Whick chuck is best?

Short answer -best chuck is the one the poster owns. Expect those who spent the most to be most defensive about their decision.

You tend to hear a lot about one "gripping" more tightly than another, but last thing you normally want to do is "grip" something which you may want to re-mount and is subject to distortion and possible failure from applied pressure. The way they work is by fitting, not gripping the work, which means a properly mating set of jaws which don't move at different rates or in different directions. The Grizz I handled was a floppin' mess, but it was a single example.

Not true. I have a Vicmarc and I think it is better than the Nova - I looked at both when I was buying, I think the Vicmarc has better quality and finish than the Nova and I have had great service from Vicmarc. But if I thought the Vicmarc was crap I would say so to warn others, but I think the Vicmarc is the best chuck around and that is based on my experience of using it and using a Nova at my turning club. Cheers Paul

Unless otherwise stated all references to location refer to Western Australia

The Grizzly cant be as bad as the 3 jaw self centering chuck that I bought from Harbor Freight. I wanted to see how far it would open and it fell apart on me. Took me a while to get it back together and working right. Moral of the story is cheaper is not allways better but some things that are cheap are better than others.

Steven Raphael Ithaca MI

How much do you value quality control in a product? For only $40, the Grizzly can't have much of that. But it's a fairly small risk, although the Nova and Talon would be risk-free because of their reputation.

Ken Grunke

Coulee Region Woodturners of SW Wisconsin

Hi

The difference is design and quality. The Oneway chucks are the best in both areas, the chucks unlike others don't need precision turned wood to mate to but hold better over a larger area over a greater size difference and on square as well as on round stock. Every other chuck is down from there, with more design limitations you can use lesser quality chucks and not get hurt by flying chunks of wood, but I don't like to take any more chances than necessary.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

ladderlogicman wrote:

One of the newest chucks on the market is my recommendation, the SuperNova2. I recently purchased two of them, one for myself and one for my wife. They have been excellent performers and I find it very satisfactory. Lyn J. Mangiameli had a review on the "New Generation of Teknatool Chucks and Jaws" in the January

2005 issue of More Woodturning. Lyn was as pleased with the performance of the SuprNova2 as I am. This chuck will cost you $200+, but it will be worth every cent. Now, the Grizzly chuck for $40.00 is not a great buy. I purchased one to do a review. The quality was so poor that I was afraid to mount a piece of wood on the lathe with it and I did not feel it rated a review. My recommendation here is to cross it from your list!

Now, with that aside, there are four makers of woodturning four jaw scroll chucks that are worth considering: Teknatool Nova Line, Oneway Manufacturing line, Vicmarc line, and Axminister line of chucks. Record power has come out with a four jaw scroll chuck that looks to be good, but I've not seen one other than in pictures. For my money, the new SuperNova2 from Teknatool is a best buy at this point in time and I have experience with it.

Fred Holder

I also like the vicmarc chuck. To me another over looked advantage is that it uses allen wrech to operate the chuck. I have heard the other chuck key can cost $40.00 to replace if lost or broken. Vicmarc go the hardware store and buy another allen wrench.

I have to agree that Oneway is very good, but it's my 1st chuck, (Talon), so I don't have a "standard" to hold it to...

Since buying it in December, I've contacted the folks at Oneway twice, once for an adapter for the Mini Jet, and once for the spigot jaws for the chuck.. (I didn't buy my chuck from them) Both times were very pleasant experiences... tool free number, real person (Gloria) answers the phone and the shipping is pretty fast, though they only ship once or twice a week..

I might save a buck or 2 shopping around for accessories, but it's nice to be able to call the manufacturer and ask questions or order things.. (both items that I bought direct were the same or lower priced than Amazon)

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Correct

While mine is fine, easy movement and tight.

I went with Grizz for price and that all their other tools I own are "OK", but then I'm no a "serious" turner like Fred, if I was I suspect my choice would be different

1st of those in the post, not 1st in the world (IMHO). The Bison brand (sold under the Axminster name) takes that honor.

Add the Vicmark to you list of $200+ chucks. Its dovetail jaws produce a firm grip. Can't speak for the Super Nova but both Vicmark and Talon are great chucks. Thay beat the oroginal Nova for holding power.

I had a BusyBee chuck which I suspect is identical to your Grizzly. I had it on my first lathe and did a lot of work with it. I used an external tenon, tightened the chuck very well and was reasonably careful in the tenon preparation. I rarely lost a bowl or had it come "untrue" and this only happened after a big catch. I now own a Oneway Stronghold and it is much better than the cheapie but the price wasn't the same either. I can't say I regret the cheapie as a first chuck since it did what I wanted it to and the cash outlay was rather minor. I am selling my first lathe to a newbie turner and the chuck will go with it with my best wishes. I am not saying cheapie first for everybody but I don't dismiss them as useless, they just require a bit more attention.

Billh