Looking for a 3 or 4 jaw chuck for Jet Mini!

I just read the latest Penn Ind. cat. They have a mini listed (LCM34) for 49.95. I would go with the large Barracuda 2 for 150. It has many sets of jaws and a neat wooden box to keep the pieces in, Geo.

Hi Thomas

Thomas I have to admit, I have one, not one of my brighter moves, I should have known better and I did, but I figured I would be able to improve it by chucking it up in my metal turning lathe, straitening it up a bit and have a halve decent chuck, WRONG. If you want if come and get it, free. I won't mail it or ship it, it's not worth the wrapping paper or shipping cost. And that's my opinion of it, POS. Buy a good quality chuck it will last you a lifetime, hurts only once, not every time you want to use it. I have a couple of Oneway chucks and love them.

Thomas: It's not $50 any more, its $90, but this is the chuck they were talking about:

-Steven

Look at the $99 chucks here... don't get the $50 chuck (I did, it was a mistake)

Check out Nova's new midi-size chuck. Forget those $50 chucks and the 3-jaw metal working chucks. They may be cheaper, but you get what you pay for........sometimes you don't even get that. A chuck is no place to go cheap. Buy quality.

Barry

Barry's right. I've been using the midi for a year on my little Jet, and it's a solid worker. The 50mm jaws are a bit small and the operating range is a bit narrow (read: I cut my recesses/spigots less than accurately sometimes), but I'm hoping the 75mm jaws will help. The midi also uses most of the Nova jaw family.

I tried cheap (Grizzly), but I'll buy Nova again.

Bill Gresham OR

Let me add my agreement, I'm still pretty much a beginning turner, but I just bought the Nova Midi for my Nova Comet and I like it. Sure beats faceplates and glue :-).

Thomas, There are lots of ways around using a chuck and some of them are faster and safer. After awhile, one reaches for the chuck out of habit and not necessarily out of good turning practice. I still use a faceplate and a glue block for a lot of work because they work so well. If you are getting a chuck it is best to save the dollars and get a good one. I have the One Way and it is worth every penny paid.