Christmas gift

[Sam Starr]

Well everyone I get to buy myself a new lathe chuck cause my wife said so I have a jet mini what chuck should I get? Thank you for all your help

[Curt Fuller]

While she's in the Christmas spirit, get a Oneway Talon. It will work on any lathe you ever use in the future and will last a lifetime.

[Gordon Seto]

Just got the flyer from Woodcraft. The Nova G3 is on sale for $120 including the insert.

It is a great price. One advantage it has is when you add a bigger chuck down the road from Nova, all the jaws would fit. You don't have to buy new jaw sets. That could be a substantial saving.

Gordon

[Dean Thomas]

I vote with Curt. You can use it on any lathe up to 16"ers. And they have a wide variety of inserts to fit anything from mini to Shopsmith to Jet, Delta, again, up to 16" lathes. Very reliable, wide variety of jaws, and they stand behind their work without a lot of questions. Nova isn't always quite that way, sadly. Used to be, but...

Vicmarc would be my other personal choice at this point. Both of these are literally just a few more dollars for the basic chuck, but you're paying for reliability and quality. I think it's worth it.

[Gordon Seto]

I have 6 Nova chucks, I added a SN2 last year. They have been working real well for me. The only thing I don't like is the pivoting key of the original SN.
Teknatools has excellent service, and Woodcraft has a 90 days satisfaction guarantee. I am going to add another G3.
I have so many Nova chuck jaws, I won't be considering any brand unless they fit Nova Jaws.

Gordon

[Steve Schlumpf]

Oneway Talon - for all the reasons already stated!

[Allen Neighbors]

I have two SuperNova2 chucks, and a Nova Titan, and the jaws are all interchangeable (with one exception - Titan Powergrip Jaws are too big to fit the other Novas), and no other manufacturer can make that claim. That is a tremendous savings over other chucks.
I've always gotten first-rate service from Teknatool, and their USA tech rep is a gem.
JMHO.

[Jim Underwood]

I loved my little Nova midi chuck. Then I bought a G3 with the stepped jaws. I liked it too.

Then I borrowed a friends Talon... Dang but it's got some capacity! And now I can't seem to get finished using it and give it back!

Nothing against the Nova's, but I'd vote for the Talon, even though the one I'm using is an original with the Tommy bars.

[Jon Lanier]

I was told that a mini should not take on a chuck weighing more than 3 lbs or so. How true that is I don't know. Anybody?????

[Raymond Overman]

I'm a fan of the Talon too. Put my vote in for that one.

[Bill Blasic]

At $120 for the Nova G3 you'll not find a better bargain. All of the reasons stated above. Too much is made of how far a jaw opens or does not open, a simple go or nogo gauge made from a scrap of wood allows you to make the correct size tenon and then after 10 or 12 bowls or what ever you'll be knocking those tenons out without the guage. At the $120 price you can almost get two G3's for the price of 1 Talon. I'm not knocking the Talon as I recently used one at a hands on with Bill Grumbine and it was a nice chuck but like I stated I'd buy two of the G3's for almost the same money. Which ever you buy you'll be saying its the best after you own it.