Barracuda4 Reviews???

[Tom Henry]

I am looking into buying my first chuck and the Barracuda4 seems to be a good buy for what it comes with...anyone have one of these that can comment?

Thanks
Tom

[Bill O'Conner]

I have the the #2 and really like it for what it came with

Bill

[Tom Henry]

Any problems with it??? I am looking at that one as well???

[Bill O'Conner]

I have two of them and I like the older style better but they both seem to do what I want them to do. but never had anything else to compare them to

Bill

[Tom Henry]

One person has this chuck???

[Tom Steyer]

The Barracuda chucks that I have used are very much inferior to similar sized chucks from Oneway, Vicmarc, and Nova. Consider the value of reliably holding your projects, and potential safety risks when purchasing a chuck. Yes, quality will be more expensive, but a much better value in the long run.

[Tom Henry]

bump for the night crew...

[Scott Conners]

I love my Barracuda 2, There's no way I could have afforded a better brand and all the jaws etc at once. It works very well, though I have little experience with other brands, it's quite functional and a really good value.

[David Drickhamer]

I have the Barracuda 2 and like it. Never had a problem with it.
Dave

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I have a Barracuda 2 and the Apprentice chuck from Craft USA. They are essantially the same chuck. They are however 1x8tpi chucks. That worked well before but I have 2 lathes now that have 1.25 x 8tpi spindles on them.

For the money I have never had any reason to complain. The open back of the PSI chuck led to it get fouled on me. I bought some PB Blaster penetrating oil in a can and sprayed it thoroughly and it went right back to operating like perfect. So I like the PSI tools... But having recently upgraded lathes it is time for me to start looking at chucks that won't need a big clunky adapter to be able to use.

Joshua

[Jeff Taylor]

I also have the Barracuda2 chuck, and am happy with the chuck itself, but since I have to use an adapter (PSI) to go from the Shopsmith 5/8" spindle to the 1x8 built-in to the Barracuda2, I have ""issues"" with the adapter .. no fault to the Barracuda2 chuck itself.

I hear good things about the adapter from http://bestwoodtools.com/ ... but $60 for the adapter is taking me a little while to accept .. I guess $60 and a 100% working chuck is better than the seriously out-of-round setup I have now .. again, the fault is the PSI spindle adapter ..

[Tim Cleveland]

I have the #2, and while the Vicmarc, Oneway, Nova, etc. are clearly much better chucks as far as ease of use and accuracy, I have not had any real problems with mine (you get what you pay for). For the money, I don't think that the PSI chucks can be beat, but if you can possibly afford a Vicmarc, Oneway, or Nova get one of those.

Tim

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I wanted to second Jeff's comments. I tried this last weekend turning with my PSI adapter on my new Jet lathe. So from 1 1/4" x 8 tpi down to 1" x 8tpi. The chuck now wobbles visibly. Never had anything like that from the chuck mounted right on the spindle. I think it is time for some new chucks. Dang it. Now is not the best time to spend some more money. *sigh*

Joshua