What chuck should I buy?

[dennis thompson]

I know nothing about turning except that every day I spend more money buying stuff for my Harbor Freight mini lathe that I bought about a month ago.
I'd like to buy a chuck , I understand I have a 1" x 8 tpi (whatever that means).
I just make small stuff like models and toys, no furniture ,( I was told:"no more furniture, we have no place to put it!), right now I'm trying to make some 2 1/2" model train wheels
Without breaking the bank, say $125 or less, can I get a chuck? if so , which one?
Amazon has a Nova G3 48232 , 4 jaw,for $113 and a Wen LA4374 3.75" 4 jaw for $81.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Thomas Wilson80]

I started out buying a Oneway Talon for my mini lathe but when I upgraded lathes to a larger lathe, I have since purchased several Nova chucks and prefer them to the Oneway (plus they are less expensive). I'm not familiar with the Wen chuck, but I like the Nova as the jaws are interchangeable with different sizes of chucks, and if you ever decide to get a bigger lathe, you can still use your chuck and jaws on it (would just need to buy a new insert to fit the new lathe).

This website has consistently had the best prices on Nova chucks that I have found (the G3 chuck is about $119 without the insert) and they have been reliable and responsive to me (I've ordered from them 4-5 times):
https://www.tools-plus.com/nova-lathes-48202.html

If you don't think you will be upgrading to a larger lathe, you can get a direct thread chuck for a better price with multiple jaws sets (https://www.tools-plus.com/nova-lathes-48246.html)


Good luck!
Tom

[Prashun Patel]

I got the G3 years ago and was happy with it. It has changeable jaws, and was a well made, solid chuck. I since upgraded to a couple Supernova 2's, and still appreciate being able to share jaws with it.

[tom lucas]

If I were buying my first chuck and didn't want to spend for a Vicmarc or Oneway, I'd get the SuperNova 2. It has a better keying system than the G3, and can do bigger projects when needed. The SN2 with 2" jaws is like $140. Then get yourself a smaller set of jaws (1" or pen jaws) for smaller stuff. The 2" jaws are very versatile and are safe up to at least a 12" bowl/platter.

[David Bassett]

... I'd get the SuperNova 2... .

I like the SuperNova 2 too, but it might be too much bulk for his lathe. TeknaTool makes one slightly smaller than the G3, the Midi, which I'd check out for a small lathe. Woodcraft has it in a 1 x 8 tpi package for $130, so others should be in that neighborhood. Maybe you can catch a sale. (And you save the ~$27 for an insert, needed to fit most chucks to most lathes.)

I'd definitely be looking at the Midi or the G3 for a small lathe. (Note I've never used the Midi. I've used SuperNova 2 chucks on big lathes and a G3, once, in a class. So I'm assuming this has similar quality. But smaller and lighter than a SuperNova 2 has got to help a smaller lathe, it'll be easier to spin and take up less of your travel.)

[John K Jordan]

The nice thing about buying a Nova G3 is you can get the insert to fit your current lathe then if you get a larger lathe some day you can just swap out the insert. I've used the Nova SN chucks on a mini lathe but they are kind of bulky compared to the G3.


The 1"x8 tpi is the thread of the spindle on the headstock - 1" diameter shaft and 8 threads per inch. This is typical for mini lathes.

You can usually get two of the G3 chucks for the price of one of the more expensive chucks and it will work as well. There are huge advantages to having more than one chuck, a big one is not having to switch jaws so much. Another is to keep one project mounted in a chuck while working on another project.
I hate to say it but for small things you might also get some smaller jaws. I especially like the 35mm jaws to hold round and square blanks for small turnings, and the pin jaws for really small turnings.

I have occasionally found G3s for sale on Amazon for around $100. You can put a price watch on camelcamelcamel.com

Hartville Tool has a price of $102 right now. I ordered something from them the other day and the shipping was free. If you are a member of a club which has signed up for discounts they give 15% off the listed price.

Note also that with the chucks that say "insert" version you usually have to buy the insert separately. This is not needed if it says "dedicated" for your spindle thread. However, the tradeoff is as mentioned above is having to purchase an entirely new chuck if/when you move to a bigger lathe. (Danger, Will Robinson! Many, many people have upgraded to a larger lathe within a year or two of starting woodturning!)

But I may not be the best person to give chuck advice. I"m up to 19 Nova chucks, some of each style.

JKJ

[dennis thompson]

Thanks for the advice, I bought the Nova G3 from Rockler where it was on sale for $110.

[Thomas Canfield]

Amazon had the Nova G3 Chuck in Anniversary Pakage for about $140 with 3 jaws. It is a dedicated 1"-8TPI chuck but you can get adapters to later use on a larger lathe. I like the dedicated 1" for being shorter than with the insert and have both styles, having 3 G3 and one of the Nova precision (?) tommy bar chucks, and all get used. With the 4 chucks, I am not having to change jaws, but they are easy to change if needed. Strongly recommend the Nova for the smaller pieces even though it is a dove tail jaw and I tend to give preference to the serated straight jaws for larger work. The little pin jaws in the package with 1" for recess are nice for small pieces.