Hello John,

Most of the turners on the newsgroup are also hobbists, there are very few
professional woodturners. As someone mentioned my book, "A Guide to Work-Holding
on the Lathe", covers just about every way to mount wood on the lathe. They all
work, but the four jaw scroll chuck is still the handiest and easiest method to
use for mounting wood. That said, there are always times when one of the old
time medhods of mounting works best, that is where my book becomes a nice to
have item in your library. The book was written, by the way, before the
SuperNova2, the Novi Midi, and the Nova Titon chucks came on the market. All
three of these are a great improvement.

The Nova Midi chuck that you were planning to purchase is an excellent little
chuck. I purchased one for my Nova Mercury when they first came on the market
and find it to be a very good little chuck. It will do what you want to do with
no problems. The two Tommy bars as apposed to a single tool like the SuperNova2
uses are a little cumbersome at first, but you will quickly learn how to use
them and the chuck will perform well for you.

I own four of the Original Nova chucks that use tommy bars, several SuperNova
chucks, two SuperNova2 chucks, the Nova Midi, and two of the Large Nova chucks.
My wife and I use all of these or a regular basis. We have a large number of jaw
sizes and they are each mounted on a chuck. For your Jet Midi lathe, the Nova
Midi chuck will perform very well for you.

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com/

In article , John DeBoo says...

Went into my local Woodcraft today to buy a Nova Midi chuck for my Jet
Midi 1014 and the salesperson convinced(?) me this was not the one for
me by telling me how it would be a bad choice for me needs and that I
needed a 3rd hand to be able to mount stuff in it. I really needed the
Super Nova - which of course costs about what I paid or more for my
lathe new i year ago @ Woodcraft. I just can't rationalize doing that.

I'm a:
- Hobbiest, not a pro and doing this for fun off and on.
- Making small items, maybe a few goblets and simple bowls 10" dia max.
- No exotic woods or cuts, just general fun stuff.
- Might even make a set of chessmen one day, cedar, oak, pine, whatever.
- I have no add-ons for the lathe like *extra* faceplates etc, just what
it came with originally. Belay that, I do have an MT2 1/2" drill chuck.

Looking for a viable alternative to the Nova chuck and/or a SAFE and
proven means of doing that sort of work with something else that is cost
effective. Snagged 2 books from the library to day to assist. Turning
Wood by Raffan and Woodturning by Rowley. But I thought I'd ask the
experts here also and see what shakes out. Would appreciate, pointers,
tips, links and opinions.

Thanks,
John D.