Looking for recommendations

[Alex Zeller]

I threw the 10mm hex wrench that came with my 120 in a toolbox drawer and use a Bondhus 10mm. It's longer and has the ball driver end on it so when I'm using the cole jaws or turning a faceplate I can still easily reach it. Plus Bondhus is made in the US with a lifetime warranty and solid steel with just a vinyl cover on the handle. It's a little heavier than the plastic handle style but feels solid. In a moment of weakness I bought a set from Harbor Freight and they feel like kids toys.

[Bill Boehme]

The off brand copies of the vicmarc are not the same quality inside. They look the same outside and even take the same jaws and inserts but inside they just aren't the same. Unless they have changed. I have 2 different brands of copies and both had problems with the pinion gear wearing out. The replacement parts didn't even match and had to be filed to work correctly. Stick with the Vicmac. That being said do the Oneway chucks all take the same chuck key. If they do then that's what I would consider. If not, I love my Vicmarc's. The nicest thing about the Vicmarc is it takes a 10mm hex wrench instead of a geared key. If you ever break one, lose one or wear out the tip it's easy to just go the hardware and get another. If you the same happens for Oneway your screwed unless you can get a new key from Oneway.

I agree about the Vicmarc knockoffs not having the same quality as the real thing.

Did you forget that the Vicmarc chucks don't all use the same key? The Talon and Stronghold use different keys because as you would expect, the ring gears are not the same size and therefore the pinion gears (AKA chuck key) would have to be sized accordingly.

[Roger Chandler]

I actually took apart my Hurricane HTC100 chuck to inspect the inner parts. Compared to my SuperNova2 chucks they are built heavier on the scroll gear and pinion gears. I've never had the back off of a Genuine Vicmarc chuck, but can say the Hurricane chucks are a stronger hold than my SuperNova2's. The jaws do not seem to have any creep in them once tightened, where the Supernova's do at times. I always have to go back and check the hold on the SuperNova's, but when I've checked the Hurricanes...they have not loosened at all.

I understand that is about what the Vicmarcs do as well. I've not used the Bulldog chucks myself, but have seen them used by vendors and demonstrators at symposiums. I also do not know who else has a clone of the Vicmarcs, unless it might be Grizzly? [perhaps?] I heard years ago by owners that they have to retighten the jaws on them.

[John K Jordan]

...The jaws do not seem to have any creep in them once tightened, where the Supernova's do at times. I always have to go back and check the hold on the SuperNova's, but when I've checked the Hurricanes...they have not loosened at all.

Interesting. I have never experienced creep in any of the Nova chucks, with the SN, the SN2, the G3, or the massive Titan models. Since you compare with the HTC I assume it's not just the wood compressing.

Could it be due to play in the pinion gears or the scroll plate/slides? One thing I ALWAYS do with any chuck is rotate the chuck and tighten each "socket" multiple times, moderately, not with a lot of force. This will eliminate any plan and compensate for any backlash in the gearing. I heard a demonstrator say once to "tighten all six places". This was good advice - when I tighten moderately on one socket then repeat on the second I can often turn it a tiny bit more with the same amount of force. I rotate the chuck and repeat until there is no more movement with the same force. Even after significant turning nothing changes.

JKJ

[Roger Chandler]

John, I pretty much follow the same proceedure... tighten, rotate/tighten...rotate/ tighten...rotate/tighten just a smidgen. What I was referring to was a number of times when doing a project that has size and weight to it, I generally have to retighten the jaws after about turning halfway. You seem to turn mostly smaller stuff than I do. I’ve had blanks on my lathe that were over 200 lbs. to start. I just finished a large hollow form from Chestnut Oak burl, which is a dense/heavy wood, and that burl when whole took 4 men to lift it into an atv cart. We believe it was over 400lbs to start with.

I’ve never had the Hurricane chucks to need re-tightening. Don’t get me wrong, the SuperNovas are a good chuck, and I have 5 of them, but the Hurricanes are my go to chuck now when I can use them not having them tied up with another project I’m working on. At times, I may have 3 projects going on 3 different lathes.

It seems unbalanced wood is enough to induce some vibration that will allow the hold to loosen, but that condition is not near as evident with the Hurricane chucks as with the SuperNova2’s.....from my experience.

[Bill Boehme]

The scroll gear, like the worm gear, is a no-back design ... in other words they can't be back driven. This isn't to say that your Nova chucks might have something else going on like stiction that is allowing the jaws to loosen slightly. However, my guess is that it might be due to the wood. After all, wood is a compressible material and if you are doing some heavy aggressive roughing it's conceivable that the vibration could result in a little compression and it would onlyhave to be a couple thousandths of an inch to make the difference between tight and loose.

[John K Jordan]

You seem to turn mostly smaller stuff than I do. I’ve had blanks on my lathe that were over 200 lbs. to start. I just finished a large hollow form... over 400lbs to start with.

You are correct, I'm happy with smaller, dry wood, the harder the better.

I lost interest years ago in turning large unbalanced green blanks. If I did turn one today I would definitely consider a sturdy faceplate since it may well exceeds the manufacturor's guidelines on all of the chucks and jaws in my shop.

JKJ

[Roger Chandler]

You are correct, I'm happy with smaller, dry wood, the harder the better.

I lost interest years ago in turning large unbalanced green blanks. If I did turn one today I would definitely consider a sturdy faceplate since it may well exceeds the manufacturor's guidelines on all of the chucks and jaws in my shop.

JKJ

Did not mean to leave the wrong impression...that Chestnut Oak burl did get a faceplate with 8 screws. I have however roughed out some maple, cherry, and other wood blanks that were in the 130 lb. range with my HTC 125 chuck with the largest jaws available. Safety first, using a jaw set that will be suited to the task at hand.

[David C. Roseman]

The off brand copies of the vicmarc are not the same quality inside. They look the same outside and even take the same jaws and inserts but inside they just aren't the same. Unless they have changed. I have 2 different brands of copies and both had problems with the pinion gear wearing out. The replacement parts didn't even match and had to be filed to work correctly. Stick with the Vicmac. That being said do the Oneway chucks all take the same chuck key. If they do then that's what I would consider. If not, I love my Vicmarc's. The nicest thing about the Vicmarc is it takes a 10mm hex wrench instead of a geared key. If you ever break one, lose one or wear out the tip it's easy to just go the hardware and get another. If you the same happens for Oneway your screwed unless you can get a new key from Oneway.

John, do you mean to include the Hurricane (HTC) chucks in your reference? They are similar in design to the Vicmarcs, but not clones, and unless something has changed in the last year or two, the jaws are not interchangeable according to Steve Fulgoni, owner of The Woodturning Store, in a SMC post awhile back. They also use a different design of chuck key, square rather than allen style. All are very nice chucks. I guess my point is, without actually comparing the innards of any specific brand of chuck side-by-side with another, I'd be careful about making general inferences across brands.

I also have Oneway Stongholds and Talons. Very nice chucks. They use different chuck keys, though, because of the different ring gearing, as Bill notes. But, also, the chuck key of my four-year-old Stronghold does not work well in my oldest Stronghold, about 20 yrs, and vice versa, due to some slight differences in machining tolerances. That's not so surprising over so many years, even coming from the same machine shop, where tooling can of course wear and change. So YMMV.