Shopsmith Forums

Does someone have links to informative articles or books that can explain the various types of lathe chucks and the advantages to each? I've never used one but everyone seems to think they are essential and I'm all for anything that improves my work, but with a price range of $25 to $2500, I'm a bit daunted at selecting a basic chuck for beginning work.
And if any group of people can educate me, it's this forum.
Thanks

Hi there, Hermit! The fact of the matter is you really don't need any type of chuck in order to begin turning. If you have the Shopsmith drive center and/or the face plate, you will be able to turn many items. After a while, you will probably find that a chuck of a certain kind would be helpful. That's the time to make a decision.

The big advantage of a chuck for me was to be able to more easily reverse a turning and have it centered without a lot of fiddling. I bought the Talon chuck from Shopsmith and have been very satisfied. That chuck is made by One-Way and comes with an adapter for the Shopsmith.

When using the drive center, remember to drill a 1/8" hole centered in the end of the workpiece and then make right angled saw kerfs through that center. The kerfs will make a place for the spurs of the center to hold onto the piece. A 1/8" hole is also made on the other end to center the tail.

Hermit,

I agree with Chuck. One cannot go wrong with the Talon One Way for the Shopsmith. With the use of a Talon Chuck and a faceplate, you open a whole new world for yourself in turning. For example, One normally uses the face plate to start turning one side(the outside) of a bowl, and then reverses the bowl, after turning a tendon, there-by allowing you to use the Talon One Way, to turn the inside of a bowl.

It is simply one of those "accessories" that one has to have.

FlashbacPt
John