I hate to recommend "good enough" in tools, having bought (and cried) more
than once on a few occasions. While collet chucks look fairly inexpensive
compared to a scroll chuck, and absolutely adequate for the use you foresee
in the near future, they are, sadly, always a just a collet chuck. I'd grab
something like a Nova with a set of pin jaws. They'll accept dowels inside
and hold bowls outside. Other brands available too.

Get your free turning porn at http://www.packardwoodworks.com/ and do some
shopping.

"Silvan" wrote in message
...
I think I'm going to need a chuck before I need anything else, and there's
still time to get it added to Santa's list. I know diddly squat about
chucks, so I could use some simple "buy this one from here" advice.

I'm expecting to try my hand at doing a chess set for one thing, and I'll
be
making myriad small parts for wooden steam locomotives. These are the
things I had in mind when I decided to get a lathe, though I'm sure I will
come up with other uses for it once I get it set up.

I'd appreciate it if someone would steer me toward the kind of stuff I
need
to be looking at for this kind of work. Money is not abundant, and I'd
prefer to avoid buying anything regretable this early on.