Dave & Denise Kother wrote:

Hello All,

I did some word turning back in high school some 20 years ago, and am
going
to be getting back into it with a midi sized lathe. I hope to be making
some small bowls and such, just working an old hobby that I loved so much.

When I turned in high school, we used a scrap block glued to the turned
wood
and the faceplate was screwed to the scrap. The more I have been reading,
that doesn't seem too popular now, but chucks seem to be the better way to
do things. I am trying to do some reading on chucks to familiarize myself
with them.

What is a good chuck for a beginner that will serve a good range of
projects? I understand that some can clamp inside and outside, and there
are a lot of variations. Money is a bit of an issue, so I want to get a
good one that can do a variety of jobs.

Thanks for all of your input.

DK


The chucks that PennState offers are along the line of what you are looking
for.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/cug3418c.html

Deb

Hello All,

I did some word turning back in high school some 20 years ago, and am going
to be getting back into it with a midi sized lathe. I hope to be making
some small bowls and such, just working an old hobby that I loved so much.

When I turned in high school, we used a scrap block glued to the turned wood
and the faceplate was screwed to the scrap. The more I have been reading,
that doesn't seem too popular now, but chucks seem to be the better way to
do things. I am trying to do some reading on chucks to familiarize myself
with them.

What is a good chuck for a beginner that will serve a good range of
projects? I understand that some can clamp inside and outside, and there
are a lot of variations. Money is a bit of an issue, so I want to get a
good one that can do a variety of jobs.

Thanks for all of your input.

DK

What is a good chuck for a beginner that will serve a good range of
projects? I understand that some can clamp inside and outside, and there
are a lot of variations. Money is a bit of an issue, so I want to get a
good one that can do a variety of jobs.

Thanks for all of your input.

Get a half decent one at least, and one that has a range of jaws that you
can add later if you find you like turning.
I have a Supernova chuck and it has served me well. Plenty of extra
accessories for it as well to handle different specialty turning work.
--
Regards,

Dean Bielanowski
Editor,
Online Tool Reviews
http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com
+ Over 100 detailed woodworking product reviews now online! +
------------------------------------------------------------
Latest 6 Reviews:
- Veritas Low Angle Smooth Plane
- Kreg Bandsaw Fence
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- "Hold-It" Magnetic Drill Bit Holders
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------------------------------------------------------------

The chuck that Penn State offers is good in the sense that it comes
with a lot of options. My brother bought one a while back, and has
been satified with it. I bought a Nova Mini, which has given great
performance, and at a price that was decent. The only problem with
Nova is the cost of the accessories (I'm not interested in paying $50
for a set of pin jaws, which is 1/2 of what I paid for chuck).

All in all, if you're looking for versitality and variety for the
money, the Penn State one is the way to go.

"Dave & Denise Kother" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

I did some word turning back in high school some 20 years ago, and am
going to be getting back into it with a midi sized lathe. I hope to be
making some small bowls and such, just working an old hobby that I loved
so much.

When I turned in high school, we used a scrap block glued to the turned
wood and the faceplate was screwed to the scrap. The more I have been
reading, that doesn't seem too popular now, but chucks seem to be the
better way to do things. I am trying to do some reading on chucks to
familiarize myself with them.

What is a good chuck for a beginner that will serve a good range of
projects? I understand that some can clamp inside and outside, and there
are a lot of variations. Money is a bit of an issue, so I want to get a
good one that can do a variety of jobs.

Thanks for all of your input.

DK



Like you I just got back into turning and did not have a lot of money to
spend. I found a chuck at Craft Supplies that comes with 3 sets of jaws and
a screw center. I just got one the other week and so far it has been good
for me. It make just what you are looking to get. Check it out,
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cg...n&key=454-0100


John

Woodcraft has the SuperNova2 chuck on sale for $169.95,
normally $199.95. Comes with a set of 50mm jaws as I
recall but I also got the 30 mm "spigot" jaws for spindle
work. You may also need a threaded insert adapter to have
it fit on your lathe. Mine needed the 1" - 8 tpi adapter
to go on my JET VS mini/midi - another $15 or so. In
keeping with the Buy Once, Cry Once, the price tag will
be forgotten long before you outgrow this chuck.

One key thing to look for in a chuck is "one hand operation".
The less expensive chucks use a pair of Tommy Bars to
open and close the jaws. They REQUIRE two hands. Unless
you have three hands, that leaves no hand to hold the stock
or piece while you tighten the jaws. You could chuck up
the piece with the chuck sitting vertically on a bench then
thread everything on the lathe - but that's a PITA. The
SuperNova2 uses a long, T handled, ball ended allen wrench.
The ball end will let you angle it behind a large bowl or
pot when a straight wrench or the Tommy Bars couldn't.

Several other things to look for

- no sharp edges or corners sticking out where they can
- and will - remove small to medium sized chunks of
knuckle(s) in a careless moment
- indexing holes on the back plate - handy if you ever
get around to needing this feature.
- NO slop in the jaws when installed correctly. Slop
means trouble
- jaws that can grip both "inside" and "outside" (one at
a time, not both at the same time) If you plan to do
bowls, plates and almost closed vessels, the grip of
the outside of the jaws is almost essential. The "top"
of the jaws should have a lip, some "dovetail shaped"
to grip in a dovetail type groove in either the inside
of a shallow hole or the top outside of a "tenon"
- mass is good - more intertia when doing heavier
cuts. On a mini/mid, 3 or 4 pounds of chuck will
do. Don't go ape **** though - mini/midi's just won't
do well with the 6-10 pound chucks that are available
for larger lathes and the folks who do 3 foot diameter
outboard turning.
- other compatible jaw sets available. Chuck "systems"
let you add capabilities without having to by an entire
new chuck body.

Often initially overlooked - the tail center. Most lathes
come with either a live or dead center. But consider
getting a "ive" tail center with inserts - simple point,
point with circle and a couple of different diameter
concave hemisphere ends. The more ways you can
hold the end of the piece the more options you have in
your turnings.

Being able to remove the inserts in the tail center and
having a through hole for a long boring bit is also
nice to have.

If it's been a while since you last did any turning, also
think about getting a "STEBCENTER"(sp?) for the head stock
end of the turning. The conical "center" point is spring
loaded and sticks out in front of the teeth. You can
crank the tail center in enough to just get the teeth
biting firmly enough to turn the piece while making
normal cuts. But if a dig in should begin, the piece
will stop - almost immediately as the spring loaded
point disengages the head stock drive teeth. Handy
when roughing to round or when working with gnarly
wood or a new, unfamiliar gouge. Better to be scared
than scared - and bleeding.

WARNING - TURNING CAN BE ADDICTIVE. CONSULT
SWMBO OR YOU PHYSICIAN IF YOU EXHIBIT ANY OF
THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS:
- YOU EGURLARLY FIND YOURSELF KNEE DEEP IN
SHAVINGS
- YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE SWMBO AND/OR YOUR
CHILDREN
- YOU BEGIN FEELING WEAK AND LIGHT HEADED
DUE TO NOT EATING OR DRINKING FOR EXTENDED
PERIODS OF TIME
- THESE PHRASES BEGIN TO BE UTTERED REGULARLY
"JUST GOING TO MAKE THIS LAST CUT"
"I'LL BE THERE IN JUST A MINUTE"
"LET ME GET THIS FINISH ON AND I'LL BE RIGHT
WITH YOU"
- YOU LOOK AT COMMON EVERYDAY THINGS YOU SEE
AND VISUALIZE WHAT SHAPE THEY'D MAKE IF ROTATED
ABOUT VARIOUS AXIS

Public Service Announcement
If you or anyone you know has become a rotationist
junky - there's help. Go to
www.turnersanonymous
for the times and locations of the nearest meeting
of Turners Anonymous. Or, conosult your Yellow
Pages under Turners Anonymous and make The Call.
Help is available and you can control your Urge To Turn
(UTT in TA lingo).

charlie b

Dave
You have gotten some good advice here. I like the One Way chuck, have had
one for 5 or 6 years (maybe longer but they seem to blur after awhile) and
highly recomment it. That said, a chuck is not necessary and I would go
without for a while unless you are dying to have one. My chuck cost more
than my first lathe. I seldom use a chuck for a bowl and then only if
someone wants me to show them how. I prefer glue blocks. They are just as
fast, just as easy and do not tie up equipment. My web site has some
information on how I turn bowls. This is not original to me, but then what
is original in this old art and craft of ours?

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

charlie b writes:

Woodcraft has the SuperNova2 chuck on sale for $169.95,
normally $199.95.

Check out kmstools.com
SuperNova 2 with 4 sets of jaws (including Cole) = $306.21
SuperNove 2 with above + PowerGrip + LongNose jaws + Scraper = $424.33

--
Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to this account incurs a fee of
$500 per message, and acknowledges the legality of this contract.

charlie b writes:


[...]

WARNING - TURNING CAN BE ADDICTIVE.

Yes, but how do I do that:
CONSULT SWMBO

if

[...]

- YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE SWMBO

?

[...]

- THESE PHRASES BEGIN TO BE UTTERED REGULARLY
"JUST GOING TO MAKE THIS LAST CUT"
"I'LL BE THERE IN JUST A MINUTE"
"LET ME GET THIS FINISH ON AND I'LL BE RIGHT
WITH YOU"

I never do _that_. I utter phrases like "I just go into the
cellar^H^H^H^Hshop and make a small bowl..."

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

charlie b wrote:

The less expensive chucks use a pair of Tommy Bars to
open and close the jaws.**They*REQUIRE*two*hands.

Only if your lathe doesn't have an indexing mechanism. If it does, only
one bar is used.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

"Dave & Denise Kother" wrote:

When I turned in high school, we used a scrap block glued to the
turned wood and the faceplate was screwed to the scrap. The more I
have been reading, that doesn't seem too popular now, but chucks seem
to be the better way to do things. I am trying to do some reading on
chucks to familiarize myself with them.


What Darrell said. Plus, since he is too modest, go to this specific page:

http://www.aroundthewoods.com/gblock.shtml

on his web site and you may find yourself chuckless but with more money for
other tools and wood. An appropriate size tap can be found on e-bay.

Have Fun
LD

It depends entirely on what you want to make. Dowels, plates and
bowls: use chucks.

I have turned with chucks and with faceplates and by far use faceplates
much much more than chucks, however I do mostly hollow turning, which
doesn't lend itself well to chuck work, unless you make very small
hollow things or very long tenons, and even that is iffy. Chucks are
nice for small to medium bowls, but over about 12" dia they just don't
have the strength (or the wood doesn't have the strength to take the
stress imposed by chuck jaws, especially jaws that open outward) to
keep the wood on the lathe. The most important thing I learned about
chuck work, is you HAVE TO KEEP THE TAILSTOCK on the wood while you
hollow the bowl as long as possible, especially natural edge bowls, or
the wood will fail at the dovetail bottom or the wood will just work
itself out of the chuck in very short order.

I love using chucks for small to medium open bowls, especially several
in production mode. You can control more precisely where the center is.
For small to medium bowls, gluing with thick paper between is still a
nice standby, but for really large face plate work I have gone to
direct gluing blocks onto my blanks (the paper fails on larger pieces)
or more often I turn a small (1/4" high to 3/4" high by 3"-6" dia)
tenon on my blank between centers, then turn a matching hole in the
faceplate blank. This gives a lot more strength when hollowing,
especially when I can't get a steady rest on the OD due to holes in the
side of it, and it provides the same perfect centering you need for
detailed control of where the windows will be.

If you glue to waste blocks, make the joints as flat as possible, and
use yellow glue or epoxy. Gorilla glue fails often and dangerously
except in absolutely perfect joints that are clamped super super hard,
and it's not easy to clamp irregular chunks of wood, and it's not easy
to clamp them quickly. Bubbles push the joint apart. Doesn't take the
shock loading and fails right inside the glue which is mostly bubbles
anyway.

Hi Mark
I don't agree with your statement that a chuck is only for small
turnings, not to use them for larger than 12" and to always keep your
tailstock on the wood.
I will put a link here so you can have a look at the way larger bowls
can be turned safely with a GOOD chuck, even without a tailstock.

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum26.html

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Mark
I don't agree with your statement that a chuck is only for small
turnings, not to use them for larger than 12" and to always keep your
tailstock on the wood.
I will put a link here so you can have a look at the way larger bowls
can be turned safely with a GOOD chuck, even without a tailstock.

So much for _your_ opinions, Mark.

It's obvious that you should attempt to keep the greatest amount of support
(tailstock) possible available until the latest possible moment. Safety and
stability. The lighter and more balanced your piece is before it has to
hang on its own, the better.

The advantage of a chuck for bowl use is reversibility. Easy reversibility
that makes it possible to work toward the headstock while turning the
outside, reverse to a certain center and turn inside in the same direction.
Without the fuss of glue blocks or the problems they can bring.

Different problem set with a chuck, of course. My feeling about Mark's
dismount problem is that he's not cutting toward the headstock, where the
force is in toward the shoulder of the mortise or tenon, but taking tool
angles which cut into the angle of rotation, a practice that increases his
tearout and the possibility of a bigger catch. Or he's turning at a higher
speed, which gives much more energy to a collision of any kind. Takes
pretty much the same energy to remove a shaving at any size or position in
the bowl, so no point in having a lot of extra available but unused.

Had a touch of a problem with a bowl I was turning a couple days ago. I
have 2" and 4" jaws for my chucks, and would really like to get some 3" to
take care of the 12 to 16 (max on my 3000) types.
Anyway, as familiar as I am with the use of a wedged tenon into a mortise,
this one kept working loose on me when hollowing. I did the novice thing,
seat and tighten, probably a half-dozen times during the hollowing, figuring
it was a 2" mortise and 15" bowl problem. Then the light came on in this
Polish brain. I removed it from the chuck, blew the loose sawdust out of
the recess - I finish the bottom before reversing - and re-mounted. Since I
was using a dovetail which seats and averages itself, the bowl settled back
perfectly, and I finished it out without incident.

Still trying to convince Susan I need 3" jaws, though....

I see how you manage it...do as much roughing as possible on the
faceplate before going to the chuck to do the final cutting. I think
I'm going to make my recesses deeper from now on...my problem has
always been with the wood cracking and failing at the chuck contact
point, and I assumed it was from insufficient tailstock support (maybe
partly true) but it's also partly due to turning pieces that have voids
and are therefore unbalanced, and now I have concluded that making a
deeper recess for the chuck contact stress will also help.

Thanks for the pictures, that's quite a collection! I have as much wood
still in log form and am doing triage now on the wood pile to find out
which pieces are still sound, which ones are ready to turn with
spalting and which ones are just firewood from too much rot, so I've
been thinking about my chuck more this week, looking at the ones I
still have drying and trying to determine how and when it's safe to use
the chuck.

I still think when I have voids and they're unbalanced I need to keep
the tailstock up tight until there's just a post left.

I agree with just about everything said here.... whoa....

Anyway, I think just about any of your +/- $200 chucks will work very
well, and last for years. I have two of these, the second I bought
from he

http://tinyurl.com/fmxdq

Bob Gadd is heading up the US aimed effort from KMS tools of selling
woodturning supplies from Canada. A super guy, been at it for years,
and give great service. My first contact with him was about 6-8 years
ago at KMS Canada.

My first Vic chuck has been worked hard for about 7 - 8 years. I mean
hard. And it still works great, only the smallest amount of loosening
in the jaws which goes away when gripping.

Search this newsgroup for the Grizzly chuck and the Penn State chuck.
Lots of great info on those two, but make sure you are looking at info
on the newest Penn State chuck, not their older one.

I don't turn recesses when turning a bowl for gripping by a chuck.
Especially if I am turning green wood to finish all at one shot, I turn
between centers and leave a spigot/tenon about 3/8 long from the base
of the roughed blank (sometimes a touch more) and about 2" or so
across. I would rather compress a piece of wood to hold it than to
expand it with the jaws and take a chance on cracking or splitting.
Some of the green woods seem to do that just fine by themselves anyway.

I have found that the wider I leave the spigot, the less distortion and
warp I have if I remount. I used to turn skinny spigots on my stuff
until I laughed myself silly one day when pulling out some rough
turnings that had longer, skinny spigots attached to them. They were
turned really wet, and as they dried the spigots had curled and twisted
into most wonderful looking group of woodwork you can imagine

Imagine a small bowl resting on its lip, upside down, and a small shape
proudly pointing upward. Capezzoli di Venere, anyone?

Robert

I have an old-style Super Nova chuck that serves very well and has an
extensive array of jawsets available. Because it uses spindle inserts, it
will fit your next lathe, too. Oneway Talon chucks are great, too. Stay
away from the "cheapie" chucks. Keep using your wooden scrap blocks and
glue while you save enough money for a real chuck. A chuck is not a good
place to skimp on quality. If you buy a "cheapie" chuck and a sizeable
chunk of wood comes flying loose, you could be getting new dentures, too.
And, they ain't cheap.

Barry


"Dave & Denise Kother" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

I did some word turning back in high school some 20 years ago, and am
going to be getting back into it with a midi sized lathe. I hope to be
making some small bowls and such, just working an old hobby that I loved
so much.

When I turned in high school, we used a scrap block glued to the turned
wood and the faceplate was screwed to the scrap. The more I have been
reading, that doesn't seem too popular now, but chucks seem to be the
better way to do things. I am trying to do some reading on chucks to
familiarize myself with them.

What is a good chuck for a beginner that will serve a good range of
projects? I understand that some can clamp inside and outside, and there
are a lot of variations. Money is a bit of an issue, so I want to get a
good one that can do a variety of jobs.

Thanks for all of your input.

DK

On Wed, 5 Apr 2006 08:48:47 -0400, "Dave & Denise Kother"
wrote:

Hello All,

I did some word turning back in high school some 20 years ago, and am going
to be getting back into it with a midi sized lathe. I hope to be making
some small bowls and such, just working an old hobby that I loved so much.

When I turned in high school, we used a scrap block glued to the turned wood
and the faceplate was screwed to the scrap. The more I have been reading,
that doesn't seem too popular now, but chucks seem to be the better way to
do things. I am trying to do some reading on chucks to familiarize myself
with them.

What is a good chuck for a beginner that will serve a good range of
projects? I understand that some can clamp inside and outside, and there
are a lot of variations. Money is a bit of an issue, so I want to get a
good one that can do a variety of jobs.

I got this guy soon after I bought my Midi, and I'm still using it:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G8784

It's not the best chuck, might even be the worst (I haven't compared
it to anything else) but it works pretty well for everything I've
done, and I've got no real complaints about it. I intend to upgrade
one of these days, but for now it's fine, and with the two years or so
I've got out of it, I'd say it's more than paid for itself.

And yes, even a cheap chuck works better (for me, YMMV) than a
faceplate.