Good day to all. I've constructed a few fly rods and spinning rods with purchased components. I am now moving to advance my skills by learning to turn cork and reel seat inserts. I own a Jet 1014 mini lathe but do not have a scroll chuck. I tried turning a cork handle on a 1/4 " threaded rod but stopped before ruining the cork. I can salvage it by using the proper tooling. I have no experience with chucks and have only read what is available on the internet. If i purchased a Nova midi chuck or G-3 will those hold a steel mandrel for turning inserts and cork? Thanks for any help...

They will...and they won't. I have the Midi, it came with 2 sets of jaws ((I do not know if they still do, I think it's discon'd but you can still buy on from Amazon??) Having to switch the jaws back and forth to hold big/small pieces/mandrels, makes it well worth the money to buy a couple of chucks. IMO for mandrels bet a 3 jaw micro from PSI or woodcraft, or a jacobs that takes up to 1/2" OD and fits the Jet lathe (MT 1 or 2, you can find this in the manual) There are other chucks for penturning which people use, I tried them and didn't like them.

the 1/4" mandrels imo stink, they wobble and bend prett easily. If oyu are going the 1/4" route, get it as short as ou need it, mine were 16 & 18" and I no longer have any of them because they both bent. IMO 3/8" and bore the cork rings out to fit (I od not build on blanks that thin)

James,
Billy makes some very good points about chucks.
To be happy with your lath and the products that come from the lath, plan on purchasing several different chucks as well as several different pieces for the lath tail stock.

It is nice to have some chucks with hollow centers to allow for the passage of mandrels or even rod blanks through the center of the chuck.

It is nice to have some Jacobs style keyless chucks for both the head stock as well as the tail stock to hold and secure work.
It is nice to have a rotating tail stock that can hold a Jacobs or similar chuck to allow a centered piece of stock to be held securely at the tail stock but still spin as needed when turning.

So your thought about the Nova chuck is a good start.

I live to personally have a 3 jaw, as well as a 4 jaw chuck for irregular pieces as well.

Good luck. You have a good base with your 1014 and now just need to spend the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to get the appropriate accessories to do the work that you want to do on the lathe.

It is quite likely that you will buy some accessories that you may end up seldom or never using. But virtually all of the accessories will be used at some time for some special project that can't be done any other way. Any accessory that you buy for your lathe will get used one day or another. You will just find that some of the things that you buy for the lathe will be used nearly every day, and some will be used very seldom, but when they are - you will find them to be indispensable.

Also, as Billy mentioned, use center stock or shafts or mandrels that are made of as hard stock as possible and are also of the largest diameter as possible to reduce flexing of the work piece as much as possible.

Lots and lots of rod handles have been turned on a lathe using a 1/4 inch mandrel. It is just that if you use a 1/4 inch mandrel, you need a really light touch, so that you don't put deflection pressure on the handle being worked. But it is still much much better to be using the stiffer shafts that are made of larger diameter material if at all possible. Generally speaking, do your initial reaming to accommodate the smallest part of the blank on which the handle will fit. Then, use the appropriate mandrel to fit that reamed hole.

Good luck
Roger

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[www.workholding.com]

[littlemachineshop.com]

[www.onlinetoolreviews.com]

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Collets are another great tool for shaft holding of standard sizes:

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Good luck
Roger

Regarding hollow chucks....for those who do not know this means you can put a mandrel through the chuck and into the headstock, (ie: an 18" mandrel can only have 12" between teh chuck & tailstock) One o fhte mirco chuck sI mentioned is hollow, and oyu have ot be VERY careful with this when using a mandrel because the mandrel WILL slip off the tailstock and into the chuck. To fix this you can either get mandrels with a shoulder turned on them (which defeats the purpose of putting the mandrel through the chuck), get drill bit stop collars or collets, which is a round piece that fits on teh mandrel and a set screw is tightened on the mandrel, or get a live centere jacobs which will clamp the mandrel on teh tailstock side and prevent it from getting pulled into the headstock.

Personal preference....get the chuck that is NOT hollow, and get several mandrel lengths. The thing people sleep on with purchasing a lathe is it REQUIRES you to spend an additional couple hundred dollars in chucks, mandrels, tools, or the lathe is useless. The good hting is once oyu've made these purchases, you can co ANYTHING you want on the lathe safely, and accurately wihtout having to hack things together.

I have several chucks. I have a little aluminum scroll chuck from Penn State that is perfect for rods and mandrels. About $60. And if you chuck the mandrel in the scroll chuck you can chuck down on it and let the mandrel extend through the headstock and reduce bending and whip. I turn most of my grips on the rod blank directly (not reccomending that, but as a hobby builder I can take the chance) using this little chuck with rubber rings cut from a bicycle tire on the jaws (Thanks Tom). The only thing I like the Nova for is turning bowls with the dovetail jaws. . I turn squares by first rounding them between centers then clamping them in the 3 jaw or the scroll chuck. If you do get the Nova you also have to get a jaw attachment to let you chuck a mandrel or a piece for turning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2012 09:55AM by Bill Moschler.

this is what I got for my midi lathe.
[www.grizzly.com]

I originally bought the 5" but it was way too much spinning metal.
I am thinking about getting their Nova style chuck soon also.

I also have the Taig 3-jaw chuck that I use on my lathe and also on my power wrapper.
I use the reversible jaws with the jaws reversed from the picture.
I have also taken a grinder to grind a hollow on the current flat ends of the chuck jaws. By making the ends of the jaws circular, they nicely fit the typical rod handle. Therefore the jaws hold very well on the typical rod handle with very little pressure, don't mark and don't slip.

[www.super-tech.com]

[www.super-tech.com]


I also like using the full circle jaws for the 3 jaw chuck as well.


[www.super-tech.com]

The main thing is what Billy suggested. To fully enjoy the full use of any lathe, you can figure on spending at least as much for accessories for the lathe as the original price of the lathe and likely you will end up spending twice as much as you spent on the lathe price.

So, figure on taking your lathe purchase price and then multiplying it by 3 before you have it completely decked out with the accessories that you want to do everything that you want to do on the lathe.

Roger

The other comment about using a smaller chuck is also right on.
Use the smallest chuck that you need to use to do the job. The smaller chuck means less weight for the lathe to spin and less metal and or chuck to get in your way when working on the piece that you are turning.

Roger

i.e. if you can use a 2 1/2 inch chuck rather than a 5 inch chuck, use it.
If you can use a Jacobs chuck, rather than a 2 1/2 inch chuck, use it.

In a scroll chuck I highly recommend the Talon by OneWay. Get a set of spigot jaws and you can hold any mandrel just fine.

Collect chucks are a perfect fit for mandrels, of course, but you'll have to buy several or a set as each one is specific for a very narrow range of sizes.

..................

Welcome to the slippery slope of aquiring tools. The lathe will be the cheapest part of your adventure.

I'm not a fan of the Nova chucks because they use left-handed threads and since I crushed my right hand a year ago I can't twist in that direction. I have two (Grizzly Virmac Clones) scroll chucks and one 3-jaw I use frequently.

I also have a set of ER-32 Collets which are nice but for most of my grips I find that I perfer MT2 Collets which you put in the MT2 taper of your headstock ... faster and easier for me to use a 1/4" O1 steel shaft and a live center in the tailstock.

[www.amazon.com]

Thank you all for your comments, I appreciate the information you've shared with me.