Number of chucks?

[Bob Sheppard]

OK, this is probably going to make me feel inadequate, but how many chucks do you guys have? The reason I'm asking is that, over the years, I've primarily turned between centers, so I have a number of spur centers and live centers. But recently, I've been branching out more and more, and while I own, and like, my Oneway Stronghold, I get a little impatient (and admittedly lazy) having to change the jaws in the middle of a project., so I'm toying with getting another chuck (or two) so I don't have to change jaws.
I'm not a professional turner, and I rarely sell anything, so I have to consider that with my purchases.
Thanks.

 

[Bob Sheppard]

OK, this is probably going to make me feel inadequate, but how many chucks do you guys have? The reason I'm asking is that, over the years, I've primarily turned between centers, so I have a number of spur centers and live centers. But recently, I've been branching out more and more, and while I own, and like, my Oneway Stronghold, I get a little impatient (and admittedly lazy) having to change the jaws in the middle of a project., so I'm toying with getting another chuck (or two) so I don't have to change jaws.
I'm not a professional turner, and I rarely sell anything, so I have to consider that with my purchases.
Thanks.

OK, evidently I've forgotten how to spell, judging by the title of the thread. Can that be fixed?

 

[Mike Johnson]

You can never have enough chicks, no matter how old you are.

 

[BobCoates]

I am not a professional tunnr and have 3 oneway (tommy bars). My .02 if you have other jaws for stronghold, buy just the base.

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

I have a couple of oneway talon bodies and a bunch of jaw sets, A vicmarc clone, and an Axminster.
The talons are great all around chucks for small to medium sized work.
I kept hearing about the benefits of dovetail jaws, so I got the vicmarc clone ( made for grizzly. very inexpensive, but required some work to fix it up. The fit and finish were not the best). I find myself using dovetail tenons more.
The Axminster chuck has dovetail jaws as well as O'Donnell jaws, a more robust spigot jaw. The build quality is first rate. Not sure I would buy another.

 

[Bob Sheppard]

I am not a professional tunnr and have 3 oneway (tommy bars). My .02 if you have other jaws for stronghold, buy just the base.

That's what I'm thinking of doing. I already have multiple size jaws for the Stronghold.

 

[John Turpin]

I have one--the Easy Chuck. Changing jaws is very fast and very easy. If I could improve one thing about it, I'd have them add another set of jaws that's bigger than their current biggest. But, I love the thing.

 

[Roger Chandler]

At present, I have 9 chucks. I will likely get two more. I started out with a SuperNova chuck, then got four SuperNova2 models and have most of the jaw sets for them. The last 4 chucks I have gotten are the Hurricane Chucks, which are great quality clones of the Vicmarc chucks. They have become my "go to" chucks in most things now, but I use all of my chucks depending on what I'm doing. I have 3 HTC-100's and one HTC-125 [Hurricanes] and they really hold well! I like the dovetail jaws that come with them, but have gotten the largest bowl jaws they make as well.

 

[Dennis Weiner]

A stronghold, talon, aximinster, vicmarc 120 , vicmarc 150 and a Bealle collet chuck if that counts. Not to mention a 1w vacuum chuck. I have all the Vicmarc dovetail jaws. I wish someone would make a 3” dovetail jaw. Was forced to make my own!

 

[Lamar Wright]

I have 3 Nova chucks and growing! I now am looking for a larger chuck that can handle a larger Bowl / plate.

 

[William Rogers]

I have 7 chucks. 2 SuperNova's, 1 Record, 1 Nova G3, 1 HTC125, 1 Barracuda 2, 1 Barracuda 4, and 1 Penn State tommy bar. I just bought the Record chuck and it is a nice chuck. The Nova jaws fit it. The chucks I use are the Record with 50 mm jaws, SuperNova with 70 mm jaws, SuperNova with pin jaws, G3 WITH 50 MM JAWS, and the HTC 125. The only time I use the Barracuda chucks is with cole jaws. The HTC 125 is a big chuck that I use for blanks over 12". It is a very nice heavy chuck. Mostly I use the Record chuck and then the Nova's. If I only had two that would be the Record and HTC 125. Three I would add a SuperNova with pin jaws. I do have a vacuum chuck that I use quite often.

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

The are really two questions here: How many sets of jaws do you need and how many chuck bodies. Taking the last question first, my opinion is that you should have as many chuck bodies as the the number of sets of jaws you are likely to want to use in a period of several weeks. Changing chucks is a pain, a time waster and if not done right can lead to centering errors that may effect small-scale work. Personally, I never change jaw sets once they have been installed unless they are being replaced permanently. How many jaw sets? Depends on what kind of work you want to do. If you want to do a medley of different kinds of small to medium-size work, I would suggest a nominally 2-inch dovetail chuck (for 90% of all projects except bowls), a 4-inch dovetail chuck (for small to medium-sized bowls, vases and hollow forms), and a pin chuck (for small items), all to fit small-bodied chucks. If you want to turn bowls, platters, hollow forms, etc that are large in diameter or length, I would suggest adding a large-bodied dovetail chuck with heavy-duty 5-inch jaws.

 

[Richard Coers]

I think you transposed a couple of letters in the title. Did you mean, number of chicks?

 

[odie]

I have one--the Easy Chuck. Changing jaws is very fast and very easy. If I could improve one thing about it, I'd have them add another set of jaws that's bigger than their current biggest. But, I love the thing.

If I didn't already have four Oneway Stronghold chucks, I'd seriously consider the Easy Chuck. I sold three other older chucks, including a couple of Vicmarcs. The Vicmarcs are very high quality, but I found myself settling into using the Stronghold chucks.

-----odie-----

 

[George Guadiane]

Six, all strongholds and I have a couple of sets of jaws that are not currently mounted
Sometimes you want to have more than one piece mounted at the same time, sometimes you want to change ends and you need two chucks to do it.
There are lots of excuses - um reasons to have lots of chucks.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I have two Super Nova 2 chucks for our Nova 1624 which I share with my wife. One for her project and one for mine. There have been times when I have wished for a third Super Nova 2.

We have 2 of the standard 50 mm jaws and the a spectrum of sizes from 25 to 130 mm.

 

[hughie]

Chucks, well I have 4 of the old SN2 5" Super-nova chuck and 4 small SN2 4" or 100mm. I briefly went down the path of changing jaws, found it slow and fiddly plus losing screws in the woodchips often didnt help.
Along with these a couple of Donut chucks and a couple of Longworth chucks. Will I get more? Probably, but not at this stage.

 

[Bill Boehme]

OK, evidently I've forgotten how to spell, judging by the title of the thread. Can that be fixed?

You can never have enough chicks, no matter how old you are.

I might have messed things up. I was assuming that he wanted to say "Number", but in retrospect I believe that Mike has it right.

Since all that I have are chucks, I'll give a body count:

• Two Vicmarc 120
• One Vicmarc 100
• Two Oneway Stronghold
• Five or maybe six Oneway Talon

Dennis, I buy your rationale, but your recommendation would kill me. I think that I have every size of the Vicmarc 120 jaws including the large 485 mm bowl jaws. I also have several size jaws for the Oneway Stronghold and Talon chucks. I have the Jumbo jaws for the Talon and they stay permanently on one of my Talon bodies.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention a couple homemade vacuum chucks, a couple drill chucks, and a fluctuating number of jam chucks.

This is a very timely thread for me personally because I was beginning to have concerns about becoming a chuckaholic. I am greatly relieved to learn that my situation is perfectly normal ... I hope ... please tell me it is.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I might have messed things up. I was assuming that he wanted to say "Number", but in retrospect I believe that Mike has it right.

Since all that I have are chucks, I'll give a body count:

• Two Vicmarc 120
• One Vicmarc 100
• Two Oneway Stronghold
• Five or maybe six Oneway Talon

Dennis, I buy your rationale, but your recommendation would kill me. I think that I have every size of the Vicmarc 120 jaws including the large 485 mm bowl jaws. I also have several size jaws for the Oneway Stronghold and Talon chucks. I have the Jumbo jaws for the Talon and they stay permanently on one of my Talon bodies.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention a couple homemade vacuum chucks, a couple drill chucks, and a fluctuating number of jam chucks.

This is a very timely thread for me personally because I was beginning to have concerns about becoming a chuckaholic. I am greatly relieved to learn that my situation is perfectly normal ... I hope ... please tell me it is.

Perfectly normal. Even more normal if your wife doesnt know what a chuck is, how many do you have, or how much you have paid for them. I have 4 Vicmarc VM120 One Nova, several vacuum chucks...

 

[Bob Sheppard]

I might have messed things up. I was assuming that he wanted to say "Number", but in retrospect I believe that Mike has it right.

Since all that I have are chucks, I'll give a body count:

• Two Vicmarc 120
• One Vicmarc 100
• Two Oneway Stronghold
• Five or maybe six Oneway Talon

Dennis, I buy your rationale, but your recommendation would kill me. I think that I have every size of the Vicmarc 120 jaws including the large 485 mm bowl jaws. I also have several size jaws for the Oneway Stronghold and Talon chucks. I have the Jumbo jaws for the Talon and they stay permanently on one of my Talon bodies.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention a couple homemade vacuum chucks, a couple drill chucks, and a fluctuating number of jam chucks.

This is a very timely thread for me personally because I was beginning to have concerns about becoming a chuckaholic. I am greatly relieved to learn that my situation is perfectly normal ... I hope ... please tell me it is.

Bill-
I'm OK with the misspelled title. Maybe more will pay attention to the thread? LOL
I also have the Oneway chuck that takes two bars to adjust, but I only use that on my mini lathe. And I have a vacuum chuck and several drill chucks. And a Glazer screw chuck, but that's got a thread for a lathe I no longer have.
I have over 80 hand planes, so obviously, I like to accumulate.

 

[Bill Blasic]

Nova, Axminster, Vicmarc, Bulldog and Oneway. Not counting those given away and a few that walked off during hands on events, 35 in house. While in Doug Thompson's booth at a symposium Mark Baker came in to chat and he said some guy said he had a dozen chucks. I looked at him and said I have 5 for each lathe that I have set up. He said how many lathes and I said 7, he walked out laughing and I heard him laughing for ten minutes. I do not like changing jaws either

 

[Bruce Schoenleber]

Back to basics: At its most fundamental, what is a chuck?

A chuck is a clamp, it clamps the wood to the lathe spindle.

Ask any woodworker "how many clamps is enough?"

QED

 

[Mike Johnson]

The more chucks you have available help out in various ways. There are different types of chucks that also increase the potential you have when working on the lathe. Being able to leave a work piece mounted on the chuck comes in handy and eliminates remounting the work piece in the correct orientation. Having several chucks with different sized jaws already installed speeds the mounting process to seconds and eliminates fumbling around with wrenches and set screws and dropping them in a pile of shavings. Using a chuck to hold a turned piece also makes it easier to apply the finish. The more pieces you turn on a weekly basis will usually determine how many chucks you have on hand to make life easier. A drill chuck that fits onto your tail stock is a great tool to have for the wood lathe. All it takes is one package deal on an estate sale or garage sale and you can add to your tool arsenal.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Back to basics: At its most fundamental, what is a chuck?

A chuck is a clamp, it clamps the wood to the lathe spindle.

Ask any woodworker "how many clamps is enough?"

QED

The walls in my shop look like clamp city.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

1 stronghold.....i was able to quit smoking when the price of carton rose over $10.....the price of stronghold has risen nicely......%%%%%

 

[diverjoe]

My personal opinion is that at a minimum, one needs 4 chucks. Two with the #2 jaws, 1 with #3 jaws and one with the spiot jaws. These are just for one lathe and I have six lathes. I keep one Talon and one Stronghold with the jumbo jaws. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 20. Chucks are like Pringle potato chips, you can't have just one.
Joe

 

[hockenbery]

For chuck envy I have my friend Glenn.
He has 8-10 #2 Morse Jacobs chucks in rack near his lathe each with a different size drill bit.
Never saw a chuck key in his shop.

I have 4 Jacobs chucks three #2 Morse with keys and 1 #3 Morse that is keyless.

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

Okay guys, Bob asked a reasonable question about getting started using chucks. Let's not frighten him out woodturning altogether with your lurid personal stories of chuck addiction!

 

[John Jordan]

One. Its one of the first dozen Stronghold chucks Oneway made. Brad Packard traded it to me for doing a demo. I've never changed a set of chuck jaws, everything gets a two inch tenon. Large hollow pieces get a faceplate. I get offered free ones from time to time, but haven't felt the need for one. Depends on what you're doing I guess.

I use a lot of different chucks as I travel, and like the large Vicmarc, but not enough to get one I guess.

John

 

[Roger Chandler]

Nova, Axminster, Vicmarc, Bulldog and Oneway. Not counting those given away and a few that walked off during hands on events, 35 in house. While in Doug Thompson's booth at a symposium Mark Baker came in to chat and he said some guy said he had a dozen chucks. I looked at him and said I have 5 for each lathe that I have set up. He said how many lathes and I said 7, he walked out laughing and I heard him laughing for ten minutes. I do not like changing jaws either

Bill, I think you might just be a serious contender for the grand prize on that old contest 'he who dies with the most toys wins!"

I have a lot of tools, but I'm not in your league!

 

[Bob Sheppard]

Nova, Axminster, Vicmarc, Bulldog and Oneway. Not counting those given away and a few that walked off during hands on events, 35 in house. While in Doug Thompson's booth at a symposium Mark Baker came in to chat and he said some guy said he had a dozen chucks. I looked at him and said I have 5 for each lathe that I have set up. He said how many lathes and I said 7, he walked out laughing and I heard him laughing for ten minutes. I do not like changing jaws either

Now I'm really feeling inadequate LOL

 

[Bob Sheppard]

Okay guys, Bob asked a reasonable question about getting started using chucks. Let's not frighten him out woodturning altogether with your lurid personal stories of chuck addiction!

Don't worry. I'm not frightened. Its more like a challenge

 

[John Torchick]

You can never have enough chicks, no matter how old you are

If I went out and got a chick, my wife would kill me. Besides, at my age, it would be a lesson in futility.
OK, I have a three jaw chuck from HF and a Supernova 2 with pen jaws and Cole jaws.

 

[Bob Sheppard]

You can never have enough chicks, no matter how old you are.

I don't now about that. I have one chick, that I've been married to for 43 years now. Having more than one seems, um, dangerous.

 

[john lucas]

I have 3 vicmarc 100's and 2 off brand copies of the vicmarc. I have lots of faceplates that do get used from time to time. I have homemade chucks and homemade jaws plus the Jumbo jaws and a Vacuum chuck.

 

[John Torchick]

46 years and one month.

 

[Owen Lowe]

But recently, I've been branching out more and more, and while I own, and like, my Oneway Stronghold, I get a little impatient (and admittedly lazy) having to change the jaws in the middle of a project., so I'm toying with getting another chuck (or two) so I don't have to change jaws.

I have 1 Stronghold and 2 Talons.

For me it has to do with type and size of workpieces as to how many chucks I’ve ended up with — not so much the number of jaw sets. The Stronghold has the #3 jaws on it almost all the time; it’s use is for large bowls. One Talon chuck has #3 jaws and the other has #2 jaws almost all the time. The #3 jawed Talon pulls duty as a small bowl chuck and the #2 jawed chuck is usually for spindles.

You can probably see that my turning focuses on bowls. Decide what your focus is going to be and then decide whether your chuck selection meets that need. I have never needed a second Stronghold, but I got the second Talon because I did not want to dismount work in progress from the other Talon to turn something else (maybe a secondary piece to the first). If the same situation arises when using the Stronghold, then perhaps a second is in order.

Unless you are changing jaws multiple times a week, I don’t buy that argument about needing a chuck for every jaw set. Changing them out really only takes a few minutes; put an allen key shaft in a cordless drill/driver and the task is speeded up immensely. You mentioned changing jaws mid-stream in a project… in that case, if it’s a regular occurrence, then a second chuck is likely the way I’d go. Do you need the capacity of a Stronghold for the secondary chuck or would a Talon be more flexible? Is the need for perhaps duplicate jaw profiles (Stronghold and Talon) a financial consideration? If so, a second Stronghold may be a more sound decision.

Good luck and I’d be curious to hear how your reasoning and decision plays out.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I like SN2 and have never paid over 160 and even got 2 for under 100 each. Hey I cannot pass up a bargain,never paid 180 like someone posted in the for sales.
5-SN2 Plus 5 more sets of jaws
1-Nova G3 made for Delta
1-Barracuda with jumbo cole jaws and long pins permanently mounted
1-Longworth chuck
1-Jacobs on MT2
If we are also counting clamps maybe 50-60 with the bulk of the expense in my Bessy Kbody there are maybe 26 and just off the top of my head that may be $1300 plus. I think I just scared myself.

 

[Ron Grob]

It's funny I see this thread today. Last night I was thinking maybe I should get another chuck. I just started turning less than two months ago and have that quick change chuck from PSI with the added cole jaws. I was thinking how even with the quick change stuff, I don't really like changing the jaws out. Clearly I'm thinking right that I need more chucks!

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have 1 Stronghold and 2 Talons.

For me it has to do with type and size of workpieces as to how many chucks I’ve ended up with — not so much the number of jaw sets. The Stronghold has the #3 jaws on it almost all the time; it’s use is for large bowls. One Talon chuck has #3 jaws and the other has #2 jaws almost all the time. The #3 jawed Talon pulls duty as a small bowl chuck and the #2 jawed chuck is usually for spindles.

You can probably see that my turning focuses on bowls. Decide what your focus is going to be and then decide whether your chuck selection meets that need. I have never needed a second Stronghold, but I got the second Talon because I did not want to dismount work in progress from the other Talon to turn something else (maybe a secondary piece to the first). If the same situation arises when using the Stronghold, then perhaps a second is in order.

Unless you are changing jaws multiple times a week, I don’t buy that argument about needing a chuck for every jaw set. Changing them out really only takes a few minutes; put an allen key shaft in a cordless drill/driver and the task is speeded up immensely. You mentioned changing jaws mid-stream in a project… in that case, if it’s a regular occurrence, then a second chuck is likely the way I’d go. Do you need the capacity of a Stronghold for the secondary chuck or would a Talon be more flexible? Is the need for perhaps duplicate jaw profiles (Stronghold and Talon) a financial consideration? If so, a second Stronghold may be a more sound decision.

Good luck and I’d be curious to hear how your reasoning and decision plays out.

You might be taking some of the comments too literally. For certain you can discount any suggestions that I make as the ramblings of a doddering old phule.