bar may cost even more. So, be careful investing too much that can only be used on this lathe.

I think that the advice the your got so far is well thought out and reliable. Try turning spindles and other things with the drive centers. If you enjoy it, then move up to something else.

[Marvin Hasenak]

Since your question was about a chuck, I will try to explain my question about the spindle. It looks like it could be a 5/8" shaft, that equates to a Shopsmith spindle, and adapter to from 5/8" to 1-8 tpi spindle is about $20. Since there are set screw marks on the shaft, my guess is that is what you have. If correct, the adapter will get you going with a chuck. Even if it is a 1/2" spindle, which I doubt since you said it has a morse taper the Shopsmith adapter could be adapted, but would not be my choice.
It would also help if you put your location in your profile, there might be someone close that can advise you.

[Jim Barkelew]

Best Wood Tools will make custom adapters. Looks like they could take a Shopsmith adapter and bore it out to fit your spindle. They would need the diameter to 0.001 inch (my guess).

[David Aguirre]

The diameter is about 1 inch

[David Aguirre]

I realize that chucks aren't cheap. That's why I was hoping for an adapter or a chuck that I could use if/when I upgrade the lathe. I realize this is a homemade lathe, but I'm not seeing why this is considered worse than even a harbor freight lathe. Is it just because changing speeds requires moving belts on the pulleys? Or is there something else missing besides the threaded connection for chucks?

I posted this originally in the forum for home made tools specifically because I figured that people there would be more understanding.

[Keith Buxton]

David,
if the spindle is a true MT2 you could try this and then you could screw a chuck on to it
https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/195/4287/TMI-Reverse-Chucking-Alignment-Adapter

[Ken Glass]

David,
Using what Keith mentioned would allow you to use chucks, but I wouldn't turn on it unless you were able to screw an all thread through the headstock into the adapter, or constantly holding pressure on the tail stock during all phases of turning. Tapers tend to loosen on headstocks.....

[Brice Rogers]

David wrote ... I realize that chucks aren't cheap. That's why I was hoping for an adapter or a chuck that I could use if/when I upgrade the lathe. I realize this is a homemade lathe, but I'm not seeing why this is considered worse than even a harbor freight lathe. Is it just because changing speeds requires moving belts on the pulleys? Or is there something else missing besides the threaded connection for chucks?

My first lathe was a 60 year old Sears. It had four belt positions with the lowest speed at 950 rpms. Putting on a new natural edge bowl blank at that speed was scary. The lathe and 100 pound bench jumped around like a paint shaker until I could get it balanced better. This is with blanks that came off of my bandsaw. For spindles and pens this would not have happened but was pushing the envelope on an 8 inch blank. Changing belt positions is not all that hard. I just found that the lowest speed was at least double what I would consider safe. The speed was also too high for sanding.

My original comments were meant to suggest that if you keep your eyes open on Craigs list that you might find an entire lathe with chuck for what you would pay for a new chuck. If you can find a straight bore adapter from straight bore to something standard like 1" x 8 tpi then maybe outfitting that home made lathe with a chuck and some faceplates is not a waste of money.