Basic Lathe Chuck Questions

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I'm looking for a lathe chuck for my small Delta lathe to turn stuff that is about 1 1/2" dia. I'm looking at the Grizzly 5" chucks for about $70.

Q1. What holds more securely...a 3 jaw chuck or a 4 jaw chuck? Either way, it must be self centering...I don't work with anything irregular or square.

Q2. Some chuck jaws have serrations, some don't. How important are serrations?

thanks, Jeff :)

[Roger Chandler]

4 jaw chuck, definitely!!! Way more useful in the long run for other types of projects as well.

[Marvin Hasenak]

Which chucks are you looking at? The Grizzly chucks are not all equal, some they call chucks for wood lathes are really metal lathe designs and are dangerous to use on wood.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I'm looking at these two (attached)379085

[Marvin Hasenak]

Those are sorry excuses for wood lathe chucks. If you look at metal lathe chucks you will see the same exact designs of chucks. They were metal lathe chucks before, and still are now.

[Prashun Patel]

I have had very nice luck with the Nova G3. It uses a single wrench, which is more convenient than Tommy bars. It also has interchangeable jaws so you can use it for larger things if you so wish. The standard jaws on this are 50mm, though, so you'd need to get a smaller set, which means this all-in price would be about $150. I still consider this a great buy.

[Michael Mills]

I agree with the others that those are mainly for metal; the jaws can bite into wood easily. You want a chuck with jaws which wrap around the item.
I have not used these but I did start with a tommy bar style chuck and they are not bad (and in some ways better) than a keyed chuck. The general saying is that if you can use a pair of pliers with one hand you can use a tommy bar chuck with one hand.
Looks like a good price with the variety of jaws but ask of folks who have used them as to the quality of the chuck itself. According to the reviews at the web site they look pretty good.
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/CUG3418CCX.html

I do agree the Nova G3 is a very nice chuck, I have four. The chuck runs about $100 with 2" jaws and you would probably want the 35mm spigot jaws for the smaller items you mentioned. So, yep, about $150 total.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Yep, the Nova G3 is a sweet deal. Don't forget to get the chuck that fits the threads on your lathe. May or may not require an adapter, depending on what model you get.
I personally think using Tommy bar chucks require significantly more skill than a pair of pliers. There are 3 moving pieces to a T chuck. The 2 bars and the rotate to tighten chuck. There are only 2 moving parts to a pair of pliers. Neither of which is ever greater than a hand span away. They are great in other ways though. As a whole, they take up less space, and that could be important on a small lathe.

[Marvin Hasenak]

If you are on a tight budget look at the Penn State Ind. chucks, the utility chuck uses tommy bars. $90 including 2 sets of jaws and the large jumbo flat jaws for doing the bottom of bowls.

[John K Jordan]

I'm looking for a lathe chuck for my small Delta lathe to turn stuff that is about 1 1/2" dia. I'm looking at the Grizzly 5" chucks for about $70.

Q1. What holds more securely...a 3 jaw chuck or a 4 jaw chuck? Either way, it must be self centering...I don't work with anything irregular or square.

Q2. Some chuck jaws have serrations, some don't. How important are serrations?

thanks, Jeff :)

I use 3-jaw chucks on my metal-turning lathes but never on the wood lathe. Besides the fact that, as others mentioned, the 3-jaw chucks won't hold wood well in the compression mode, another reason for using a 4-jaw chuck is you can hold a square turning blank nicely by putting the corners between the jaws. I use Nova chucks and I often turn 1.5" diameter stock this way. You might be able to see that in this photo:
379130
These jaws will also hold round stock nicely, even more securely than the square stock.

The G3 chuck will work perfectly, although the slightly larger Supernova and Supernova2 will also work well - I have some of each and keep jaws on several just for that size stock. The G3 is the least expensive of the three.

The Nova chucks do need an insert threaded for your particular lathe. This is an additional cost but the big advantage is if you ever want to sell the chuck or use it on a different lathe all you have to do is get a different insert.

Serrated jaws are not that great for face work on a short tenon but are perfect for spindle stock. (I prefer the serrated jaws for spindle squares.) I can't remember the exact Nova jaws I use for 1.5" squares but I could check sometime tomorrow. (maybe the Nova 35mm or 45mm jaws) I have all the jaws mounted on separate chucks so I could easily check the range of each if you are interested.

When turning finger tops I typically hold a 6 to 8" piece of 1.25 to 1.5" round or square stock in the chuck and turn several tops in a row. The hold is extremely secure even when aggressively turning hard woods 8" from the chuck.

JKJ

[Michael Mills]

I personally think using Tommy bar chucks require significantly more skill than a pair of pliers.

If someone already has one, or someone buys one, I didn't learn the following for about six months.
After using the ring to hand tighten (which is faster than turn, turn, turn with a key) the sets of holes will be offset.
Rotate the chuck where one the holes towards the headstock is about top center. Somewhere in the rotation the hole on the work side will be about 1:30 and it is very easy to use one hand to tighten. To remove rotate until the headstock side is again top center an another hole will be about 10:30. Again a easy reach and a squeeze releases the item.
Yes, it was a pain before I learned this. I assume most chucks are the same; this is the way the Woodcraft and the Nova worked.
I noticed the Easy Wood chuck has a scroll ring (they call it a zoom ring) to tighten by hand then use the chuck key,

[Kyle Iwamoto]

If someone already has one, or someone buys one, I didn't learn the following for about six months.
After using the ring to hand tighten (which is faster than turn, turn, turn with a key) the sets of holes will be offset.
Rotate the chuck where one the holes towards the headstock is about top center. Somewhere in the rotation the hole on the work side will be about 1:30 and it is very easy to use one hand to tighten. To remove rotate until the headstock side is again top center an another hole will be about 10:30. Again a easy reach and a squeeze releases the item.
Yes, it was a pain before I learned this. I assume most chucks are the same; this is the way the Woodcraft and the Nova worked.
I noticed the Easy Wood chuck has a scroll ring (they call it a zoom ring) to tighten by hand then use the chuck key,

Yep. Significantly more skill than squeezing a pair of pliers.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

It sounds like the 4 jaw chuck is the better way to go. I don't think it has serrated jaws, but I probably could remedy that myself if needed.

I'm looking to "machine" wooden and plastic parts for pool cues. I'm not looking to use the chuck for bowl turning.

Some parts for a pool cue may be as small as 1-1/4" dia x 2" long. These parts will required boring and machining on both ends. So, I need a chuck that won't wobble too much, and hold the wood well without a tailstock.

As you can probably tell, I'm not a hardcore turner. My avatar, which is 13 years old now, shows a turning project by happenstance. :p

-Jeff :)

[tom lucas]

Sounds like you will also need a Jacob's chuck for the tail stock. BTW, I have the PSI chuck with 4 sets of jaws. A good starter chuck and may be all that you will need for casual usages. I don't see the tommy bars as that bad.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I am able to use the chuck from my drill press which also sports an MT#2. It holds drill bits up to 5/8".

I bought the mini 3 jaw chuck from Harbor Freight. What a piece of junk. I didn't read the reviews. It's run-out is clearly visible, and anything you place in its jaws vibrates loose in about 20 seconds. I can probably use it as a static bit holder in the tailstock in lieu of the drill chuck from the drill press, so I kept it.

The Grizzly chucks (both 3" and 5") seem to have good reviews on Amazon. I will check out the PSI chuck.

I'm frugal because it will see limited use. It's part of a lathe upgrade project to adapt the lathe for new cue stick builds, and to accept existing cue sticks for modifications/upgrades.

Jeff :)

[Doug W Swanson]

I have two recommendations:
1. Spend the extra $10-20 on a chuck that uses a key for closing. Tommy bars are a pain and there are times when you need a third hand to use them. The key makes things easy.

2. Look for a chuck that uses an insert. There is nothing wrong with direct thread chucks but they are all for 1"-8 lathes. If you have a direct thread chuck and you ever upgrade your lathe to a 1-1/4"-8 lathe you'll need an adapter and that can lead to runout issues. If you have an insert chuck all you have to do is swap the insert. I ended up selling 4 direct thread chucks when I bought my new lathe because I didn't want to use an adapter.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I also recommend splurging a bit for a quality chuck. If you do, you will find the task of turning your projects much more fun and perhaps you will find that turning is LOTS of fun and may fall down the slippery woodturning slope into the vortex...... I do own 2 Nova Tommy Bar chucks, and they are fine, a bit of a pain to use, but that can save you a few bucks.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I second the opinion of getting a quality chuck with an adapter. One caviat - check the adapter once in a while. A while back, a demonstrator mentioned that its good to check the Oneway tapered adapters every now and again. a quick thump on the backside before mounting, then check the screws. He took two strongholds and gently bumped the adapters together. I was amazed that they needed tightening every now and again.
Tommy bar chucks work fine - even better if your lathe has a spidle lock that stays engaged. It becomes a one-handed operation. I prefer them for smaller diameter pieces and most spindle work.

[John K Jordan]

I second the opinion of getting a quality chuck with an adapter. One caviat - check the adapter once in a while. A while back, a demonstrator mentioned that its good to check the Oneway tapered adapters every now and again. a quick thump on the backside before mounting, then check the screws. He took two strongholds and gently bumped the adapters together. I was amazed that they needed tightening every now and again.


I didn't know Oneway used a taper for it's adapter. I see it's held in with three screws (and has jack screw removal built in - excellent!) But how can an adapter loosen when held by screws, do the screws vibrate loose? If so, would it not be best to use a drop of thread locker such as Loctite on the screw threads, at least the removable blue type?

For the OP: A well-machined tapered adapter is potentially more precise than a threaded adapter. The Nova chucks use threaded adapters which seem to work fine in my experience. (I have 16 Nova chucks in four models and have had no problems with the adapters.) With all adapters it is recommended to remove any burrs and clean well before installing.

JKJ

[Jeffrey J Smith]

But how can an adapter loosen when held by screws, do the screws vibrate loose? If so, would it not be best to use a drop of thread locker such as Loctite on the screw threads,JKJ
John - I can only assume they vibrate loose over time - I generally strip and clean all my chucks a couple times a year and have made it routine to check the adapters in the process. not all require tightening, but the ones that see the most off-balance blanks appear to need it once in a while. We’re not talking about being in danger of falling out, just a quarter turn or so...after a little bump on the adapter to seat it fully.

[John K Jordan]

...Serrated jaws are not that great for face work on a short tenon but are perfect for spindle stock. (I prefer the serrated jaws for spindle squares.)

I should say the serrated jaws I'm thinking of are the Nova jaws, not the Oneway. I looked at the Oneway jaws and the way they are made I'm guessing they would not be good for square stock.

JKJ

[Thomas Canfield]

The little Apprentice Mini Chuck from Craft Supply is also a good little chuck for small items. It is a 4 jaw with key and comes with some additional items. Only comes with 1"-8 thread but that is fine for most mini/midi lathes. A lot less bulk.

[Bill Blasic]

There is nothing wrong with Tommy Bar chucks as they are fast and do as good a job holding your work as the keyed chucks do. If you have a spindle lock it is even faster. If no spindle lock making a long tommy bar that will rest on your lathes bed is another way of using the chuck. At any rate getting a good chuck (Nova, Vicmarc, Oneway or Axminster to name a few) is a good step towards a happy turning experience.

[John Sanford]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet:

If you have a small lathe, i.e. a mini or midi lathe, it would be best to avoid a 5" chuck. While it will work, such a big honkin' chuck will stress the machine, and nothing you CAN turn on a small lathe is likely to need a chuck that large. So save the dough and get a 4"