Chucks?

[Tgillis]

So while I have the turning bug, I am rather uneducated on a lot of the chucks, tools and their uses. I have two chucks and a few sets of jaws but they are all Nova brand. One thing I have noticed with Nova is that they discontinued their quick change chuck. I like their chucks but it would be more convenient to have a chuck that would allow for faster jaw changes. What is a good chuck to get for quickly changing jaws? And why is it good? The explanation will really help me learn and retain the information I am seeking.

 

[Stuart Kent]

Easy Wood Tools Easy Chuck is the one I use when you visit my booth at the State Fair each year. In my opinion it is hands down the best chuck on the market. Change jaws in 10 seconds. I also use the Nova Infinity chucks at the school. Give me a call and I'll be glad to chat about turning sand tools with you before you buy anything.

 

[Tgillis]

Easy Wood Tools Easy Chuck is the one I use when you visit my booth at the State Fair each year. In my opinion it is hands down the best chuck on the market. Change jaws in 10 seconds. I also use the Nova Infinity chucks at the school. Give me a call and I'll be glad to chat about turning sand tools with you before you buy anything.

Thanks for the info Stuart, what made you go with those in particular? The EWT chuck looks really nice and the Nova Infinity looks nice as well and it appears that both are quite quick to use but other than that aspect what about them said to you 'Let me get this for my demos and classes?'

I have been doing some searching to get a feel for the variety of chucks available with the quick change feature. One in particular, Barracuda, got my attention as it was not quite as expensive as either the Nova or the EWT and comes with 4 sets of jaws.

 

[Stuart Kent]

When I started turning there weren't as many choices as there are today, and I landed on Nova. They are built well, priced reasonably, they make a huge line of accessories, and they have great customer service and support. I still use them daily and we have either the G3, Supernova 2, Infinity, or Titan III for each of the 20 lathes at the North Carolina Furniture School.

I have no love for changing chuck jaws and never have. To do it properly, it takes time and patience - so I (like most turners) purchased dedicated chuck bodies for each of the jaw sets that I used most often - and that can get expensive fast. When Easy Wood Tools introduced the Easy Chuck I was blown away. They are 100% American made, have little to no runout, the jaws are not numbered and don't correspond to a jaw slide so they can be installed in any order - and a complete jaw change takes 10 seconds. I also love the zoom ring which allows you to quickly open or close the jaws with one hand. They are totally sealed so there is no maintenance, and Easy Wood Tools guarantees every product they make unconditionally. So I bought 1 and a few sets of jaws for it and it fundamentally changed the way I work. I know they aren't cheap - but neither are multiple chucks which most turners end up with. And it matters to me that they are made in the U.S. by people that I have come to know personally.

Over the years I have had chucks from several of the big makers (Vicmark, Oneway, Nova, EWT, Record Power) and can tell you that they all do the same thing, but some achieve it in better ways than others. For example, less expensive chucks tend to have manufacturing inaccuracies that equate to spindle run out. Another example is that I prefer dovetail jaws over serrated - so I never really loved the Oneway jaws (although the Oneway products are very well made). I bought a lightly used Vicmark and loved it (but they aren't cheap).

My advise is to buy the best you can afford and have fun using it. If I had it all to do over again I would save my money and buy one Easy Chuck, one time.