Lathe Chuck advice

[William C Rogers]

I am still a novice at "trying" to turn bowls. My lathe is a PM 90. I have a Barracuda 2 chuck. In a different post the Nova was favored over the Barracuda. My question is if the Nova or other chucks are much better than the Barracuda? What is the difference?

Edit: While I am here I haven't been able to get the hang of using a bowl gouge. Should I look at carbide or just keep plugging away trying to learn how to use the bowl gouge. I am joining a turners club today.

Thanks

[John Keeton]

I can't compare the two as I have only Nova chucks. IMO, the jaw design is as important as any factor in choosing a chuck brand. I would encourage you to research that considering the type of work you want to do. And, stick with the gouge until you master it! You will be glad you did.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Highly recommend finding a turning club. You'll see, hear and learn a lot from a group who are very willing to share their knowledge.

[Sparky Paessler]

When I was just starting out learning to use the bowl gouge on my own I found Bill Grumbine's video "Turned Bowls Made Easy" very informative on the ways to use a bowl gouge.

[terry mccammon]

My guess is that one week after joining the club you reference, if you simply ask, you will know about 1000% more about your gouge than you did when you wrote your post. Also, for what it is worth, any number of the good teachers, Bill Grumbine among them, make videos. If you can view the video in your shop, watch the expert, stop the video, try it, fail, watch it again, and so forth.

[Peter Lamb]

Search you tube. Many great vids. May I sugget "bobham5" or "Wyoming woodturner"
in addition to the sbove.

[Thom Sturgill]

I am just finishing 10 days turning tops at a county fair. We have barracuda, oneway, and nova chucks. Only the Nova chucks have failed to launch blanks when a turner got too aggressive. Even our better turners have launched blanks from the barracudas. 'Nuff said.

+1 on turning club and Bill Grumbine's videos.

[William C Rogers]

I am just finishing 10 days turning tops at a county fair. We have barracuda, oneway, and nova chucks. Only the Nova chucks have failed to launch blanks when a turner got too aggressive. Even our better turners have launched blanks from the barracudas. 'Nuff said.

+1 on turning club and Bill Grumbine's videos.

Thom, just curious. What model Barracuda are you talking about. I have two, 3000, 4. I just keep the jumbo jaws on the 3000. I bought the 4 because the thread is a direct fit for my lathe. The 4 is better than the 3000. I haven't chucked anything "yet". But I am still very new to bowl turning. So far my biggest bowl is about 8".

Thanks

edit spelling

[Thom Sturgill]

Barracuda2 /TN plated. Problem is not the chuck body, rather the jaws ability to hold hard maple. The slight ridges inside the jaws made no noticeable marks on the blanks. Some marking where the larger blanks were dug into by the corners. Even the OneWay left only very light marks. We were turning on two Delta midis and a Jet 1642.

[Steve Huffman]

No expert here, and can't compare either, but I can speak of my short experience with the Nova G3....I love it. I just ordered a Super Nova 2 yesterday for my new
lathe and would expect to be just as happy. I have 2 smaller chucks, not sure the brand and ones a dedicated bowl finisher, but not near the quality as the Nova.

[jeff oldham]

im new at woodturning also,,and I had the baraccuda csc3000 tn also,,and I was in the same position as you,i wanted a chuck that came with more than one set of jaws,,but after using it and getting a few catches,,and it come flying out of the chuck,,i listened to what others were telling me,,i bit the bullet and bought a nova infinity,,,and its the difference between night and day,,it grips the wood tight,,far more tighter than the baracudda,,they are kinda pricey,,but I wanted one that I could change jaws on quickly,,i got tired of the screws ,,,and I looked at the easy way chuck,,,but the reviews on nova chucks made my decision,,

[jake Niedling]

I have only had the Oneway Stronghold chuck since I started 18 years ago. I have never had a piece come off the chuck. I turn everything from large bowls to delicate finials for christmas ornaments. I believe buying a good quality chuck and making good tennons. If the tennons is not right, then the chuck won't hold the piece properly. Get the tennon right and all of these chucks will work well.

[Steve Peterson]

Since you already have 2 barracudas, you might as well use them. Some chucks are easier to operate than others. Chucks with a key that turns to tighten will allow you to hold the wood with one hand and tighten with the other.

Chucks with tommy bars seem like they require two hands to tighten and another hand to hold the wood. I have never tried this type, but they are common enough that the design must be OK. It must be a simpler mechanism, because many lower cost chucks are like this.

In the end, all chuck styles do the same thing. The ones you have should work just fine.

Steve

[daryl moses]

I have a Barracuda and a Nova Titan.
I much prefer the Nova because you don't have to use two hands to tighten it and it holds onto the tenon much better. I use the Barracuda with the flat jaws exclusively for finishing the bottom of bowls and it works great for that.