WEN Chucks?

[Tom Albrecht]

I know where they are made, but I don't know what anybody thinks of them. I am thinking of buying three for the three Jet Minis at the Waldorf School where I volunteer. Only because they are so inexpensive....

https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-4-i...wdzqTL2ei2lnZKyI2oBoC_MgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Anybody here that has tried one?

 

[Richard Coers]

Looks the same as what Penn State sells. No experience with either, but had a Tommy bar chuck in the late 80s that I hated. You need 3 hands to grab a bowl tenon. Not nearly the holding power of a key chuck, so maybe not the best for students.

 

[Russell Nugent]

You need 3 hands to grab a bowl tenon.

If you can lock your spindle you only need 2 hands to mount a bowl.

 

[Richard Hodsdon]

Looking at some videos of Mike Maloney's , noted that he only uses a Tommy bar chuck. As Russell says above locking the spindle makes tightening simple.

 

[Joe Kaufman]

At a Mike Mahoney live club demo this year, he said that he uses the tommy bar chuck because it is faster for production work. His chuck always travels with him and said he doesn't have a problem holding the work as the shape of the tenon or recess is the important part. He frequently positioned the tool rest to rest one of the tommy bars on top to both tightened and sometimes loosen the chuck with one hand. Locking the spindle takes too much time and sometimes the lock is the indexing pin which should not use as a spindle lock. I believe he said the chuck was a old VicMark.

 

[William Rogers]

It does look like the Penn State chuck, except it has dovetail jaws instead of grip jaws. Probably made in the same factory. I would speculate about the same quality as a the Penn State chuck, but that’s a guess.

 

[hockenbery]

I don’t think tommy bars work well in the classroom.

Along with mike
Other production bowl turners use the tommy bars for speed.
most add long handles to tommy bars for extra leverage.

Things many of us find inconvenient like spring loaded spindle locks and tommy bars are preferred by those who benefit from their faster use.

Using these effectively requires skilled hands not often found on students.

 

[Brandon Sloan]

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-Jaw-Wood-Chuck-1-x-8-TPI/H6265

Grizzly has these on sale until September 3rd. I picked one up, it’s a pretty good bargain chuck.

 

[William Rogers]

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-Jaw-Wood-Chuck-1-x-8-TPI/H6265

Grizzly has these on sale until September 3rd. I picked one up, it’s a pretty good bargain chuck.

Brandon doesn’t your Grizzly have 1 1/4 - 8 tpi spindle thread? You will need to use an adapter with that chuck, ok except you add another layer of runout to the work.

 

[Brandon Sloan]

I bought the 1 1/4”, I sent the link to the 1” because I figured that’s what he would need for the jet lathes. The 1 1/4” is the same price.

 

[Perry Hilbert]

I have the Penn State Industries Tommy Bar chuck. It is really good for some things. However on bowls and a few other things, I find that centrifugal force can loosen the chuck jaws from starting and stopping. . Also dust gets down into the place between the back plate and chuck body and can make it stick. For quick repetitive small work, it is great. It does not have near the holding power that my G3 has

 

[Charlie Knighton]

I also noted grizzlle also has
6 pc. Lathe chisel set reg.$116.95 sale
$109.55
that's less than $20 a tool.....guess they are not gouges

 

[Tom Albrecht]

I bought the 1 1/4”, I sent the link to the 1” because I figured that’s what he would need for the jet lathes. The 1 1/4” is the same price.

Thanks--
How big is that dovetail jaw-- as in what is the depth of the dovetail that it will grab. The Wen's is only 5mm.

 

[Bill Boehme]

A student has enough stuff to learn without needing to contend with a tommy bar chuck. In my mind it might be enough to make the student decide that they aren't interested in woodturning..

 

[Tom Albrecht]

A student has enough stuff to learn without needing to contend with a tommy bar chuck. In my mind it might be enough to make the student decide that they aren't interested in woodturning..

Okay, say that you have two different Nova G3 Chucks to choose from:

One of them has a key for tightening, has an insert for the 1X8 spindle, and it's $115.

One of them uses Tommy Bars for tightening, has a direct 1X8 spindle thread, and it's $98.

Which do you choose?

 

[William Rogers]

If you are just going to use it on those lathes I would say the Nova G3.

 

[Donovan Bailey]

Okay, say that you have two different Nova G2 Chucks to choose from:

One of them has a key for tightening, has an insert for the 1X8 spindle, and it's $115.

One of them uses Tommy Bars for tightening, has a direct 1X8 spindle thread, and it's $98.

Which do you choose?

I'd go with a Hurricane HTC100 chuck (sells for about $160...or cheaper when they have one of their sales). The Hurricane chucks are built to last a lifetime, they have great service support, and they have a great selection of easily replaceable jaws, They simply are the best quality chucks for a reasonable price. I was so impressed with these Hurricane chucks that I sold my Novas and Oneway Strongholds and replaced all of them with Hurricanes. They make 2 different sizes of chucks and they go on sale on a fairly regular basis.

 

[RichColvin]

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-Jaw-Wood-Chuck-1-x-8-TPI/H6265

Grizzly has these on sale until September 3rd. I picked one up, it’s a pretty good bargain chuck.

That looks a lot like a Vicmarc 100 chuck, which sells for more than $200!

Rich

 

[Tom Albrecht]

My problem with the Grizzly is that they are out of stock until late October and I need them next week.

 

[Gary Beasley]

I would take a keyed chuck over a tommy bar chuck any day. Tommy bars are too fiddly and most often take three hands to mount a piece with the chuck on the lathe. A keyed chuck is one hand to tighten and one to support your work, allows you to check the seating as you snug it up a lot easier.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

You can get the G3 for 104 here. https://www.tools-plus.com/nova-lathes-48202.html
They also have the SN2 for 138.

 

[Dean Center]

G3, no question, plus a large magnet for finding the wrench when the students inevitably drop it in the shavings.

 

[Mike Johnson]

When you lose a Tommy Bar you can easily make another one, you lose the chuck key tool and you have to wait until the back-orders are filled to get another one. If it takes three hands to mount a work piece you have a better chance of forcing them to put their cell phones away. Nothing wrong with teaching students the basics starting with the conventional tools working their way up to the modern ones.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Thanks for all the valuable input—- going with the keyed G3.