I would like to buy a chuck for my wood lathe. Need help figuring out what top get. Do I need 4 or 3 jaw chuck?
Independant or self centering?
Thanks in advance

If you're just turning cork grips and wooden reelseat inserts, I think a self centering 3 jaw chuck is easy and suitable for the task. If you have a metal turning lathe and plan to turn small engine cylinders and pistons requiring tight tolerances, then a 4 jaw chuck and a dial indicator would be appropriate - IMO.

If you are turning wooden blocks a four jaw chuck is nice to have and with the proper jaws will be quite versatile.
I have both a four and a three but if limited to one it would be the four jaw chuck.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Just make sure the jaws that you get will meet your needs. You want them to close down enough to grip any mandrel sizes that you use and open far enough to hold your stock for boring. I don't know of any chuck that will meet these needs with only one set of jaws. Like Stan, I bought a 3 jaw with my lathe and since have bought a 4 jaw. The 3 jaw is great for anything that I do on a mandrel and the 4 jaw is great for boring or holding the wood stock

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Where is the best place to buy a chuck??? I am looking at the Pennstate Utility Model for 79.95. 4 jaw self centering

I would buy a 4 jaw and a spare jacobs chuck(drill chuck) for turning on a mandrel. I think it would be a bit cheaper and the jacobs chuck is still self centering

Jim,

I recently got a small three jaw chuck from Grizzly. I have wished I had a four jaw at times when workin with blocks. What ever you do get a self centering one. I use a Jacobs with mantrels.

Ed Smith

I have a Delta midi-lathe and I use a 4 jaw chuck for wood and a separate chuck from Delta with different size collets for the different mandrels. I use a self centering drill chuck on my tail stock for drilling. I drill my wood using the 4 jaw and then switch to the collet chuck for my mandrel turning.

If you're only going to buy one chuck, do not waste your money on a 3-jaw. The PSI Utility chuck is probably OK, but if you buy one, check your lathe carefully for runout before you get it and then check it again with the PSI chuck mounted. Whatever you do, do NOT buy the PSI 3-jaw micro chuck. It is an absolute piece of garbage.

I totally disagree with the 4-jaw for general usage. If you're looking to turn grips on mandrels, bore cork, ream foam/cork, or do other simple tasks - the 3-jaw is the way to go. It's so much easier to use, and while it is not accurate to the .0001 - most rodbuilding tasks do not require that type of precision. It's so much easier to use teh 3-jaw, just open and close it.

If you are performing tasks which require precision, then I have no comment because I do not turn wood or metal & I'm not precise at all when it comes to building rods.

I agree with the 4 jaw & a drill chuck for mandrels.....you cannot put square stock in a 3 jaw chuck. If you are going to ever use your lathe for other projects...pens bowls...whatever you may require the ability to grip a square or rectangle which is impossible with a 3 jaw.

I use a drill chuck with a morse taper to fit my lathe when using mandrels...quick self centering and economical.

A good 3 jaw may get well used in rod building but lacks versatility unless you can afford to have both a 3 & 4 jaw. The only advantage to the 3 jaw is speed to set up IMO....but w a drill chuck for mandrels that eliminates this problem.

DUH!!!!! Never thought about using the JDrill chuck with my mandres!!!! In that case, I would recommend a 4 jaw and drill chuck. I'm very happy with my PSI 4 jaw Utility chuck. Gotta love this board!!

Billy, why is a 3 jaw any easier than a 4 jaw? A 4 jaw works exactly the same as a 3 jaw. Just turn it to close it. It's self centering

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I wasn't aware they had a self centering 4-jaw (SC), all the ones I saw were the ones which each jaw needed to be closed individually. You have a link for a 4-jaw SC? I admit having a 4-jaw SC would be better than a 3-jaw, I just wasn't aware they had them, which is why Iposted what I did.

The Jacobs is fine for Mandrels, but the one I have only opens up to a 1/2" ID, and I have 2 Mandrels whic do not fit in it.

Billy,
Here's a link to one 4 jaw scroll chuck that PSI sells.
[www.pennstateind.com]

Oh well, disregard what I said the first time. What stinks is I've seen that chuck before, and ASSumed it was an individual jaw closing one. That one seems like it will do EVERYTHING and a whole lot more.

Thanks for the link, I apologize for the first post. I also just spent another $100 at PSI, lol.

I bought a Nova Midi chuck at WoodCraft for less than $100, not much less but less. It's a four jaw that works great. It won't go small enough for mandrels, so I use a Jacobs drill chuck and the live center. Works perfect. BTW, I bought the spigot jaws.

Bill in WV

William,

if you look closely at the inner "closing faces" you'll find the Nova Midi Precision Chuck from Woodcraft actually closes down to fit close to a 1/4" mandrel. Adequate mandrel grip for many tasks - particularly for turning cork. Just ignore the outter closing jaws..

The Nova chucks seem better machined of better steel that the PSI chucks and the various levers seem up to the task. Just wish I'd bought it first while in learning phase. As it turned out, I ended up with several other chucks before I got the hang of it. I use a Jet Mini lathe.

Stan



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2006 11:47PM by Stan Gregory.

I have a Nova Midi Chuck and Stan is correct about it closing on a 1/4" mandrel. With the jaws off, the jaw slides will grip a 1/4" mandrel very tight. The slides also grip over a greater surface area than any of the jaws except maybe the pin jaws.

I just sent Stan an email, but Nova has a couple different Midi chucks. I have the one where you use 2 steel rods to tighten and loosen it, not the flexible drill chuck key type. With the jaws off, I could only get it to go down to a little less than 5/8 in.

Bill in WV

Here are a couple shots of my Nova Midi 4-jaw chuck, which also tightens with a pair of steel rods. With the jaws off, the slides will hold a 1/4" mandrel. With the 50mm jaws that came with the chuck, it will hold a single cork ring for boring. Click on the thumbnails for a closer look at the Nova midi chuck in action.