Where can I get a Screw Chuck?

[Tom Albrecht]

I am trying to find a good Screw Chuck like this:

I want one with a direct thread to to M33. I don't like using spindle adapters. What like about this one is the interchangeable faces and the 1/4" screw drive.

 

[odie]

That's a Precision Machine three into one screw center chuck......you might be able to get one made up special in M33. Does your American Beauty have M33 spindle threads?

 

[Clifton C]

Here's the one I remember, http://www.glaserhitec.com/shop/glaser-screw-chuck/
I'm sure it's well made, but wow, that's a hefty price...

 

[Hugh]

I have not looked at the Craft Supply catalog recently......but many years ago....12 years or so....I purchased one from Craft Supply. At the time, Craft Supply was having someone make up faceplates for them. They just added a flat piece with a screw in the center and bolted it to the faceplate. Thinking along those lines......if you can not find one.....I would think that you could get a piece of steel and weld a screw to it and then bolt that to your faceplate. Oneway used to put out a screw that fit in their chuck to use as a screw chuck.
Hugh

 

[Tom Albrecht]

That's a Precision Machine three into one screw center chuck......you might be able to get one made up special in M33. Does your American Beauty have M33 spindle threads?

Yep, M33. I used to have a Oneway and have a lot invested already in M33 chucks.
Thanks, I'll checkout Precision Machine.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Here's the one I remember, http://www.glaserhitec.com/shop/glaser-screw-chuck/
I'm sure it's well made, but wow, that's a hefty price...

Actually, I think that the Glaser is what I have in the photo, before he got fancy with laser engraving. Craftsupplies USA used to sell them quite a while back.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have not looked at the Craft Supply catalog recently......but many years ago....12 years or so....I purchased one from Craft Supply. At the time, Craft Supply was having someone make up faceplates for them. They just added a flat piece with a screw in the center and bolted it to the faceplate. Thinking along those lines......if you can not find one.....I would think that you could get a piece of steel and weld a screw to it and then bolt that to your faceplate. Oneway used to put out a screw that fit in their chuck to use as a screw chuck.
Hugh

The Precision Machine screw chuck that Odie mentioned by Odie is still sold by Craft Supplies, but the only problem is that they only offer them in 1" and 1¼" sizes.

Oneway still includes a woodworm screw with their chucks unless you buy a body only without jaws. Vicmarc and Technatool also have their own versions of woodworm screws. I believe that the Oneway screw is far superior to all the others. All of the commercially available screw chucks seem terribly overpriced to me. I don't use a screw chuck often, but when I do I just use a woodworm screw in a scroll chuck.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Yep, M33. I used to have a Oneway and have a lot invested already in M33 chucks.
Thanks, I'll checkout Precision Machine.

Unfortunately, I can't find a link directly to Precision Machine. And CS has no alternative other that a lengthy adapter.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Unfortunately, I can't find a link directly to Precision Machine. And CS has no alternative other that a lengthy adapter.

I think that it is a house brand. I've never seen them anywhere else.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

The Precision Machine screw chuck that Odie mentioned by Odie is still sold by Craft Supplies, but the only problem is that they only offer them in 1" and 1¼" sizes.

Oneway still includes a woodworm screw with their chucks unless you buy a body only without jaws. Vicmarc and Technatool also have their own versions of woodworm screws. I believe that the Oneway screw is far superior to all the others. All of the commercially available screw chucks seem terribly overpriced to me. I don't use a screw chuck often, but when I do I just use a woodworm screw in a scroll chuck.

Right Bill, and I do have those various "Woodworm" screws. The problem with them is that I often have production projects that would work best with a smaller diameter 1/4" hole, for instance architectural rosettes, or small ornamental architectural finials.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Oneway has a small screw chuck on a Morse taper. The screw looks like it is about ⅛". Obviously, it could only be used for small items, but it might fit the bill for smaller architectural finials.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Tom you can order the jumbo screw for the Oneway chuck separately, Oneway also carries a screw chuck that is on a #2 MT, you insert the screw that you need in the head, so good for mounting smaller pieces.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Thinking outside the box is to use a faceplate with sacrificial block or mount sacrificial block in chuck and mount your 1/4 inch bolt in the center either epoxy in or do a relief for the nut to lock it in.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I don't think that you can put a nut on a wood screw. (well, maybe a Tinnerman Palnut or Speednut designed for sheet metal screws would work). Unlike a glue block the screw block doesn't need to be sacrificial since the turning can be unscrewed.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Bill I was actually thinking of a regular 1/4 inch bolt. For those who do not know a machine screw will hold in wood as well or better than a wood screw. Then since I presume we are talking about holding a small workpiece the possibilities are endless from the hardware store, and use any common thread

 

[odie]

I have not looked at the Craft Supply catalog recently......but many years ago....12 years or so....I purchased one from Craft Supply. At the time, Craft Supply was having someone make up faceplates for them. They just added a flat piece with a screw in the center and bolted it to the faceplate.

I first purchased Precision Machine faceplates about 25 years ago, and the one you describe was their offering, at that time. The threaded base had two sizes of screw centers that attached through hex machine bolts......3" and 4 3/4". Since that time, they've revised their screw center faceplates a couple of times. The 3" version is now a dedicated faceplate, along with the addition of a dedicated 1/3/4" version. The adaptable 3" version was discontinued. The 3" and 1 3/4" dedicated versions are still in production, and larger sizes are now the 3-in-1 chuck.

I am a dedicated screw center faceplate user, and feel lucky that I purchased my SC faceplates years ago.....because the larger size that I have is no longer available. It was a good system, and feel Precision Machine made a mistake by discontinuing the original 4 3/4" product. The change to the dedicated 3" chucks was a good move, though......

In current inventory are two adaptable bases with one 3" faceplate, and two 4 3/4" faceplates. (I keep the larger size installed permanently now.) I've purchased two of the 1 3/4" dedicated chucks, and six of the 3" dedicated screw center chucks for use. (another one of those purchases that hurt at the time, but have become a valuable asset to my shop work flow! )

Once a seasoned, or kiln dried bowl blank is installed to the screw center chuck, it's never removed until it's entirely finished, and ready to do the foot. That way, there is no chance of ever having to deal with a misalignment issue. Having a supply of multiple screw center chucks is the way to deal with it......and, I can take my time finishing a bowl, giving me a choice of what I'll work on at any one time. At one time, I had to finish a bowl that was mounted to the chuck, or remove it, causing misalignment issues.......now, I have a choice.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Tom you can order the jumbo screw for the Oneway chuck separately, Oneway also carries a screw chuck that is on a #2 MT, you insert the screw that you need in the head, so good for mounting smaller pieces.

View attachment 22481 View attachment 22482

I have both of those Leo. The #2 taper is great for smaller stuff and I have used it a lot.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

I found the Glaser Screw chucks for sale from Alan Lacer. http://stores.alanswoodturningstore.com/

 

[Mike Johnson]

Depending on the materials you want to use for a screw chuck, hanger bolts and dowel screws
can be used to make screw chucks. A wood billet can be turned and a hole drilled in the center and
a dowel screw seated into the hole. A metal billet can be turned on a lathe and a hole drilled in the
center and a hanger bolt can be seated into the metal billet after you tap threads into the hole. Aluminum
billets are easy to drill and tap threads on a wood lathe when chucked up in an adjustable bowl chuck. With
a sharp HSS tool you can slowly true up an aluminum billet if you take your time. Drilling and tapping a hole
is easy peasy if you have a drill chuck that mounts in your tail stock.

 

[odie]

I found the Glaser Screw chucks for sale from Alan Lacer. http://stores.alanswoodturningstore.com/

Well, looks like exactly what you were looking for, Tom.....

Do yourself a favor buy one of these and forget about the worm screw your scroll chuck was shipped with.

I was reading this quote from the reviews of the Glaser screw chuck, and was wondering why this person dislikes the worm screw provided by the chuck manufacturers.....? To my way of thinking, the worm screw is just another way of doing it, unless it's the thought that the chuck itself might be tied up until the work intended to be done is finished.....?

ko

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Not sure what his problem with the provided worm screw is, other than tying up a scroll chuck. Personally that's why I don't use it much, if at all, and the fact that it's a bit big for the kind of stuff I use my Glaser for. I'm often turning architectural rosettes, and I also like using waste/glue blocks on the screw chuck as well.

 

[hockenbery]

Worm screws vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
The oneway worm screw is the best - in that it positively locks in place when the points of the real jaws close into the grooves on the screw head. The auxiliary jaws also lock into a grove the holds the screw fro pulling out.

The vicmarc worm is just round. Much more apt to spin but it works pretty well except when it doesn't. I use the oneway screw in my vicmarc chuck.

Some screws (nova I think is one) have a flat that should face the jaw point. A little better than round. Not as cold as a groove

A little square of plywood with a hole in the middle shortens the effective length of all of them.

I like using worm screws for things I turn from boards like platters and for students first bowl.

One of the qualities I add to my bowls and hollow forms is purposeful grain alignment.
A spur drive lets me fine tune the grain. When I use a screw the grain is set by the saw and the drill. Good saw work can get nice grain but it is a rare person that can saw that well consistently.
Good saw work can still be fine tuned.

 

[Bill Boehme]

The worm screws on the Vicmarc and Technatool are probably about average, but the Oneway screw is excellent. It has thin steep threads that are excellent for holding the wood. Alan Lacer will be here for seven days of classes beginning Tuesday. Maybe he will bring along some Glaser screw chucks.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

The worm screws on the Vicmarc and Technatool are probably about average, but the Oneway screw is excellent. It has thin steep threads that are excellent for holding the wood. Alan Lacer will be here for seven days of classes beginning Tuesday. Maybe he will bring along some Glaser screw chucks.

That's funny Bill, because I called Lacer to ask a question about the Glaser chuck. I'm not sure where he was when he returned the call, but he said he was "on the way to Texas". He's not a fan of the "woodworm, or chuck screws". He's a good guy. I remember calling him many years ago when I was starting out with the skew and having problems. He was so helpful and encouraging over the phone, I was really impressed.

The great thing about this thread, is that I had forgotten that my original screw chuck in my photo was a Glaser. I bought it from Craft Supplies way back when I had a Woodfast, like Odie's, with a 1 1/4" spindle. Back then things were less high tech in the laser engraving business and there was absolutely nothing on that chuck to identify it. It wasn't until Clifton C replied with a link to Glaser that I remembered. Not sure why CS doesn't carry them anymore.

 

[Larry Copas]

Interesting thread especially since I've been thinking about screw chucks. I have a Vicmarc chuck with the standard worm. It strips out on punky exciting wood, just what I like to turn. Mention was made of the Oneway worm being superior so I found a picture on the net. It uses sharp deep threads. My Vicmarc worm has a standard 60 degree thread on the tail stock side with something like a square thread on the head stock side. Both look like they should hold equally well.

More thinking.....I believe one reason my worm is stripping out is because its not helped by the chuck jaws in the least. The jaws are nice and smooth as they should be. No help keeping the wood from spinning. So....if I had that nice Glaser chuck or the CS model and roughed up the surface a bit. That would keep the wood from spinning and stripping out on the worm.

The ultimate might be something like a modified hole saw. Well, I do have a metal lathe and lots more time than money. What can I make?

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Do you have a mini metal lathe? I've been toying with the idea of getting one.
If you do come up with something to solve your problem, please let us know what it is.

 

[Bill Boehme]

A faceplate would be a better solution for holding punky wood.

 

[Arkriver]

Out of maybe 500 bowls I have "lost" 3 pieces using the Glaser screw chuck
and all were either punky wood or in the case of aspen just soft wood.

 

[Larry Copas]

Do you have a mini metal lathe? I've been toying with the idea of getting one.

I have a South Bend 9" and a Logan 12". Over the last few years I've made all kinds of gadgets for the wood lathe, most of which could have been completed on a metal mini lathe.

A faceplate would be a better solution for holding punky wood.

More consideration and I'm sure your right.

 

[RichColvin]

Do you have a mini metal lathe? I've been toying with the idea of getting one.
If you do come up with something to solve your problem, please let us know what it is.

Tom,

I got a metal lathe recently, and am already seeing things I can use it to do to assist with woodturning.

Rich

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Tom,

I got a metal lathe recently, and am already seeing things I can use it to do to assist with woodturning.

Rich

Such as?? Tell me more.
Every once in a while I try to cobble something together using my wood lathe, and I know it would be easier/more accurate on a machine lathe, but I just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

I know this is only partly on subject, but worth sharing for the right person.

I'm a big fan of the Oneway screw. I turn softwoods and softer hard wood, and I find I get better holding power by dropping my drill bit size down a 1/32. On rare occasion I get my hands on a truly hard chuck of hardwood, it's back to the standard drill bit size.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I know this is only partly on subject, but worth sharing for the right person.

I'm a big fan of the Oneway screw. I turn softwoods and softer hard wood, and I find I get better holding power by dropping my drill bit size down a 1/32. On rare occasion I get my hands on a truly hard chuck of hardwood, it's back to the standard drill bit size.

Zach, Oneway sell also a longer screw and in both LH and RH configurations, it helps in soft endgrain.

I also often use a smaller bit, but than I have run once or twice into the problem of being almost unable to unscrew the piece from it, have to get my strapwrench out to remove it

 

[Tom Albrecht]

You got it Zach.
And again, the smaller diameter screw on the Glaser, combined with a choice of faceplate diameters makes it my choice over a Oneway held screw.

 

[Lee Tourtelotte]

I was lucky enough to find on this Forum, a few years ago, an original Jerry Glaser screw chuck in M33.
It is a fabulously designed screw chuck with an extremely sharp, very hard HSS screw that only Jerry could design at the time it was made.
Alan Lacer presently represents the company that acquired Jerry's screw chuck design and that is same company that Jerry worked for
in his later years. You will be more than happy with it's wide ranging functionality. Alan Lacer's website is: www.alanlacer.com
Lee Tourtelotte

 

[RichColvin]

Such as?? Tell me more.
Every once in a while I try to cobble something together using my wood lathe, and I know it would be easier/more accurate on a machine lathe, but I just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

I've already made some pen bushings to replace some that are lost. I've also made my own approach to using them without a mandrel (as mine had gotten curvy). And, I've made a bushing to allow my wife to use a different type of pen in her Cricket.

These are just for learning right now. My real goals are :

1. Make my own tools for ornamental/rose engine turning,
2. Turn very accurate wood (e.g., two-layer wood items), &
3. Make parts & tools on demand.

But here's one interesting outcome. It has already made me better at using my wood lathe. Amazing how the skills from metal turning carry over. One example: take less bite in the material & take it off over more time.

Kind regards,
Rich

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Thanks Rich. I enjoy how these threads evolve and get off topic-- a real discussion.
What kind and size of metal lathe did you get?

 

[Bill Boehme]

Alan Lacer is here teaching skew techniques for a week to WNT members. I didn't ask if he brought any screw chucks with him.

I took an advanced skew class today and gained a great deal of humility. I was very impressed when he turned a bead in about five seconds ... using only two moves ... the bead was about ¾" wide on a 2" diameter cylinder. The way that he did it looked like something that you're might expect to see a potter do where the clay is just being pushed into shape.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Alan Lacer is here teaching skew techniques for a week to WNT members. I didn't ask if he brought any screw chucks with him.

I took an advanced skew class today and gained a great deal of humility. I was very impressed when he turned a bead in about five seconds ... using only two moves ... the bead was about ¾" wide on a 2" diameter cylinder. The way that he did it looked like something that you're might expect to see a potter do where the clay is just being pushed into shape.

Yep, he's awesome at that.
Ask him about the chucks!

 

[RichColvin]

Thanks Rich. I enjoy how these threads evolve and get off topic-- a real discussion.
What kind and size of metal lathe did you get?

I bought the Grizzly G0765 which is 7x14". It, like all that I found in this size range, is made in China by Seig. There are great videos on YouTube, both on the use & some useful mods. Also, the guys at LittleMachineShop.com provide great support & parts.

A few months ago, when I was parting off a 1 inch cold rolled steel rod, the rod slipped & jammed, ripping the drive gears to shreds. They were plastic, but I guess that's what you get in the sub-$1,000 price range. LittleMachineShop.com sells replacement gears that are metal for about $50. Replaced those & the spindle bearings (from ball bearings to roller bearings) for $100 in total. After the spindle bearing break-in, the lathe runs smoother & quieter than before !!

I've found that both Grizzly & LittleMachineShop.com are both great.

One word of note : Read & follow the instructions in the owner's manual, especially where it details you to learn everything about the machine. Lots more adjustments on a metal lathe & maintenance is more critical. But you can do some really cool stuff!!