Woodfast Superchuck

**Ozkaban** · 5th February 2010, 04:26 PM

Hi,

One of the goodies I got with my recent lathe purchase was an nice pile of shiny silver bits. My brother played with them and the attached image is what came out of the pile.

I think I understand the Woodfast Superchuck. Drill an appropriate sized hole in a bit of wood (something like 70mm or 40mm diam/6mm deep), jam it onto the chuck and twist. This tightens the chuck and any catch or the like causes the chuck to tighten further. Not much movement in the chuck but enough if you get the hole the right size.

The two bottom bits have confused me a bit. I've guessed what they are but I'm not sure. They screw onto the mounting plate with the same 1/2" (or so) screw that is shown in the pick. The look like a Tap and Die set only for wood.

This reminded me of a earlier thread by rsser about taps that match the spindle on the lathe with the idea of mounting the wood directly onto the spindle.

These taps seem to match the M30x3.5 of the lathe (fairly closely anyway - I haven't tried one on a bit of wood yet) and was wondering if that was their intended purpose? The other possibility I thought of was to use as a sort of oversized woodscrew - you drill a 30mm hole in a bit of wood about 30mm or so deep and just screw it onto this thing and it's mounted on the lathe. The die being the opposite - you turn a 30mm spigot in the wood. Does that seems secure enough or would it snap off the first time you touched it with a chisel?

I like the look of these bits and will use them, but I want to be sure before I end up swallowing a 300mm bowl blank...

Cheers,
Dave

PS sorry the pic isn't great. I emailed it to myself from home last night and the photo software resized it too much...

**rsser** · 5th February 2010, 04:45 PM

Ah ... the female version of the don't really know is a cup chuck I think.

Size a tenon and screw it in?

For a neat outline of chuck types, & pro & con click me

**wheelinround** · 5th February 2010, 04:46 PM

Two Don't knows are male and female Spigot chucks Dave

see halfway down http://www.woodfast.com.au/index.php?p=1_8

**Ozkaban** · 5th February 2010, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by rsser

Ah ... the female version of the don't really know is a cup chuck I think.

Size a tenon and screw it in?

Sounds fair. Would use it on long grain for short spindle turnings?

**rsser** · 5th February 2010, 04:51 PM

Yes.

**Ozkaban** · 5th February 2010, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by rsser

Yes.

cool. I was only thinking of it in terms of bowl turnings and couldn't see how a 30mm tenon would be anywhere near strong enough to hold

Thanks Ern.

**Ozkaban** · 5th February 2010, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Two Don't knows are male and female Spigot chucks Dave

see halfway down Woodfast Machinery Co. (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. -

I looked at that page and completely missed them - I was looking for the super chuck part

**hughie** · 5th February 2010, 08:02 PM

Dave have a look at this

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/key...g-chuck-36662/

**Ozkaban** · 5th February 2010, 08:18 PM

Thanks Hughie. It is very similar. I think I read somewhere that Bruce Leadbeater designed the woodfast one too, but that may just be crossed wires somewhere.

I do wish I had the hole drilling bit though. The tollerances on this chuck don't lend themselves to being a couple of mm out on a recess...

Cheers,
Dave

**Ed Reiss** · 5th February 2010, 11:29 PM

Dave ...looking at the pic, something missing; should be a spring around the jaws to hold them together.
Almost identical to the expansion chuck that Delta made years ago.

**ozhunter** · 5th February 2010, 11:48 PM

Dave

One of the chappies on one of the dvd's I have watched in the last few days used the female "dunno" as part of turning a box I think. He greased the spigot and got to work. Seems to work ok for him.

**hughie** · 6th February 2010, 12:01 AM

It is very similar. I think I read somewhere that Bruce Leadbeater designed the woodfast one too, but that may just be crossed wires somewhere.
I do wish I had the hole drilling bit though. The tolerances on this chuck don't lend themselves to being a couple of mm out on a recess...

Dave

It looks darn near identical and as Ed says you need a perimeter srping to hold it all together. If you put the three jaws together and measure the dia thats the size you need for the chuck.

Everything you have in the pic is what you can see at Bruce workshop here in Sydney and purchase if you wish

The don't knows are male and female screw chucks as Ray has menetioned

**joe greiner** · 6th February 2010, 12:15 AM

Excellent detective work, Dave.

I reckon a rubber O-ring of the right size could substitute for the "perimeter spring."

Cheers,
Joe

**rodent** · 6th February 2010, 04:36 AM

Originally Posted by Ed Reiss

Dave ...looking at the pic, something missing; should be a spring around the jaws to hold them together.
Almost identical to the expansion chuck that Delta made years ago.

I have the old woodfast set use a rubber band to hold them together the large postal type .

**Ed Reiss** · 6th February 2010, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by joe greiner

Excellent detective work, Dave.

I reckon a rubber O-ring of the right size could substitute for the "perimeter spring."

Cheers,
Joe

Originally Posted by rodent

I have the old woodfast set use a rubber band to hold them together the large postal type .

The above mentioned items certainly would hold the segments together, however the spring not only holds the segments together, but has the additional job of applying the correct amount of tension so that the three segments expand at the same rate.

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