Cheap Chuck

Just grind the ends back. The softer, easier to replace steel is a better bet than the hard stuff, which would distort the holes in the chuck. If you don't want to grind, just get some cold-rolled rod of appropriate size to serve as tightener and "sacrificial" metal.

That sounds like a good idea George. Cold rolled steel is much cheaper and easier to obtain locally.

===================== Bill, That sounds like the chucks available from Penn State Industries.

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

Better yet, don't reef on the bars ... yer squishing the blasted wood, fer cryin' out loud. ;-)

(I used to work in a machine shop ... I've broken my fair share of table clamps and deformed the proper amount of work by over-tightening things.)

Thanks Ken ... I'll surf on over and see if I can find what I am looking for.

Bill

B B B B B But don't the jaws have to "grip" tightly?

I'm with you, Bill. Snug does fine if you've made the hold properly. Roughed a 16x8 chunk of slinging wet hard maple on the pin chuck yesterday, reversed to a 2" dovetail recess for hollowing. Works, just don't tell the lawyers you use them in stuff that big.

Still, the 15 year old regular Nova is getting a bit peened out.

ALL aspects of wood turning merit serious focus and attention. I've had a few pieces leave the lathe ... usually in several simultaneous directions and developing jagged edges as they exit. One left a too-loose Longworth chuck and took $40 worth of laser engraving with it. One got a catch in a thin cross-section (say 'hasta la vista, baby!'). It's now a solid ash cheese and cracker board. Very pretty. But you should have seen it when it was still a bowl. :-/ And there were a couple spindle pieces that got chalked up to skew and scraper training but were at least as much the fault of trying to work long pieces without a steady rest on a machine that can't turn slowly enough to get away with that.

I'm willing to give mounting careful thought now.

If I grip the wood too tight, I will destroy it. I usually start my bowls on a faceplate and turn a dovetail in the bottom for hollowing. There are a lot of other ways to get there, but I am comfortable with this. The dovetail is usually 1/4" deep, or less; just deep enough to accept the dovetails cut into the chuck jaws. If I lean on the tommy bars, I can destroy that recess in just about 4 seconds flat. DAMHIKT

If I grip it too loose, it goes whizzing past my head and groin. Both of which have sentimental and ornamental value to me.

So now I grip work too firmly to shake easily, but not tight enough to stress. It took some practice and could use some refinement. But I think I've begun to get a handle on how tightly to grip this beautiful wood we work with.

Bill

When you get it please post your experience - we're all on the the lookout for a good deal (i.e, reasonable quality at a great price).

...Kevin

I use a pin chuck or pin jaws rather than a faceplate, and that tail stock stays engaged until I'm ready to make the final passes. HATE that flying wood.

George.. I looked at your album, and don't quite get how the pin chuck works...

It LOOKS like a chuck screw kind of thing, (Oneway), but a lot easier???

mac

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It's from metalworking, really. You can see the roll pin, and there's decreasing depth opposite the rotation direction. The pin wedges into the smaller space, trapping the piece and carrying it. This one's from Best Wood, and it's a humdinger. Had one from my old "Masterchuck" which was merely a roll pin in a flat area. Bidirectional wedging possible, but as I don't reverse, this one's the best for me.

As I said in answer, it's a lot of stability, safety and hold for the sake of a 1" hole. I leave the pillar in and drop a bit into the dried hole, mounting within fractions of center without half trying.

I was wondering what size hole it needed... It looked like a very small hole ( less than 1/2") but I was thinking that in proportion to that large of bowl, it was a larger hole than it appeared..

I might consider one if I graduate to stuff the size of your bowls, but right now the chuck screw is working pretty well and requires a pretty small hole..

mac

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