# Turning bowls



## Nolan (Jun 27, 2006)

Could I get your guys and gals opinions on the best all around chuck for turning bowls and other stuff of the like. Thanks 
Nolan


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## vick (Jun 27, 2006)

What kind of lathe do you have?
The reason I ask is some of the bigger chucks like the stronghold are not recomended for a mini.  You will get a lot of people that will recomend their chuck because they are happy with them.  I think most of the major brands make a good product.  I have a Talon and am happy but have not had experience with any others.


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## Nolan (Jun 27, 2006)

Yah for got to say which lathe sorry . I have a Jet Mini vs.
Nolan


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## Dario (Jun 27, 2006)

I use Oneway Talon and it is a very good chuck.  

That said Nova also make great chucks (actually Oneway copied their design)...and the new Nova's are even better.

If I will buy now, I think I will get the SuperNova II...cheaper than Oneway too []

EDIT IN:  Talon or SN2 will work with Jet Mini and I will advise you get this since you can still use it even if you upgrade later.  I've known a lot of turners who have several chucks and they said they prefer this medium sized chucks even if they have access to giant lathes and chucks (like stronghold or titan)...unless the size they turn really dictate the use of bigger chuck of course.


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## huntersilver (Jun 27, 2006)

I have the Nova and it works well and was reasonably priced.


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## low_48 (Jun 27, 2006)

It is my opinion that the Talon is far superior to the Nova. The biggest difference is the amount of gripping "teeth" or rings, in the jaws. Oneway has always had 5 sharpened rings inside the jaws, Nova has always had 1 ring and it does not come to a sharp edge. A little annoyance is the Nova is opposite direction tightening to the rest of the world, rightie loosie, leftie tightie. You can get used to it, but most of the time you start out in the wrong direction. I've always been a staunch supporter of Oneway, but the Vicmark chucks should also be considered. It is a beautiful piece of equipment.

You should consider this as a lifetime purchase. All the chucks have replaceable inserts that will let you put them on different lathes. Buy the best, $100 won't be a big difference when you will use this for alot of years.


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## Dario (Jun 27, 2006)

I agree about the jaws...never lost grip on any blank yet with Talon....but neither any of my friends who owned Nova so [?].

Below is a post of a friend on another forum whom I respect a lot, especially when it comes to woodturning. [^]

=============================================

Hi XXXXX,

I have owned the regular Nova, the Oneway with the two levers, the Talon, and the Stronghold. I have used just about every other chuck on the market with the exception of the PSI Barracuda, and even one chuck that is not on the market yet! (stealh gloat about testing a chuck for someone which will soon be for sale!)

The Talon is an excellent choice, and my personal preference. I would avoid the Nova midi because of the way it screws onto the spindle. If the spindle of the lathe is just a bit too long, the jaws will not tighten onto the wood properly, tightening on the spindle instead. <b>The Supernova is a decent chuck, but I think the Talon is better. This is personal preference more than anything, but I like the straight serrated jaws better than the dovetailed jaws.</b>

As I said, I do not have any experience with the Barracuda, but I have one on the way. It is backordered, so I will not have it for a while. Therefore I cannot make much of a judgement on it except to say that I thought enough of it to order it.

Just about any chuck you buy is going to be a good one. Some are better than others, but a lot of that is personal preference. Good luck with your decision.

Bill Grumbine


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## wdcav1952 (Jun 27, 2006)

OK Dario, is that a gloat that you know Bill Gumbine!?!? []


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## Dario (Jun 27, 2006)

LOL wish I can say more but I know him and he know me from the forums only.  Never met the guy though we did communicate privately a lot in the past.  I have his firts turning video privately authographed though...will that count??? [:I]


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## Penmonkey (Jun 27, 2006)

I have the supernova 1 on my jet mini lathe and I have made many bowls with it and am very happy with the finshed product.


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## whatwoodido (Jun 27, 2006)

Nolan-
  I have used a three different chucks.  At home I use a SuperNova, at the shop where I teach I use the Talon and Stronghold.

  The Talon is pretty nice (get the profiled jaws, they are more versatile), and is good for a mini or full size lathe, it is designed for upto 14" in diameter.  The Stronghold will eat the bearings in a mini for lunch, it is very heavy.

  You might want to consider finding out what an owner of a Barracuda2 from PSI thinks of that chuck, as it is a good price, and if it is well built is a real steal.  

  I really like my 2 SuperNovas, which I bought for my Ironbed Delta, however it really isn't appropriate for use on a mini as it weighs a fair amount.  The new Nova G3 is probably a fairly good option for a mini, and I may get one as I have a Mini as well and my jaws would be interchangeable.  Though I may get the Barracuda2 because the price is so low.  Basically, I am undecided.

Drew


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## Rifleman1776 (Jun 27, 2006)

This a common question on wood turning forums. Like everything, six people will give eight opinions. There is the category of person who says that you must buy the most expensive to get a good chuck. I have the PSI GMC3 mini-chuck and it is fine and a whole lot cheaper than the European made one and it come with three sets of jaws. The keyed chucks are a tiny bit handier to use. But the tommy bar is only a very minor inconvenience IMHO. Do stay away from the large, three-jaw chucks out there. Most are really designed for metal working and are not satisfactory for wood.


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## dubdrvrkev (Jun 27, 2006)

I have 2 supernova2's and am very happy with them. I don't have experience with other chucks though. The gripping power is just fine. One thing I noticed is that between the two there is a small difference on how far they will close. I had turned some blanks down in one chuck so the tennon was just big enough to fit and in the other chuck it was a little small to get a good grip.
One other chuck you may look at is the grizzly. They make one that is a clone of the small Vicmarc, and those have a pretty good reputation. I'm not saying the Grizzly will be everything the vicmarc is but for the money...


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## vick (Jun 27, 2006)

> _Originally posted by dubdrvrkev_
> <br /> One thing I noticed is that between the two there is a small difference on how far they will close. I had turned some blanks down in one chuck so the tennon was just big enough to fit and in the other chuck it was a little small to get a good grip.


Hey Kevin I am pretty sure you alread know but just in case alot of chucks have a safety pin that will effect how far it will open and close on one of the jaws.  You may want to double check that you have the jaw with the safety pin set in the position that has the longer slot.
Like I said pretty sure you know that and not sure if your chuck has it but it was news to me about 6 months ago.


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## Ron Mc (Jun 27, 2006)

I see a lot of comments in regards to teeth and holding power. Could I get someone to take a picture of a piece of wood that is mounted and ready to turn? I too would like to make some bowels and have plenty of wood waiting until I figure out how to do it.[)]


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## wdcav1952 (Jun 27, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Ron Mc_
> <br />I see a lot of comments in regards to teeth and holding power. Could I get someone to take a picture of a piece of wood that is mounted and ready to turn? I too would like to make some bowels and have plenty of wood waiting until I figure out how to do it.[)]



Ron, you know I am weak.  Why do you test me like this!?!?! [}]


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## woodwish (Jun 27, 2006)

When I first started on my mini lathe I didn't know about this forum.  Wanted a chuck so I went to the CSUSA catalog and ordered the VicMarc 3.5" and several other sizes of jaws, I think it was the first one in the catalog that year.  I still use it daily and love it.  When I bought a bigger lathe I just bought a new insert for it.  I read on here that Grizzly was making a cheap knock-off that used the VicMarc chucks so I ordered one, what a piece of crap.  Donated to our AAW chapter to use on one of the club lathes.  

At the recent AAW Symposium I was looking at the VicMarc's at the CSUSA booth since they had a show discount.  A gentleman with a "down under" accent came up and asked if I had any questions, looked at his name tag and he was the Vic of VicMarc.  We chatted seveal minutes and I ended up buying a second 3.5" chuck and two more styles of jaws, then he took my name and address to send me some free stuff.

I think you get what you pay for and all the better chucks are $$$, but I have never had mine let go (just like the other brands recommended above).  One thing I really like about the VM is it uses a big hex key to tighten instead of an oversize drill chuck key, don't know why but I do like it better.  Just my $.02.


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## Ron Mc (Jun 27, 2006)

LOL....Spelling error![]


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## Rudy Vey (Jun 27, 2006)

I have a SuperNova and a SuperNova2, like them both very much.
Bought the first one because I got a great deal from KMS Tools in Vancouver, BC. As far as I remember correctly, the chuck with several different jaws (like pin jaws, cole jaws, serated jaws and the standard jaws), insert and shipping was as much as only the chuck would cost here in the US (but then the Can$ was much weaker, too). The Oneway chucks were originally made after the Nova chucks.

For some info on chucks, like a comparison of chucsk, go to the Oneway website:

http://www.oneway.ca/reviews.htm

Russ Fairfield did  some testing.


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## Rudy Vey (Jun 27, 2006)

Check this out: Craft Supplies has the SuperNova2 chuck on sale until Friday for $169.99 - and at the moment the shipping of over $100 is free!!


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## whatwoodido (Jun 28, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Ron Mc_
> <br />I see a lot of comments in regards to teeth and holding power. Could I get someone to take a picture of a piece of wood that is mounted and ready to turn? I too would like to make some bowels and have plenty of wood waiting until I figure out how to do it.[)]



Ron-
  A picture won't show you what you really need to know ufortunately, as the third bullet point is critical.  The important things are:

* the tenon is square
* the shoulder on the tenon is also square
* the tenon should not bottom out in the chuck, as the jaws need to butt up solidly against the shoulder 
* on large items the slides shouldn't protrude past the body (many people ignore this, but they really shouldn't

Drew


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## whatwoodido (Jun 28, 2006)

As far as things coming off the chuck.  I have had either bowls, boxes, or platters come off all three of the chucks I have used.  Particularly, when you are turning large pieces of green wood, it really is not that uncommon for a bowl blank to come loose once in a while.  In 300 or so bowls, platters, or boxes I would say that I have probably had 3 or 4 platters or bowls come loose, and at least a dozen boxes.  Boxes tend to get the most torsional force applied to them, are generally end grain, and get rechucked several times so I am not all that surpised they come off.

Maybe I just belong to a reckless club but all of the people that turn a lot in my club have one or more interesting stories about bowl blanks coming loose.  I am happy to say I have never had one take flight, but I have seen the damage they can do when they take flight.

If you want to be sure bowl blanks will stay put, use a face plate and screws.  Otherwise just take precautionary steps to be safe.

Drew


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## Nolan (Jun 28, 2006)

Thanks everone for your input! Hope to be turning bowls sometime soon. Actually my wife does [] Thanks to the beautiful bowls some members have posted she would like me to make one. Funny its the first time she "suggested" I buy something for the shop.
Nolan


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## Rudy Vey (Jun 28, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Rudy Vey_
> <br />Check this out: Craft Supplies has the SuperNova2 chuck on sale until Friday for $169.99 - and at the moment the shipping of over $100 is free!!



Disregard this message, I just found out that one cannot get the free shipping with another offer - too bad.


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## dubdrvrkev (Jun 28, 2006)

You can get a SN2 from www.woodchipshome.com for a very reasonable price. Tell him I sent ya[] Well that wont help out any but tell him anyway.


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## whatwoodido (Jun 29, 2006)

The SuperNova2 is not a great choice for a mini lathe.  Its weight will put lots of wear and tear on the bearings.

Drew


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## Rudy Vey (Jul 4, 2006)

> _Originally posted by dubdrvrkev_
> <br />You can get a SN2 from www.woodchipshome.com for a very reasonable price. Tell him I sent ya[] Well that wont help out any but tell him anyway.



Thank you for posting this here, I just got my second SN2 together with some other small stuff yesterday from Woodchips. Price and service are absolute great!!


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