What are the Realistic Expectations from a Chuck

I have a Grizzly knock-off of a Vicmark chuck.
I have a Talon chuck.

I have a problem removing a piece from the chuck and getting it remounted so that it is still centered.
I do mark the chuck jaw and the wood so that relationship is constant.
I do not have trouble with spindle work.

The jaws in the Grizzly seem quite loose to me; there is definitely slop. The jaws in the Talon are a small amount loose, whereas the metal lathe chucks I have had have absolutely no movement.
I take a lot of the blame here. When I purchased the chuck I was really green. I did not know a good chuck from a bad one. I should have called Grizzly. I did not call.
Glenn and I both have some excellent Grizzly tools.

Almost all of the bowls (and some other things) I turn have a foot. That foot is the tenon I use in the chuck. The Talon chuck is useless for this as the jaws masticate the tenon. The Grizzly chuck jaws fit the 15* angle of the foot perfectly so I use the Grizzly the most. The Talon chuck works great as long as you are going to saw off the tenon.

Am I fighting an un-winable battle---like trying to keep my shop dust free?

What do you do?
What chuck(s) are you having success with?

Enjoy,
JimB
 
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I had a Grizzly chuck, don't know if it was the same one, but it was unworkable to me and I'm not even a good turner. I got rid of it when I sold a lathe I had. I threw it in with the lathe, but I told the buyer why,, I'm not really mean. I am well satisfied with my two Nova chucks, a Supernova 2 and a mini chuck. Oneway makes a great chuck. Plus some others I can't think of. It is worth getting a good chuck in my opinion. If you don't you will be pretty frustrated.
 
I've got a couple of Nova chucks, and had a PSI Barracuda at one point, too. In my experience, 80%+ of the time, a blank that has been removed from the chuck will not re-mount perfectly true, no matter how careful I am or how accurately I mark the previous jaw locations. I stopped worrying about it, and now I simply plan on taking a few truing passes to make things round again after a re-mounting. I think both of my Novas have a bit of slop in the jaws when loose, but once tightened, they definitely run true.

As an aside, and this is strictly personal opinion, but I really dislike seeing a foot on a bowl that was an obvious tenon. Similarly, I don't like seeing a recess that still has jaw marks on it. (I really don't like seeing a recess at all, jaw marks or no.) In both cases, it simply makes the piece look unfinished and amateurish. If I lived closer to you Jim, I'd show you some ways to turn that tenon all the way off, or turn enough of it away to where it no longer looks like a tenon. ;)
 
Phew, am I glad to hear what Vaughn has said. I also have not had any luck remounting something in a chuck but no ways was i going to pipe up with my know how. LoL. So Jim and Vaughn you out a ghost to rest for me. ;)


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I've got a couple of Nova chucks, and had a PSI Barracuda at one point, too. In my experience, 80%+ of the time, a blank that has been removed from the chuck will not re-mount perfectly true, no matter how careful I am or how accurately I mark the previous jaw locations. I stopped worrying about it, and now I simply plan on taking a few truing passes to make things round again after a re-mounting. I think both of my Novas have a bit of slop in the jaws when loose, but once tightened, they definitely run true.

As an aside, and this is strictly personal opinion, but I really dislike seeing a foot on a bowl that was an obvious tenon. Similarly, I don't like seeing a recess that still has jaw marks on it. (I really don't like seeing a recess at all, jaw marks or no.) In both cases, it simply makes the piece look unfinished and amateurish. If I lived closer to you Jim, I'd show you some ways to turn that tenon all the way off, or turn enough of it away to where it no longer looks like a tenon. ;)

Vaughn, you won't know how much I hate to go against your grain because you are one of the Tops. However I like a foot on a bowl. At least to me, my tenons do not look like tenons, they look like a foot/base made for the piece. I like the lift it gives and in many shapes if makes the bowl float. My bowl "tenon/foot" is apt to be 5 or 6 inches in diameter on a 5" to 8" bowl. Does that make you feel any better?

Yes I do agree in CAPITAL letters that NO jaw marks should show!

Signed---One of your many admirers,
JimB
 
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Some things gets feets, some don't. Unless you are turning to satisfy buyers, you have only to please yourself. If it looks right to you, that's all that matters. When I make something that needs to be steady, like a salad bowl or some other serving piece I usually put a substantial foot on the piece...some might even think clunky . An art piece like a vase might not have any foot except a slight undercut where the base tucks back underneath the form. In any case, if you use a tennon, you must be careful with your tennon length, making sure it is not so long that it bottoms out in the chuck, leaving a space between the shoulder of the jaws and the bottom of the piece. I keep my tenons short enough to not contact the inside of the chuck and use the resulting contact point between the shoulder of the jaws and the bottom of the piece to establish a firm reference point. This way usually only a minor bit of truing up is required if the piece has to be remounted. Here are some of my bottoms. Lets see yours.
urn-111-d (Small).jpgDSC_2765C (Small).jpgspalt-4 (Large).jpgDSC04965-C.jpgDSC04988-C.jpgPECAN-BOTTOM-1.JPGcherryNE-7 (Large).jpg
 
Hey Ted,

I really like your "double" tenon/foot/whatever as plainly shown in pic 3 and 7.

Almost all of my turnings are given to people who are relatives or have done something nice. I did keep the first few pieces for future reference and auld lang syne. I will stop and take photos.

Well it seems that the only bowls I have with a foot are the two that Vaughn hates most. Sorry 'bout that big guy. These bowls are about my 3rd or 4th bowls; I'm not sure of the history on them. Number 1 was a recessed bottom, which created a ring foot. Not sure which was number 2.

Enjoy,
JimB
 

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Hey Ted,

I really like your "double" tenon/foot/whatever as plainly shown in pic 3 and 7.

Almost all of my turnings are given to people who are relatives or have done something nice. I did keep the first few pieces for future reference and auld lang syne. I will stop and take photos.

Well it seems that the only bowls I have with a foot are the two that Vaughn hates most. Sorry 'bout that big guy. These bowls are about my 3rd or 4th bowls; I'm not sure of the history on them. Number 1 was a recessed bottom, which created a ring foot. Not sure which was number 2.

Notice the floating effect of the larger bowl. It does have a shorter foot/tenon than the other. Perhaps I should make a jam chuck and shorten the longer one for Vaughn.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
Well it seems that the only bowls I have with a foot are the two that Vaughn hates most. Sorry 'bout that big guy. These bowls are about my 3rd or 4th bowls; I'm not sure of the history on them.

I quite like the bigger one with the shorter foot, the smaller foot makes it sort of seem to float off of the background.
 
Jim, don't let my personal preferences influence what and how you like to turn. ;) :D I've turned a few footed pieces myself, I just - in general - prefer not to have them. I also prefer more curved sides and like a much smaller base than you do, but like I said...that's me, and it shouldn't change what you like to do. :thumb:

Nice bottoms, Ted. (Man, I feel a little dirty just typing that.) :rofl:

I typically go with a very simple concave base. with little or no ornamentation.

DSC_2505 800.jpgDSC_2495 800.jpgVM 1036 - 04 - 800.jpg
 
Steve, you do that nice beaded foot thing. I like the look of how yours turn out, but getting clean cuts and/or no sanding marks around the bead drives me nuts. I'll dig around and see if I can find any pics of similar bottom treatments I've done. :thumb:
 
OK, here are a few I've put feet on...

This little redwood calabash has a bit of a beaded foot, but not nearly as nice as the ones Steve does...

DSC_1101 - 800.jpgDSC_1105 - 800.jpg

And each of the mesquite bowls in this set have feet, but I only took a photo of the bottom of the biggest one. The feet on these are more subtle though. I did a gentle curve leading into the feet to give lift, but not look like I just left the tenon on the bottom of the bowl.

VM 1027 01 - 800.jpgDSC_1184 - 800.jpgDSC_1188 - 800.jpg
 
Jim,
I tend to agree with you about the foot on a bowl... on SOME designs, I think a foot is warranted and will always put one on... I tend to re-shape the foot to the point it doesn't look like the tenon, sometimes making them rounded edged, hollowed, etc... some designs don't or won't take a foot as they just look out of place.

To comment on your chucks... agree with Vaughn, once you take it off the chuck, no matter how carefully you put it back, it'll not run true... so just plan on a couple of passes to re-true it. I use two different brands chucks... on my budget the really good chucks are out of the questions, so I use two PSI Barracuda's and one of Grizzly's .... the barracuda's all have very sloppy slides and if I open them too much they will literally fall out of the chuck... once tightened they run true and I don't have an issue with them -- the grizzly is pretty tight and my biggest complaint is that the number 2 jaws which is the only jaws offered with this particular chuck don't open as wide as I would like and my preference for jaws is actually the number 4.... that said, the grizzly jaws are smooth on the inside and don't mar the wood as badly as the barracuda's which have a series of grooves around the inside of them. My biggest issue with all of my chucks are the tommy bars, but I've pretty much learned to work with them and don't really give it a thought... when I win the lottery I'll buy the good ones with the single key.
 
I like the beaded feet as well, but have the same trouble getting a crisp looking bead when I do it. I do the concave indentation on some too. It's nice and simple and just as stable as a tennon style foot. I like playing with the feet to try and jazz them up a bit even if it's just some burned in lines to highlight the signature. I really like your signature line Vaughn...nice and classy.
 
... I really like your signature line Vaughn...nice and classy.

Thanks, it's just a piece of nichrome wire in a "make your own custom tip" woodburning pen. I also use a 1/32" ball point for the text.

Burning Pens.jpg

vaughn that dye job on that one the you shaded from red to yellow i think was sweeeeet!

Thanks for the compliment, Larry. That's one of my favorites, too. I had a friend who wanted to buy it. I wouldn't sell it to her, but I loaned it to her to display in her house. That way it'll be appreciated by more people than just me in my little apartment. ;)
 
Here's the only bottom I can "boast" of. I wish I could remember how I did it....

A540_0718_Underside.jpg
 
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