What Chuck should I buy?

[TA09]

I am looking for a chuck that would suit my Myford ml8 lathe. I will use it for to make briar smoking pipes. I am interested in the Versachuck, but after reading some reviews I am not sure.. Seems like many like the Axminster evolution sk114 chuck, but thinking that may be a bit to large for my old lathe? What is your opinion? Record Power Sc4 chuck also seems to be a quality chuck?

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[marcros]

Well, my suggestion would be one that will take the thread you have (obviously) by means of a changeable backplate or insert, AND will be able to take the modern standard which seems to be M33 X 3.5. that means that if and when you upgrade you are covered. Some that take an insert do not allow an M33 insert to fit the chuck because it is too close to the threaded part of the chuck.

When you have narrowed it down, think what you might want to turn and what manufacturers jaws fit the requirements. Versachuck has an advantage here but carriers soon amount up in money spent, so it isn't a free advantage.

To be completely honest there are plenty of good chucks out there, and plenty of alright budget ones. Far better turner's than me can produce excellent work from all of them, and my limitations arent due to the chuck! I have a tiny record rp2000, a beall collet chuck and a vicmarc vm100 as my main go to. I couldn't imagine a better chuck because it does all that I ask of it and is solid. If necessary parts are available. Is it the best, I have no idea. It is better than the record I have but it is like comparing a dovetail saw and a panel saw, both may be good but neither can really do the job of the other.

 

[CHJ]

Personally based on your current lathe and as Marcros mentioned future compatibility if you ever change your lathe, I would go for the Versa Chuck.

The Axminster SK114 would be fine on your lathe assuming it is made in a thread version to suit your lathe, weight wise it is not a heavy chuck. One big disadvantage is that it in itself the chuck body can not be modified (as far as I am aware) to fit any future lathe with different spindle thread.

One very important aspect of the chuck selection, and the versa chuck addresses this quite uniquely because it has carriers available to suit several different standards of accessory jaws.

As you mentioned wanting to turn Briar Root pipes, you will probably need to make your own griping jaws out of a suitable wood such as Beech to hold the initial Rectangular blanks, these will need wood jaw accessory plates for fixing such as These from Axminster, so selecting the Axminster Carriers for the Versa Chuck you would also have their full rang of accessory jaws to choose from in the future.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you choose Axi carriers for the Versachuck you have the choice of Axi or Versachuck jaws, and if you come across other jaws cheaply for some reason the carriers are usually £24 +P&P, which when you look at the differences in price between other makes can make buying them economically sensible. The reason I got my Versachuck was because I picked up £150's worth of Axi jaws as part of a job lot.

 

[marcros]

Personally based on your current lathe and as Marcros mentioned future compatibility if you ever change your lathe, I would go for the Versa Chuck.

The Axminster SK114 would be fine on your lathe assuming it is made in a thread version to suit your lathe, weight wise it is not a heavy chuck. One big disadvantage is that it in itself the chuck body can not be modified (as far as I am aware) to fit any future lathe with different spindle thread.

One very important aspect of the chuck selection, and the versa chuck addresses this quite uniquely because it has carriers available to suit several different standards of accessory jaws.

As you mentioned wanting to turn Briar Root pipes, you will probably need to make your own griping jaws out of a suitable wood such as Beech to hold the initial Rectangular blanks, these will need wood jaw accessory plates for fixing such as These from Axminster, so selecting the Axminster Carriers for the Versa Chuck you would also have their full rang of accessory jaws to choose from in the future.

Those Axminster jaw plates look really useful. Vicmarc don't do anything similar unfortunately

 

[TA09]

Thanks for the replys guys! How is the Sorby Patriot chuck? Is it higher quality than the Versachuck?

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