Chuck recommendations

From what I've heard about the barraccuda, I'd say that if you can afford a Powermatic, you can afford a lot better chuck.. PSI is great for budget items that will get the job done, but you want the best chuck that you can find.. Oneway and Vicmarc for sure, really don't know the Nova... IMO, an extra $100 or so to get the size and quality chuck you need is a minor cost of the turning experience and when you figure the cost over a few years, it's nothing.. YMWV

Not a lot of fun trying to turn with a chuck that's too small for the work/lathe, vibrates or doesn't grip well.. I don't do much large stuff and use Oneway Talons.. I've been very happy with both of mine...

mac

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I have a Powermatic with Technatool Nova chucks. The G3 is their bargain chuck and I brought it along with my upgrade to the Powermatic with just a new thread insert. I kept the old insert which I put in for using on the smaller turning club lathes. I do this because they have the Barracuda chucks which I find very frustrating to use. The Super Nova is their first line chuck and is real solid for bigger work. They also had the Titan for really big stuff. The nice thing is that jaws are interchangable between all chuck models. The one warning I will give about Technatool is that all the chucks I have are made in New Zealand. Recently they offshored production to China. I heard they moved their actual machinery there, but I still wonder about quality. They also are not making the Titan now.

John Doe wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.east.cox.net:

Depending on your skill level and what you expect, the Barracuda 4 package from PennState is a good deal. I have an Axeminister and a Talon, but the PennState is my chuck of preference, both because of its holding power and versitility.

Deb

I have two Super Nova's and a G3, several jaw sizes and a Cole jaw set. Can't think of any reason to go to a different brand. I used them on several belt drive lathes (jet) with fair results, but after switching to a Nova DVR with no belts, the results are amazing. The finish cuts require very little sanding. I would highly recommend Teknatool products.

L Bledsoe

I've been using Nova Chucks and lathes for many years. I own one or more of each version of the Nova Chucks. Three years ago, when I purchased a Vicmarc VL-100 evs lathe, I acquired a small Vicmarc chuck. We now have two of them. They are excellent chucks. Last year I purchased one of the Vermec chucks, also made in Australia. It is a supurb chuck and is more the size of the Oneway Stronghold lathe and probably the size of the large Vicmarc chucks. The OneWay chucks are excellent, but most of my chucks were made by Teknatool with the Nova brand name. As far as my experience goes, the Teknatool products are all excellent.

Fred Holder

As I have to rely on just the chuck for my larger pieces, (no tailstock on the outboard side) I use the Oneway Stronghold chuck, the chuck with the Oneway jaws is the best holding chuck hands-down, the very large pieces I will roughout with a faceplate attached to it, after that it is the Oneway Stronghold. For my smaller lathe I have now 3 Oneway Talon chucks, they are very good chucks also, but not up to the full potential of the Powermatic. The Vicmarc were also good chucks, were, as I don't know how the Chinese are going to measure up, Nova chucks are not in the same class, never were, and have had numerous problems before.

You can check out the holding power of the Stronghold in my album were I show the making of a large bowl, the album is a few years old but still applies to the chuck.

I also have a piece on the lathe right now that did exceed 30", it is now being held by the same Stronghold chuck, never had any problem with the Oneway chucks, and counting the extra cost over the use of more than 10 years, it wouldn't add up to a penny a day.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

I have owned and or used several sets of chucks and jaws including older Nova products. (I admit I have never used the new Nova chucks) I just sold all of the other chuck and jaw sets that I had in order to buy another Oneway Stronghold chuck. I have found the Oneway jaws are very uniform in their machining. Some of my Nova jaws seemed to have problems running true when I reversed pieces on the lathe.

I also agree with Leo. When I turn very large pieces the Stronghold chuck has a very "strong hold". Remember, you can turn small pieces with a large "strong holding" chuck but you can't turn large pieces with a smaller weaker chuck.

Just my thoughts, Ted J thelatentlog.com

When I moved from my Jet mini to a Powermatic, I kept my Oneway Talon chuck and just changed the threaded headstock adapter. I keep my the #1 Talon jaws on it. I supplemented the Talon with a Oneway Stronghold for larger turnings.

I am quite happy with both chucks, and the jaw/chuck combinations work well for nearly all of my spindle and bowl turnings.

Bob

Sorry to barge into your post, Bob, but I just read an article and wanted to amend my post..

I'll back off on my recommendation of the Nova chuck for the OP, it isn't the same size as the Vimarc and Stronghold, it's the size of the Talon.. My mistake..

mac

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I have the Talon and like it. Paid about $50 more than what it is here ...

seems like a good price but for a limited time. Best of luck whatever you decide. Lenny

I have the Oneway Talon and like it a lot. I use it one a old shopsmith which is a light weight lathe. I'm not sure if the heavy oneway stronghold which is twice the weight would help with damping the vibration in the roughing out phase. I have been looking buying a second one and wondered if a heavy chuck would help with the vibration.

If

If you are having vibration problems I doubt that it is your Talon Chuck causing it.

One thing to consider when buying an extra chuck is that not all of the jaws fit all of the chucks. If you have a Talon and then buy a Stronghold you will have to purchase all new jaw sets for the Stronghold. That can get pretty expensive.

I think that the Talon is probably a good size chuck for your lathe. The Shopsmith has a swing of of about 16 inches and a 3.5 inch chuck will handle most anything you will be turning on that lathe.

If I were in your situation and needed another chuck I'd buy another Talon.

Ted J thelatentlog.com

Balance of the load (wood) and if it isn't perfect, there will be vibration. That is why we preform and cut round asap.

Our lathes are also weighted or heavy or both. Some are filled with sand and others are with metal and stuff.

Take wood out and close the chuck firmly so a single item won't fling apart. Then turn on the lathe and see if it wobbles.

I see two things to try.

1. take the chuck off and turn it on again - wobble - check bearings / level ...
2. The chuck may not be on square. Sounds strange, but a little bit of wood in the threads can cant the chuck slightly. Also, if the chuck does not fit cleanly and firmly against the spindle and fully thread on - that is another source of wobble.

Mart> >> >>