SS turning chuck

[rdubbs]

Hi Bob,

I work at Woodcraft, so I sell Woodcraft's Wood River chuck along with Nova and Oneway chucks. I own a Oneway Talon chuck (I wish I would have bought the Stronghold, now), and I have lots of hours of use on it. We use the Nova Midi (their entry level chuck) in the Woodcraft classroom, and have never had a failure in the 2 1/2 years I've been there.

From my perspective, there are two major classes of scroll chucks (there used to be chucks that you had to open/close each individual jaw, however the scroll gear operates all 4 at once). The entry level chucks use two tommy bars to open/close the jaws, while the advanced chucks all use some sort of a key. While you are chucking your project you must hold onto it, and the advantage of a key is that it only then takes one hand to operate the chuck. Tommy bar chucks are less expensive, but more difficult to operate.

Another consideration is the range of sizes of jaws that are available for the chuck. While the jaws on my Talon are not interchangeable with the jaws on a Stronghold, I believe that all of the Nova chucks can make use of any Nova jaws.

[RobertTaylor]

i have an "original" nova and a nova "midi" chuck. i have no problems operating either of them with one hand. once you use the chuck a few times you realize which holes to use that are close enough to use for "one hand" operation. many professional turners prefer this style of chuck. the wrench operated chucks basicly work like drill chucks and most people that i've watched use them use both hands to tighten the piece.