Chuck Questions? Which one?

Mike Rathe

Member
Messages
22
Location
Columbia, SC
Ok so, I just got into turning recently and have been messing around with it a bunch, and i figure the next purchase Im gonna make is a chuck. I have am far from rich so I dont really wanna spend a fortune and that has led me to the Barracuda 2. I think this has several jaws with it so that kinda kills two birds with one stone. But I am open to any suggestions you guys have. I have the Jet 1220 lathe, please be gentle to me, I am a family woodworking virgin! :D Thanks!
 
Ok so, I just got into turning recently and have been messing around with it a bunch, and i figure the next purchase Im gonna make is a chuck. I have am far from rich so I dont really wanna spend a fortune and that has led me to the Barracuda 2. I think this has several jaws with it so that kinda kills two birds with one stone. But I am open to any suggestions you guys have. I have the Jet 1220 lathe, please be gentle to me, I am a family woodworking virgin! :D Thanks!
Welcome to Family Woodworking! The Barracuda2 is an excellent starter chuck. It was the first chuck I bought and I still have it and use it on a regular basis. It will give you experience in using a chuck so that when you want to trade up, you'll know more about what you want in a chuck and will be able to make a better decision.

And if you decide you want to get rid of it at any time, you can sell it on eBay and get most of your money back.

Mike
 
Thanks for posting this subject. I am waiting responses to read what is said. I'm in the same boat. I'm ready for a chuck. I did purchase an inexpensive Grizzly one some time back and after a couple times using it I know it was a mistake. Maybe I just don't know how to use it but seems like it works loose and the piece falls out. Gets scary! I've been eyeballing the Nova. Lots of accessories can be had for it. SO MANY WANTS AND SO LITTLE MONEY!!!
 
Mike, welcome to the Family!

I understand that is a very good chuck for the money, perfectly usable!

I have Nova chucks, and I like them, but, for me, once you are into one line of chucks, you seem to be stuck there. One thing I DO NOT like about the Nova chucks is the pin jaws for small stuff..........

nova_pin_jaws.jpg
Here are the Nova Pin Jaws

My problem is that they only use one screw per jaw. Now to be fair, they were designed to go into a 1" hole and expand outwards to hold something, like say a pepper-mill. They were not designed to hold something inside the jaw and compress it, fine, but if you look at the Vicmarc pin jaws...........

vicmarc_pinjaw.jpg
...they use two screws, and thus, can be used to used to hold something in the center of the chuck, smaller things.

Just an observation, if I had it to do over again, I'd buy only Vicmarc chucks! :wave:
 
I have two Barracuda chucks and love them. I had a SN2 and had to send it back because of run out. Since the place of manufacture has changed for Teknatools, QC seems to be lacking. But for the money, you can't beat a Barracuda. The only feature I wish the Barracuda had that the higher $$ chucks have is a set screw that locks the chuck to the headstock spindle. This hasn't proven to be an issue on my Delta Midi, but for the Barracuda 4 on my Mustard, I may have a local machine shop add one.;)
 
I have a couple of Nova chucks, but I previously had the Barracuda 2, and I'd recommend it whole-heartedly. It's a good chuck, great for a starter chuck, and getting the additional jaws is indeed a good extra value.

Check Amazon's price on them...it's usually a few bucks cheaper than buying from PSI directly.

Oh, and welcome aboard, Mike. :wave:
 
Welcome to FWW. Mike when I started I went with the Grizzly H6265 which is a 1" X 8 tpi. It is on page 132 for $99.95. I have 3 of them now. 2 are 1" X 8 and the other is 1 1/4" X 8. They are excellent chucks for the money and the jaws for a Vicmarc 100 will fit it. I haven't had any problems at all and 2 of them are 2 yrs old.
 
Mini Gloat!

I got the Barracuda 2 Chuck today off of ebay for $124, how do ya like dem apples!? I really wanted to wait a bit, but I couldnt pass up that deal! Ill let you guys know how I like it, thanks again!
 
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