lathe chuck

I got one of the first chucks Penn State sold. Heavy as lead, two tommy bars, but works good. The nice thing about it was it was under $50. If the newer ones are as serviceable, should be a good deal.

Deb

I got to use one of the Penn State Chucks while doing a demo for our club. Operated with tommy bars like the original Nova and held acceptably for hollowing a thin wall bowl about 7 inches in diameter. A bit inconvenient to manipulate if you are used to a key style, but likely not bad for the price. Hope this helps.

Kip Powers Rogers, AR

I got to use one of the Penn State Chucks while doing a demo for our club. Operated with tommy bars like the original Nova and held acceptably for hollowing a thin wall bowl about 7 inches in diameter. A bit inconvenient to manipulate if you are used to a key style, but likely not bad for the price. Hope this helps.

Kip Powers Rogers, AR

I bought one about a year ago when I first got a lathe. Been using it for bowls ever since. Intend to buy another in the near future.

Bill

I have used one for a coupe of years it works great little mean to use but for the money you can't beat it I don't use it for very large bowls and not at all for tall vases stick with the Oneway but the fack is yo can have 3 or

4 of the penn for the cost of a Oneway or SuperNova and unless you are planning on some heavy duty turning the Peen works great.

Good luck in getting one. The new (????) Barracuda II has been on back order for almost a year now. Everytime I have called them about it I get the same answer, "Any day now." Finally gave up and bought a Nova. Nic

Therein a consideration. What will it do in the way of jaws and reliability down the line. If you think you might someday want one of the big names, get it instead. Big lathes, big chucks can turn small stuff, right? But small ones don't do large, nor do undersize chucks.

I understand the utility in having three chucks with different jaws, but I see no advantage in using three 'good enough' chucks for one year each over using one 'really good' chuck for three years. YMMV.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Well at one time I considered buying one of the Penn State chucks but I ended up buying the Oneway Talon chuck. (I did not like the tommy bars on the Penn State) After using the Talon I would not even consider buying a chuck with the tommy bars. As some gun owners say the only way you would get my oneway chuck would be to pry it out of my dead hands :D.

Steven Raphael Ithaca MI

"geo" wrote in message news:AYrCf.1955$ snipped-for-privacy@news02.roc.ny... >I have just seen an ad for the Penn state inds. chuck . Does anyone have >info on these chucks. they are about half price of a nova. any help would >be appreciated, thanks, Geo.

Hi there Mac

I just bought another Oneway chuck too, a Talon this time, I have a Stronghold already, You know the most important reason for me to buy a Oneway is, the Patented jaws shape, yes the quality is very good and so are some other chucks but the jaw shape makes all the difference in that you can hold wood square or round securely over the whole opening range of the chucks jaw opening ability There is no other chuck that has that advantage. I don't want to admit this but I was at Busy Bee couple of months ago and against better knowing I picked up one of their low cost (CHEAP) chucks, something like 50something $$$, what a waste of money, I had thought that OK maybe I will have to chuck it up in my metal lathe and fix it up a bit, well it would be easier to machine a new one than to try fixing that pos, it's even to light to make even a good door stop, o well, live and learn, could have bought a nice bowl gouge instead (ouch).

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

I did it the other way around. I bought a BB cheapie for my CdnTire lathe. To be honest it worked reasaonably well and I did some good stuff with it. Bent the tommy bars making sure it was tight though! When I got my General I bought a Stronghold. What a difference in chucking. I now have both Strongholds and Talons. I like the small size of the Talon which reduces its footprint on the bowl bottom. Oneway says 14" dia for Talon but I know turners who hold larger work than that with it. billh

I really debated this point as well.... do I really Need a chuck that costs almost as much as my lathe... how bad could one of the cheaper ones really be ..... Searched the archives ... decided on the Talon.... very pleased that I did!

Lenny

Hi Lenny

Yes I know, the good chucks are expensive. I payed more for my Talon with one extra set of jaws than I did for my Delta midi lathe,that came with a set of small HSS turning tools.

But expensive is all relative, I bought the little lathe and the chuck and a grinder to take along to my sons place, LOML and I spend 3+ weeks over at, first my oldest sons and then 2 weeks at my youngest sons place, normally they all spend the holiday season over at our place, but with my #1 sons wife expecting their #3 and the 3500KM roundtrip and dragging all the required along, we thought it be better for us to go there.

However it could get boring if not able to do any turning at all, so thats why I got the mini. really. left the grinder there, for next time, and he needed one, other son also.

Now the 5 tanks of gas and 2 overnightings to get there and back and a couple more tanks for the trip to my other one, did cost more than all of the above, not to mention the gifts etc.

You have to love it, and we do and did.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

lenny... I debated the same thing.. Jet Mini was a bit over $200... Talon chuck was about $200 with shipping and extra jaw set...

OTOH, that chuck is now on my $900 14" lathe... does that make it any less expensive? *g* Mac

One thing I've noticed over the years is I'm never diasapointed when I end up spending more than I had intended for a tool, ... Often disapointed when I try to go cheap.

Hey, I just got the #2 jaws with my Talon, and have heard that the spigot jaws would be a good choice for a second pair. My question is which version (standard or smooth) would be better and why?

Also, I have ordered a Milwaukee close quarter drill and plan to get a sanding accessory for use with it .... any suggestions as to what I should look for and where?

Lenny

Hi Lenny

My Talon came with the #2 jaws and I bought the regular spigot jaws, reason is I want the holding power of the regular jaws, if my turning is too fragile I will hold it some other way, glue it to a waste block, wrap masking tape around it or some other way, I turned some miniatures in the last 2 months, some of which have a wall thickness of approx.

0.6 mm/23 thou, no way am I going to hold them in my chuck jaws, smooth or otherwise. As for the Milwaukee I have one for a number of years, and use it only if I can not use my regular drill. 2 reasons for that: 1) I paid about 4X the price I paid for 2 other drills, (1 slow 1 fast) they where on special at HD. 2) The Milwaukee has a history of burning out the rear bearing, then ceasing and spinning in its plastic seat, ruining the drill. The drill was never designed to drill for the length of time we sand and the dust and grit are also not good for its health. Blasting out the crud with compressed air and/or replacing the bearing with a sealed bearing is recommended. I use the regular 1-2-3" velcro sanding holder and paper as I use on my other drills.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Thanks for the reply. I was aware of the problems with the bearings from reading some old threads on the subject. Found a pretty good deal on a refurbished unit, with a 5 year warranty. Will actually use it more for it's intended purpose during the week in my regular job and on the weekends for play (lathe). Do you keep some bearings on hand and just make it a part of routine maintenance ? Any particular velcro sanding holder ? Source ? Thanks, Lenny

Hi Lenny

No bearings on hand, still the originals, I use the Milwaukee only when necessary and I keep it clean. I have bought my disk holders from Lee Valley but usually get them from Stockroom Supply at the wood show, pick up also 2" and 3" wide rolls of velcro backed abrasives and cut them to size when needed, cuts down on cost.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo