Thread: Which chuck?

Note that you don't necessarily 100% need a chuck if you are focusing on pens, only use I've found for it as I've started pen turning is during drilling of blanks, which can be done other ways as well. Very much worthwhile for other things though.

The VM100 is a small chuck, the VM120 is quite a bit bigger. I would suggest the VM100 for the VL150 (that's what I had on it).

A companion chuck is just an extra chuck without the set of standard jaws - so if you're buying a second chuck that will have (for instance) bowl jaws on it full time it saves a little money.

Pretty much all chucks are scroll chucks I think. The dedicated might refer to whether or not it has a permanent spindle thread or uses an insert. I would go for the non-insert version, it's one less thing to break!

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

My lathe has an M30 thread for a chuck - it's effectively a Vicmarc VL150.

When I go searching for a chuck (and I have narrowed it down to either the Vicmarc VM100 or VM120), I am faced with a choice of a Companion Chuck, Scroll Chuck or Dedicated Chuck, and Google doesn't seem to want to explain the difference to me... would someone be kind enough to give this new chum (me) an insight into this please?

Is the lathe a VL150? I'm not sure what "effectively" means in this context? Are there Chinese knock offs of VL150's?

The generally accepted terminology for chucks

Scroll Chuck - any chuck using a scroll mechanism to adjust & lock the jaws in unison as opposed to an "independent chuck" in which the jaws can be adjusted independently of each other. Thankfully "independent chucks" are not often used in wood turning any more. Wood turning scroll chucks are generally 4 jaw chucks and can be geared or lever operated. Geared chucks like the VM100 / 120 use a rack & pinion to apply greater clamping pressure than can be achieved with a lever operated chuck such as the VM90 / 140. Geared chucks are also generally heavier than lever operated chucks.

Companion Chuck - a chuck supplied without a jaw set.

Dedicated (Thread) Chuck - typically a chuck designed for use with out a spindle insert, so the spindle thread is machined directly into the body of the chuck. A Nova Midi Chuck is a common chuck used with out spindle inserts. Advantages are that it slightly increases the available length between centers on a lathe, and decreases the weight of the chuck and the work piece offset from the head stock. Disadvantages and a very significant one if you have or use lathes with differing spindle thread specifications (home to club etc) - you require a dedicated set of chucks for each lathe.

Before you go spending lots of money on chucks have a think about what style of turning you wish to do. Really big bowls go for the massive VM150; typical larger bowls the VM120; smaller intermediate projects the VM100; small scale spindle work - seriously consider a Vermec or similar Collet Chuck.

Chucks offer a lot of versatility, however the wrong chuck for your task is a real PIA.

Weight of the chuck translates to spinning mass, a lighter chuck will slow down faster than a heavy chuck and will / may create less hazards with VFD braking systems. Heavier chucks can work for you to help stabilize dynamic balance issues when turning smaller eccentric projects such as pendants etc. Bulky chucks used on small work also create hazards to knuckles and make it more difficult to access the work piece.

You may find this clip by Richard Raffan helpful A Woodturner's Guide to Chucks and Jaws - Fine Woodworking Video

The most useful chuck for pen turning is a 2 jaw chuck for pen blank drilling, it has become my "go to" chuck for pen blank drilling

Have a look here, scroll down the page a little

https://mcjing.com.au/categorybrowse...?categoryid=64

As others have indicated the Vicmarc VM100 is the go to chuck for the smaller lathes.

There is no need to go for any larger chucks as this is over kill.

When you get a new VM100 it comes with the standard jaws from there you can purchase larger or smaller jaws depending on what you want to do.

After a while you will tire of changing jaws and purchase the companion version which is a complete chuck but with out the jaws. This way you can set up another chuck with the particular jaws you use a lot.

The dedicated thread version is a recent addition to the Vicmarc range of chucks and if you have an M30x3.5mm thread you will be set to go with these chucks.

As a pen turner the Pen jaws are a real help as they can hold round or out of square peices easily for drilling on your lathe.

Many thanks to all here yet again - with the information above, and thus being steered in the right direction, again I have the right information and answers.

Thank you all so much, orders will be placed shortly, and progress toward a full set up continues!

This is why I like this forum so much. I was looking for an answer and this is exactly what I needed. I didn't even need to ask the question!

A dedicated chuck is just that, dedicated to one function....like the pen drilling chucks with the semi permanent pen drilling jaws.....a scroll chuck uses a key to open or close the jaws, most four jaw wood working chucks are scroll chucks, the ring the key turns scrolls the chuck open or closed, some like the smaller Nova or Teknatool may use rods to turn the ring instead of a T key, one holds the chuck still, one turns the scroll ring.
A companion chuck is not seen all that often on wood working tools, it is common in metal work.
In essence it looks like a face plate but with grooves to hold 4 jaws, each jaw can be adjusted independent of the others to hold odd shaped parts, once the desired part is in place, the jaws are tightened down with a nut/bolt arrangement.
Your best bet is a middle sized scroll chuck that accept multiple jaw sets...Nova makes a really good one, the G3, you can get it pre threaded for your particular lathe, or one the accepts adapters that allow it to fit several different lathes.