Wood lathe help

[PlaneOldMike]

Jay... never a distraction.

Thank you for your advise. I will most definitely look into that suggestion. The spindle adapter is already in the mail, as I believe it’s worth having in the arsenal no matter what.

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, Here's this:

https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzl ... GxEALw_wcB

Seems pretty reasonable, and it should go right on your adapter.

Jay Edwards

[6tUc05]

YES! The NOVA 4-jaw chuck will hold hex-sided stock for turning ferrule stations! You simply wind enough masking tape around the rod at the holding point to create a round rod section! The tape provides a coupe of additional benefits; 1) it prevents clamping too tightly; and, 2) it prevents any jaw marks on the bamboo.

Whip is NOT a factor for the over-the-bed portion of the rod as only a couple of inches will be projecting out beyond the jaws for working on. The area of concern is that portion that extends out of the back (outboard) side of the headstock. A simple steady rest positioned so that only 2-3 inches of the rod project beyond the rest will take care of any whip of that portion of the rod. Just be sure that the center line of the rod remains the same on both sides of the headstock, both vertically and horizontally; i.e., that everything is concentric the entire length of the section.

[6tUc05]

He will need a 1" to 3/4" reducer for it to fit his lathe. This is for a 1" X 8tpi spindle and he has 3/4" X (16?) tpi spindle. The NOVA chuck will come with the appropriate thread size to fit directly onto his spindle. No muss; NO fuss!!

[galt]

Buy this one,
Grizzly H8044 - 6" 3-Jaw Wood Chuck - 3/4" x 16 TPI

6" inch will be more useful than 4"

3 jaw is quite versatile and suits your intended purpose without modification.

Nova chucks are great, but developed with bowel turners in mind, hence the dovetail jaw nose.

Stop obsessing over your tool rest; its fine as is. Accuracy and precision on a wood lathe is in the operator not the machine.

When you get the 3 jaw, chuck up a section of 7/8" cold rolled steel and drill a hole to suite any tool rest you acquire that has a stem less than 7/8". Cut through one side with a hack saw. Instant split bushing with no machinist necessary.

Tools can be used to make tools.

Galt

[6tUc05]

The fact that the NOVA chucks were developed for bowl turners in no way affects their perfectly good use for the type turning you plan to do. The dovetail is for "expansion" holding in a "groove" turned into the base of the stock. The elongated jaws of a NOVA for this purpose greatly expands the "compression" holding capability of "round" (hex) stock (increased linear surface contact area) over the "standard" jaw length as compared to the jaws on both of my larger 3-jaw chucks. The 4-jaw needs absolutely no modification to work perfectly for the task at hand. The ONLY "modification" required is the wrapping of the section of the rod that will be placed in the 4 jaws with masking tape. IMHO, this area should be wrapped regardless, to protect the bamboo inside the jaws from any possible chuck damage; be it from a 3- or a 4-jaw chuck, and whether the chuck can be lifted by hand, or needs an 80 ton overhead crane to move it. (YES, I am familiar with a lathe that has just such a requirement.) The LAST thing one wants on a wood lathe is a snug fitting tool rest post! I base this on my 30 years of wood turning experience. When turning hollowing for such things as globes for Christmas tree ornaments, one has to make frequent changes in the orientation of the tool rest to the work. One DOES NOT want to be hampered by a tight fitting tool rest at such times. The 5/8' stem in the 7/8" receiver is ideal. The tightening lug takes care of the difference.

I do agree with a 6 inch over a 4 inch chuck as it gives greater versatility with respect to what you might ultimately want to turn for a minor increase in capital outlay.

Yes, within reason, one can do the same thing with either a 3- or a 4-jaw chuck. The biggest difference is that one cannot simply chuck up a piece of square stock in a 3-jaw chuck, turn the lathe on and begin to "round" the stock like you can with a 4-jaw chuck, as the 4-jaw self-centers the square stock; whereas a 3-jaw doesn't.

Frank

[galt]

" ...and it's deep too."

The use of a 3 jaw chuck does not preclude the wrapping of the blank with tape should one desire but it is not required. Since it has been posted that there is a perceived danger of clamping too hard with a chuck, the use of a chuck with even more clamping force seems dubious. After a short while, I would think one would learn not to over clamp. Three jaws holding on three flats will require very little holding force to turn a ferrule station. A Nova style chuck will certainly hold square stock while a 3 jaw will not and it certainly has the advantage in holding hollow work such as bowels, but I fail to see where it offers a distinct advantage in the instance of hex blanks. Any other cross section could, as has been posted,be wrapped with tape to produce a roundish cross section regardless of chuck type. If great clamping force on square stock is a parameter, then a 4 jaw would be in order. As for reel seat spacers, they are very easily drilled on the lathe and turned on a mandrel with the items the OP has acquired regardless of profile. I do not think any of the chucks being discussed weigh more than 10-15 pounds; no need for a chain-fall. Drilling a 5/8" hole in a piece of CR steel with this particular lathe/set-up will induce quite some chatter resulting in an over size hole which should allow a 5/8" tool rest shank to rotate quite freely when the clamp is loosened. If the after market tool rest shank is indeed intended for a 5/8" hole, it is likely under size by several thousandths for just such a reason. I have that same lathe and the tool rest shanks are under nominal 0.010"- 0.015".

Galt

[Bill Moschler]

My opinion, either of the 2 Grizzly chucks the OP pictured will be fine, As would the other 2 chucks he pictured in the previous post.

I have a 6", 3 jaw chuck, a Nova chuck with several sets of accessory jaws, and a cheap Penn State Al scroll chuck. There is no way I am interested in or going to recommend using a 4 jaw chuck on a hex blank. I am going to go against the grain a little here. If I was buying the 3 jaw chuck I would choose the 4" size over the 6" size for that lathe for inserts and for ferrule stations. A 6" chuck is pretty heavy to handle and has a lot of inertia.

I think sending the chuck that requires the backing plate back is the correct move, I still think the backing plate has to be turned after mounting on the spindle to fit the chuck. The one I used came together as a set with the chuck and the plate together.

Stay with it. It has taken many of us a while to get a workable setup that we like for our lathes.

Filing a tool rest is a pretty common thing that needs doing,

[6tUc05]

Sorry you missed class that day; and thus, it was over your waders.

[oldschoolcane]

Mike, I have the same lathe. Very interesting topic.

[PlaneOldMike]

Mike, I have the same lathe. Very interesting topic.

I’m having a good time with it!

[Bill Moschler]

My 6" 3 jaw chuck ( a Delta chuck, I think) will not close down enough to grip a rod section.

[6tUc05]

You can solve the problem by wrapping masking tape around the rod, which, in my opinion, you should do anyway to protect the bamboo from any damage by the chuck jaws.

[PlaneOldMike]

Well, This gift kinda solved the chuck issue.
I’m still going to get this old girl a chuck and use her to do my spacer turning, but this will open up options I am excited about.












And to reduce the amount of help me phone calls... this came with.

[jim royston]

Now you're talking! The Myfords are beautiful machines.

[Godfroy]

Now you're talking! The Myfords are beautiful machines.

They are. I have a Myford metal lathe and a Myford ML8 wood lathe but for all my rod building I use the metal lathe (shown here with the small chuck I use for cane work).

It even works as a cork clamp.