Chucks 2006

[WoodPecker]

I've been looking into getting a chuck since Christmas, I thought a summary of what I've learned may be useful to other chuckless turners, I've been looking at this from the point of view of a CL3 owner, some of the chucks I've listed may not suite smaller lathes. The first six I mentioned are all 100mm scroll chucks (Though some don't state this I'm assuming that they are - scroll chucks that is) with one hand tightening capability. The Last 4 are listed for posterity. I'd appreciate further comments about any of the listings or comments about other chucks worthy of mention and of course if there may be some errors. I haven't commented on the vicmarc range as it doesn't appear to be readily available over here (But I stand to be corrected), there are some others I haven't mentioned due to lack of versatility. I've listed the first 6 by price:

Rutlands XT700 Precision Scroll Chuck
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/XT700
Cost New:£99
Cost S/H:
Comes with: standard jaws offering an expansion grip of 70mm and a compression grip of 55mm
Advantages: Price. One hand tightening. Compatible with supernova jaws. Indexing ring.
Disadvantages: Backplate available only for 3/4" x 16tpi and 1" x 8tpi (However adaptors can be bought for about £10)
Philb wrote:

I bought one of the Rutlands chucks. It ran out of true by about 0.5 mm.
Naturally I sent it back and asked for a replacement which duly arrived last Friday. Guess what? it ran out by the same amount as the first one. It will be going back tomorrow and I will be asking for a refund

Comments: Looks like a Good chuck at a great price. See user reviews on Rutlands site. But also note Philb's comment above.

The Toolposts VersaChuck
http://www.toolpost.co.uk/pages/Chucks_ ... chuck.html
Cost New:£130
Cost S/H:
Comes with: dovetail jaws. Three sets of Mounting Jaws so that accessory jaws from Axminster, Teknatool (Nova, supernova) and OneWay Manufacturing (OneWay and Talon chucks only but not stronghold) can be mounted. Backplate (Less common ones are £10 to £20 extra).
Advantages: Can use jaws from 3 major manufacturers. One hand tightening. Backplate available for virtually any lathe. Indexing. Good Price
Disadvantages:
Comments: There was a glowing recommendation from one fourm user.

Supernova2
http://www.toolpost.co.uk/pages/Chucks_ ... rnova.html
Cost New: £140
Cost S/H: -
Comes with: 50 mm standard dovetail jaws and 8 mm Woodworm screw chuck
Advantages: Good range of jaws available. One hand tightening. Backplate available for virtually any lathe. Indexing.
Disadvantages: Geoff Tulip wrote:

the nova dovetail is not very deep and has a small step in the jaw which means that a recess that is too deep will tend to run out on the shoulder - which is a pain making pieces hard to mount

Comments: Gets a lot of praise from users.

Axminster Super Precision Chuck Option A/B
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/10/pro ... -29973.htm
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/11/pro ... -29974.htm
Cost New: £175 (Also on Axminsters site as a package deal for £150 comes with a set of dovetail jaws, but not in stock http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/5/prod ... 363274.htm)
Cost S/H: £90 (visible rust) £115 4 Mths old excellent con with set of jaws. Both on ebay UK feb 2006.
Comes with: Not much really, either accessory mounting jaws or internal and external stepped jaws
Advantages: One hand tightening. Loads of jaws available. Indexing
Disadvantages: You’ll have to spend another £24 to get basic dovetail jaws.
SVB wrote:

1) COST! It is the most expensive and if you decide to get a set of jaw carriers for each set of additional jaws you buy then the cost will add up.
2) Size - it is a large & heavy chuck. OK if you have a reasonable size lathe but it may be a bit big for the small lather (I have an Axminster M900 and it is about as small a lathe as I would use one on - weight / distance away from headstock vs machine bearings considerations etc).
3) I said in (2) above the build quality is excellent (which it is). However, I too bought my SP chuck on the deal you are looking at when it was first launched approx 18 mths ago. I had to return the first chuck as the action was very stiff. Apparently there are two sources of these chucks both made for axminster to (I am told) the same standards and tolerances. The ones sold as individual items for full price in the cataloge are Romanian, the ones sold as the kit are Chinese. However, when I took my first chick back for exchange I was told that all the future chucks, both sold as part of the kit and individually would be the Chinese one I was exchanging. Was my first chuck a rogue bad one? I am not sure, all I know is that the one I exchanged it for is A1, there was no bother in getting the exchange and I am v.happy.
4) I had to do a little draw-filing before I used it to remove the rough edges. 10 mins work but should it not be already done on the top of the range item
5) It is not coated / plated. This leaves it open to surface corrosion where as the record chuck IS plated and will always be shiny.

So, with £149 to spend on one one chuck which would I buy, I think I would have the APTC SP unit.

Comments: The mutts nuts according to users, I haven’t come across any negative comments. The option A and B price seems a bit much but the package deal price is very good if it comes back into stock.

Oneway
http://www.craft-supplies.co.uk/cgi-bin ... |user||17|
Cost New:£130 + £20 for most thread adaptors
Cost S/H:
Comes with:
Advantages: Good range of jaws available.
Disadvantages:
Comments:

Record Power RP4000
http://www.recordpower.co.uk/index.pl?p=RP4000&a=i
Cost New:£160
Cost S/H: around £110 on ebay
Comes with: indexing plate, woodscrew, standard jawset - expanding from 45mm to 85mm.
Advantages: Good range of jaws available.
Disadvantages: According to RP4000 owners it’s awkward to change jaws, (would welcome more comments on this).
SVB wrote:

if you change jaws often it is a real pain to keep unbolting the little allen screws (this problem is worse still if you make you own jaws and have to align then each time - bowl reversing cole jaws for example)

Comments: There are more user friendly chucks available for similar price or less even.


Also Ran:

Axminster Clubman Chuck K8
Cost New: £100
Cost S/H: -
Comes with: Mini C dovetail jaws
Advantages: Good range of jaws available. But no real advantages over other similarly priced chucks.
Disadvantages: Uses a tooted chuck key (Like a large conventional drill chuck key) which I would imagine is hard to open.
Comments:

Axminster Clubman Chuck K10
Cost New: £110
Cost S/H: -
Comes with: C type dovetail jaws
Advantages: Good range of jaws available. One hand tightening.
Disadvantages: ?
Comments: There are better chucks available for less money.

Record Power RP3000.. collet chuck
Cost New: £70
Cost S/H: I’ve seen them go on ebay for £35
Comes with: Range of contracting & expanding solutions, a faceplate, screw chuck and pin chuck are all included.
Advantages: Cheap.
Disadvantages: Only available with 3/4” x 16tpi mounting thread. Two hand tightening.
Comments: Two hand tightening means no spare hand for holding the wood.

Record Power RP3500..
Cost New:£110
Cost S/H:
Comes with: woodscrew and standard jawset
Advantages: Good range of jaws available.
Disadvantages: Not sure how this tightens.
Comments: There are better chucks available for less.

 

[Noel]

Think the Supernova2 has indexing.

Rgds

Noel

 

[como]

Yep the Supernova2 does have indexing, I don't think the Supernova1 did tho.

 

[geoff_tulip]

one futher point to mention is the depth of jaws - i have both the old nova chuck - still available locally for £80 i think, and the rp4000.
the nova dovetail is not very deep and has a small step in the jaw which means that a recess that is too deep will tend to run out on the shoulder - which is a pain making pieces hard to mount. the nova uses tommy bars which may appear awkward but are easy and mounting is simple with just one hand.
also when turning large pieces it is important to get a good strong grip - so overtightening on a thin recess can tear the wood and it can break out. so a deep doevtail may be an advantage over a shallow one.

 

[WoodPecker]

Great I'll edit above.

 

[Argee]

The Axminster Super Precision also has an indexing ring, FWIW. I've had mine for ages, with never a hint of any problem - very heavy, well-made and accurate.

Ray.

 

[La Truciolara]

You forgot all the Vicmarc chuks. :wink:
These are the ones I use in my turning school and all of them have indexing.

 

[WoodPecker]

I've updated this thread with some comments from other threads, so I thought I'd bump it.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice piece of useful work Woodpecker... should be made into a 'sticky' and updated (if you're up for it 8) )

RP4000 changing jaws is no more of a hassle than with the Nova, Supernova, Ax SP, or the Bonham 100... I have all of these (Offers invited )

NB Excluding the Ax SP if, and only if, you have spare jaw carriers around 30+ a set...

Vicmarc... apart from the name and perhaps price, could someone tell me the difference between RP 4000/Vicmarc?

Afterthought update... the earlier Ax SP's did not have indexing...

 

[Alf]

As Graham says, very handy. One thing I found helpful was the comment on what lathe size the Ax Super Precision was suitable for. Is it possible to get comments on that from owners of other chucks?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Morning Alf

I know a bloke who uses his Ax SP on an Ax M330... hasn't had any problems but that said... I wouldn't use it on mine :wink:

The SP is a substantial piece of metal: without getting into the techy stuff about stresses transferred to the bearings you only have to hold it in your hand for a few minutes... common sense says it's a tad heavy for the likes of the M330 :shock:

On the other hand one could argue that once revolving it may not be a problem 'cos of the flywheel effect...

Did I mention that I have a SP backplate (T02RL) for sale....

 

[Guest]

I've just received my Ax SP chuck after talking to the tech people at Axminster. The chap there agreed it was a heavy chuck but added that in motion it was weightless as it is well balanced. I must add that the out of balance lumps of wood I have had spinning on the lathe (Perform CCBL)
would put far more stress on the bearings.

 

[WoodPecker]

Oldsoke said:

Nice piece of useful work Woodpecker... should be made into a 'sticky' and updated (if you're up for it )

Glad you think it's useful :lol: The what chuck question seems to come up a lot and it's a bit of a task to pick out all the useful info from the various threads on the subject. If one of the administrators wants to make it a sticky I certainly don't mind updating it.

Graham,

Could you send me a PM with some details of how much you'd be willing to part with each chuck for?

 

[philb]

I bought one of the Rutlands chucks. It ran out of true by about 0.5 mm.
Naturally I sent it back and asked for a replacement which duly arrived last Friday. Guess what? it ran out by the same amount as the first one. It will be going back tomorrow and I will be asking for a refund

 

[PowerTool]

Hi Phil

Bad luck on the chucks

But welcome to the forum

Andrew

 

[doctorc]

I have a "new" Jubilee and an old Ax SP chuck. I need therefore a new backplate. Are there 2 backplates or is there a reversible one for R & L turning.
Anybody now of a Spindle thread adapter for converting a 1*10tpi thread to use 3/4 * 16tpi chucks?
Cheers.

Chris.

 

[Alf]

Welcome to the forum, Chris.

Hopefully this'll bump this back up to the notice of someone who might know the answer. i.e. I don't

Cheers, Alf

 

[jaymar]

I don't know about 1" x 10 but Axminster do various adaptors. 1" x 8 is a standard size but they may make you a special one to order if you give them a ring.