New chuck or jaws?

[Thor Sorensen]

I have a Nova Midi chuck with the standard 2" jaws. What would you get next. Just new jaws? Then which ones? Or a new chuck, and new jaws?

There have been times that I wished I could hold a larger piece. I know that I can change jaws but does it make more sense to add another chuck? I am new to turning and am planning on turning bowls and boxes next.

My lathe is a general Maxi with about a 10" swing.

[Jim Ketron]

I did the changing of chuck jaws for a while, got tired of that and orderd another chuck.
I now have 3 chucks.;)

[Bernie Weishapl]

I am like Jim. I got tired of the jaw changing and bought more chucks. I have 5 now. Two are lower end $45 each and don't get me wrong they work great. A good Vicmarc and a $99 grizzly which is the same as the Vicmarc and will use all it's jaws. I use the griz just for the big Cole jaws. I also have the apprentice chuck. Not bad for the price.

[Gordon Seto]

It depends on what you mostly turn.
You have plenty of options with Nova chuck. Only the Titan Power Grip jaw is not compatible. I like the long nose jaw. It gives a lot of clearance from the headstock of the lathe. But on the short bed of a mini lathe, it takes up some length capacity. On small scale work, I like the 1" pin jaw for the same reason. I never use the pin jaw for initial holding of bowls, because i don't like to drill the hole in the blank first. I like to start between centers; I can move the center to get the most balanced grain pattern.

To me, the only jaw I would not get is the step jaw. I find it limits the access to the back side of the turning.

You have to determine what you want to expand the jaw capability for.

I really like the new SN2; I also heard good things about the G3 chuck also.

Gordon

[Kevin McPeek]

I have 2 SN2s and I find that they don't track the same or at least my 2 lathes don't track the same. I do a lot of work that have me go between the standard jaws and the pin jaws. I found I had to true up alot more than I had expected when going from one chuck to another. That said its still a lot better than swapping jaws out all the time.
I find the standard jaws are suited for a lot of different work. When I got one chuck it came with the spigot jaws which I've only used once in two years. I used the 130mm jaws for platters and the pin jaws for a lot of stuff.
I'd say if money isn't the deciding factor I'd look into a second chuck.

[George Tokarev]

WOW! You tolerate that? I have three chucks, and though one of the previously owned required a new insert because the former owner screwed it up, making a bargain much less, they're all seated and setscrewed so I don't have to screw around. I want things centered and true when I reverse or remount, and won't tolerate more than a shadow at the rim when I'm working. If I have one, I clean and re-mount.

Most useful jaws for me are the pin jaws. They're great starters for medium to small pieces of all sorts, requiring only a Forstner hole to bottom in.