First Chuck

[Burt Alcantara]

Amazon is offering a small discount on lathes. I'm thinking this might be the time for me to stop lurking and start turning.

It appears that most lathes come chuck naked, so to speak. I'm aware of the variety of chucks available but the variety is staggering.

I intend to make some pens but mostly turn plates, bowls and HF things (I admit that the lathe will tell me what I really want to do). I can only buy one chuck at this time.

Can you suggest a good quality chuck that would be appropriate for me at this time? I'm willing to consider OneWay and Nova or otherwise (buy once, cry once).

Besides some turning tools, what else would I need in order to operate the lathe. Need-to-have, not nice-to-have.

Thanks,
Burt

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Burt.....Welcome to the Creek!

I use a SuperNova2 chuck and it serves me well.

If you are just getting started, I'd get a 1/8" parting tool, a 3/8" spindle gouge, a 3/4" or 1" skew, a 3/8" or 1/2" bowl gouge, a 3/4" roughing gouge, a round nose scraper, a square end or flat scraper and a inside bowl scraper. Those are most of the tools I use most often.

I'd also get a good grinder and a jig system for sharpening. I bought a Woodcraft slowspeed grinder and a Wolverine jig system. Turning with dull tools is no fun. The jig systems will make sharpening almost mechanical.

A lot of members here recommend getting the HF HS turning tool set to learn to grind/sharpen on. They work well for turning too!

If you've never turned before consider some lessons, joining a club and some reference manuals. I like Keith Rowley's book "Woodturning- A Foundation Course". I highly recommend BIll Grumbines DVDs on bowl turning and Richard Raffans videos on woodturning and box turning.

Good luck with you purchases and journey into the world of wood turning!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Hello Burt and Welcome to the Creek!

I have a Oneway Talon chuck and love it. There are multiple jaws available to meet your needs (it comes with the #2 jaw set) and they also have adapters for different lathes so you can take it with you when/if you upgrade your lathe someday in the future.

As far as tools - I agree with Ken and his suggestions. I use the HF set of 8 for all the spindle turning I do. I use a 1/2" and 5/8" bowl gouges and at this level in my turning skills they work just fine. One other thing to consider is some means of hollowing - you did mention HF. There are a number of tools out there but a good starter would be the Sorby RS200KT multi-tip tool. Has worked well for me and doesn't kill the bank.

[Mark Pruitt]

Another vote for the Oneway Talon. Very satisfied with mine. Superb gripping strength and it takes a straight tenon (which is easier to form). Agree with the others about a Wolverine jig--a very effective solution for sharpening your tools.

[Gary DeWitt]

Some here might argue the point, but a chuck is a nice-to-have in most cases. A faceplate, which comes with all the lathes I know of, with a chunk of wood screwed on and trued up, can hold bowls and other cross grain items with some CA glue, or even wood glue. Another chunk of wood can be turned as a jam "chuck" for turning your project around. You can make a setup to handle just about any situation, it's just not as convenient as a chuck, and not profitible if you're turning for $$.
That said, I have, use, and like the Talon, and will probably get a stronghold or vicmark after the first out of balance large blank gets thrown from my larger lathe.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ken gave you some pretty good advice on basic tools to get. I have the Vicmarc chuck and like it a lot.

[Burt Alcantara]

It's nice to know that either chuck is a good choice. I've noticed that many members recommend the HF set as a good starter. I should mention this will go on a mini of some kind. Does that make these chucks overkill or standard?

Steve mentioned the HF 8 piece tool set. I could not find this set on the HF site, just a 5 piece set that looked like a pry bar set.

[Jim Becker]

Either chuck is appropriate for the mini, Burt.

[Joash Boyton]

You may have seen the things that I have turned. I strted off with the bonham chuck, the chinese version, you can turn with it, but don't try HF's over 5" long, and don't do to many big bowls. I have bought the Vicmarc 120 chuck, and never looked back on it. I have a simple set of HSS chisels, but you can see what I can turn. SO you don't need all the trimmings and expensive name-brand this that and the other. It is a good idea to check here about what next "major" purchase you want to get, to see user reviews etc:

All the best,

Joash

[Burt Alcantara]

Joash,
In Ernie Conover's Lathe book he discusses many versions of using faceplates saying that a 3" would make anything under 18". Since I'm not planing on buying anything with that much swing his various faceplate attachments could work well for me without buying a chuck at this time.

However, Richard Raffan suggests all the different holdings that chucks can do without getting elaborate so I'm still not sure what to do here.

Thanks,
Burt