Nova G3 jaw question

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Hi,

My new shopsmith toy arrived, the Nova G3 lathe chuck. While I've done a lot of things with my shopsmith this is the first time I have gotten a lathe chuck so maybe some one can tell me if the edges as shown in the photo should be smooth or not. On mine there is a burr left behind from the machining and either it should be there or maybe was it just not finished very well?

One of the 4 jaws one is smooth the remaining 3 have the burrs and it ranges from a minor edge you can just feel to two that are quite large... they were snagging the fabric of the rag I was using to clean the oil off.

Gut feeling says they shouldn't be there but what do I know about lathe chucks????

Ed
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WAIT WAIT I have more questions.

Next issue is the adapter that mounts the chuck to the shopsmith. When the adapter is mounted and you put the chuck on it comes to with in about 1/4" of bottoming out and stops. Is that how it should be?

At this postion one of the two holes in the chuck is aligined on a flat of the adapter while the second one is right on the threads. My guess is if this is not the correct location (see above) because then the set-screw is over the threads???? Again a lot of burrs in where the holes are located inside the chuck..... maybe some thing is keeping it from seating deeper???


The wonderful directions that came with this doesn't mention anything about this or show pictures of how it should look.

The other interesting thing is the chuck operation section talks about use the two levers....... wooooooo this has a key and no directions about how to use that....... so any hints about how much to tighten????

I have a picture attached that show the position of the adapter relative to the chuck for your reference.

Sorry I have to ask all these questions but as it says in the safety section of the manual "User must be professonal trained to use this chuck. Vocational school courses recommended...."

Ed
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Hi,

In reference to my second post, I was able to clean a lot of metal "bits" out of the drilled and the drilled and tapped holes along with burrs left behind from the machining. Now the chuck mounts to with about a 1/16" on the back but apears to bottom into the chuck. At this point it is clear that the set screw will indeed be over the threaded portion of the adapter.... I guess it is designed that way.

All other questions stand as asked.

Ed

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One more of my mysteries solved. The manual says "MINI" chuck and of course this is a G3.... while look at the exploded view of the parts I see it doesn't show the gears or key.... I then went to the web site: www.teknatool.com where I found a pdf file with the right manual.... So if you were as lucky as I am you might want to check to see if the manual matches the item you have.

So far I am far from impressed.

Ed

[deanthom]

So far I am far from impressed.

That's a real shame. Nova's stuff has ALWAYS impressed me. It's always been top shelf. Sad to hear that they let this one out the door.

No, the burrs on the jaws should not be there, absolutely not. Anything burr-like runs the risk of making a mess of the project you're trying to create and protect.

Question on your "adapter" in the back of the chuck: Is this the actual Nova threaded adapter that mates your new chuck directly to your SS or is this one of those handy-dandy little SS to threads adapter available from some places? If this is the actual Nova piece, and if it works like my old Nova and my newer Talon from Oneway, that adapter should go deeper into the body of the chuck. You've apparently gotten it down to 1/16" clearance, but my observation is that it should be virtually tight. The real crux is whether or not the adapter bottoms out and tightens in place.

How tight to turn those grubs to keep the insert in place? The grubs are softer than the threads on the adapter, and the adapter is softer than the chuck. Some chuck adapters come with small inserts to place at the bottom of the holes so that the little inserts jam the threads without damaging them. Some chucks actually have the threads BELOW the grub screw openings so that you tighten onto flat metal, not threaded.

Ed, I strongly suggest that you contact TeknaTool directly and ask them just how far out the insert should stand, and how tight you should pull those grubs. (I'll email you off-forum with my own contact there.) If you only have a SS and you don't plan on swapping out the insert for another lathe application, it really doesn't matter for either of these issues. If the chuck spins true and is stable with the insert out 1/16", go for it!

[reible]

Hi Dean,

Thanks for getting to my post!

The chuck is from shopsmith and included the adapter in the box... maybe added by shopsmith? Any way it is the one I would guess was supplied by nova to them.

I see a part called a "fiber wad" on the parts list that looks like it goes in before the grubscrew. I don't seem to have that part in the bag of parts........ I opened the box and bags on a newspaper that is now in a plastic bag so I best look through that before it gets to the trash can tomorrow. Thanks! At least that seems to be how the threads are protected so, another one of my questions is answered. This also tells me how tight to make the screw.

I will take a ball of puddy and tighten things up tomorrow and see if the front part of the adapter is bottoming out... if so then the 1/16" at the back doesn't matter.

I also read "DO NOT ROTATE CHUCK UNDER POWER WITHOUT WOOD BEING GRIPPED" So I guess I will take a dowel and clamp it in before spin testing. Not sure what the issue is but better save then sorry.

Ed

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Just to keep you up todate.

I dug in my plastic grabage bag and found a small red dot that looks it it is a paper punched piece of plastic which might be the part that goes in the grub hole to protect the threads. I have an email out to teknatool asking about that and a few other things and comments about what I have found with the G3 I have.

I went to the shop and got my hood on which improves my vision about 2X and looked at the chuck parts again. It looks very much like the parts were cut in to the pie shaped pieces and then nothing more was done to get rid them of the burrs left by this operation.

I spent about an hour with a set of die files and cleaned up the burrs and wire edges left from their cutting operation. I then used a power wire brush to get anything I might have missed. I was going to do a bit of polishing but in my fall clean up I misplaced my sticks.......

They feel and look much better and I went ahead and mounted them on the chuck. Everything seems to fit fine.

I was going to do a spin test but being unsure if the part I found is really the part that I should have for the grub screw I decided to wait until I find out for sure. I did put it on and turned it by hand and I don't see anything wrong or anything out of round. So that is todays update

Ed

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I was contacted by someone from Teknatool who was very concerned by what I found and was checking into how this could have happened.

They have also offered me a new chuck. I have indicated I would take them up on the offer.

They sure seem to be a company worth doing business with, and they are willing back their product, something very importain to most of us.

I will report back when the new one arrives and hope to have all glowing reports.

BTW the little red dot does appear to be the part I thought I might be missing. So if you buy one of these make sure you locate it and set aside... not like me.

Ed

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I guess I should put the final chapter on this posting.

While they (Teknatool) indicated they would send me a new chuck and while I have exchanged email and provided my address twice.... no new chuck has come and I have not gotten responses to my last emails.

This has been months now so I have given up on this ever happening. I sent an email to them tell then saying as much.

Now looking back on this I should have gave shopsmith a call and returned the chuck to them and tried another one from them. Shopsmith I know would have given me much better service then the people from Teknatool. Let this be fair warning to you if you decide to buy the NOVA chuck.

Ed

[curly57]

Hi Ed!! I've just been reading you posts, that's quite the ordeal you've went thru, kind of scary, I bought a nova chuck a little while back, have yet to use it, now kind of unsure of it, I hope I don't have the same experence you've had with mine. Keep us up to date if you hear anything from them, and if you have contacted SS about your problem, Thanks and better luck, Curly....Happy Woodworking and God Bless!!!