Shopsmith Forums

I have been researching wood chucks for my ShopSmith. New at turning but familiar with woodworking.
Give me some ideas on chucks for bowl and plate making. Where to look, size, good price.
Be specific on brands if possible.
Give a beginner some good info and direction please. Pass on your knowledge.

Most brands of scroll chucks have adapter inserts available to allow use with the Shopsmith.

Shopsmith sells the Nova G3 chuck with the appropriate adapter http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/nova_g3.htm

For mine I got the next size up, the SuperNova2

Another good chuck, no a great chuck, is the Oneway Talon Chuck. Shopsmith no longer sells it, but Oneway still does (as does Amazon). It is a much better chuck in my not so humble opinion. Welcome to the forum!

I'll second the Oneway Talon. If you have extra money, I've heard very good things about Vicmarc chucks. Vicmarcs are sealed in the back and use Allen wrenches instead of toothed chuck keys. It's easy to find an Allen wrench to fit your chuck, but not so if you lose your chuck key. If you go with the Talon chuck, try to get a set of the smooth jaws (dovetailed), instead of the profiled jaws that normally come standard. I've had the good fortune to be able to take turning classes from several professional turners, and they all prefer the dovetail jaws. The local Oneway dealer here brings in all of their chucks with the dovetail jaws.

Mike

I would only add ,,, be sure the chuck you decide on is reversible . I wish I would have paid more attention when I bought the barracuda chuck it has more then one option in the kit VS some of the others , its a good chuck but not reversible , you can use a reversible chuck on both drives of your SS , its good for sanding . As fr as a chuck for bowls and plates you might consider a set of cole jaws. they are usually sold separate or make one .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fElavzPaWgk

JMO

I would not go lower then the Nova G3 quality wise. Yes there are cheaper chucks but you are much better off getting one that is a quality product with a company that stands behind them. If you have a problem with the Nova line you contact them and they make it right.

Nova is also nice in that if you buy the G3 to start with then want to move up to a larger/better/different one the jaws fit. I started with the G3 then added the supernova 2 and now find I like the supernova better but that might just be me.

When you find a manufacture and model shop around price vary a lot.

If you get a chuck that has an insert like the Nova line make sure you get the 5/8" version for the shopsmith. They make a plain 5/8" and the shopsmith one with the angled set screw. I think the insert is an ISNS but before you pick that one check it says for shopsmith as my memory is not as good as it use to be.

Ed