Thread: Who makes the better chuck jaws

VM I reckon.

The T/tool spigot jaws in your pic have the outside edge chamfered reducing their use in expansion mode considerably.

Their bowl jaws (your 4th pic) have the outside and inside edges rounded over reducing the power of the bight. GJ turned the faces down on mine to get rid of this and it improved the performance out of sight. It's a pity because otherwise they're a great set of kit.

With the VM shark jaws you don't have the same serrations on the inside as the spigots and it makes no difference in my shed. You do have a nice dovetail for clean gripping down to the first 'valley' in both modes.

IMHO, Vicmarc have it all over Nova. Every single Nova set of jaws I have purchased have had burrs on them and I've had to file them smooth. The only reason I have any nova jaws at all is because I was too tight to buy a VM100 and bought a Nova G3 instead, I've regretted it ever since.
On the other hand the Vicmarc jaws come nicely chamfered all round, not a sharp edge anywhere, beautiful workmanship.

PS Anyone want to buy a G3, hardly used .

What about Pin jaws - if one of those sets (with the possible exception of the 4th picture is better than Vicmark then i might as well keep the ones i have.

The other question is "how big a blank would you go with a SN2 and the 100 mm jaws i have'?

Off to work now so will ring GJ later for feedback.

Cheers

The T/tool website has a listing of max size blanks recommended for their chucks and jaws David.

Happy trucking.

I only have Teknatool chucks (both SN2 and the ol' Precision Midi "tommy bar" jobs) and even though I've quite a few jaw sets I really only use 3 sets:

• the spigot jaws
• the std. 45mm jaws
• & the pin jaws.

Between them they handle every thing I turn with a chuck.

I've tried the Vicmarc equivalents and prefer mine... Vicmarc's Shark Jaws have the edge on holding power, but not so much that I'd go out and buy a Vicmarc chuck to use them on. I guess it depends a lot on what you're used to.

Also, contrary to what it seems most people do; I don't use my pin jaws in expansion mode. If somethig needs that small a mortise, I'll either use a worm-screw or a different chuck made from a bicycle goose-neck mount type thingy. (See here.)

Where the pin-jaws excel is in holding small diameter dowels/rods. Many people won't use them this way 'cos they don't have a dovetail machined into 'em for grip during contraction mode... but how much grip do you really need when turning something that's only a centimeter or less in diameter?

Calm,

If you check the Teknatool web site you will see that Titan and SN2 have about the same max limit on dia ie 29" or 73.66cm. it might be cheaper to keep your current chucks and buy the big SN2 jaws 130mm or the Power G rip jaws. The 130mm jaws will open 10mm more on the Titan chuck, hardly worth the expense of buying the chuck, and a similar diffference on the power grip jaws between both chucks.


In fact both chucks are very similar in many respects. Teknatool reckons the Titan holds better?? dunno never had a failure on my SN2's that I did not create myself.



https://www.teknatool.com/products/C.../PowerGrip.htm

https://www.teknatool.com/products/C...ries/130mm.htm

I would recommend jaws over chucks and this is what I have done. This will keep all your chucks as standard and all the jaws can be moved around if necessary.

David,

the one problem with the Vicmarc chucks is that the jaws are not interchangable between the VM 100 and the 120/140/150. I've got a 150 dedicated solely for the largest bowl jaws (which has adapted wonderfully by adding 4 plates of ply to the face), plus a 120 with standard and shark jaws.

If you are thinking BIG, then have a look at the 150, it's a beast of a thing. The tightening mechanism is great - swing or turn key.

I bought the 120 and 150 first, but have since added 3 VM100 chucks with another on the way. One has smaller bowls jaws, another a screw chuck (also to be replaced by a dedicated screw), one for shark jaws and another for the pin jaws.

I like everyone could probably do with another....

I can't fault the Vicmarc quality, bias as I am about the product.

But that said, you have invested seriously in the Stubby - more than the dearest Vicmarc - so why skimp now? You have one of the best lathes on the market (at least according to Ern!), so I'd suggest humbly that a cheap set of Chinese chisels or "work-around" chucks doesn't make much sense. You've got plenty too mate, with all those interstate trips!

Anyway, enjoy the shopping. It's good therapy.

Jeff

Hey David, Didja know that Vermec make a veery nice chuck

Originally Posted by funkychicken

Hey David, Didja know that Vermec make a veery nice chuck

And it appears to accept both the vicmarc and teknatool jaws

Yeah, the smaller one does, not the bigger.

Hughie, when you fit Titan Powergrips to the Titan chuck you go out about 30mm in the range compared to the ordinary Powergrips on an SN2.

Originally Posted by rsser

Hughie, when you fit Titan Powergrips to the Titan chuck you go out about 30mm in the range compared to the ordinary Powergrips on an SN2.

Thats true , the titan is the only one that takes all the jaws , from the biggest to the smallest .


The Teknatool site is a bit of a mess , and takes a while finding your way to the good pages,
Here is the Chuck Accessory page

How big is a Titan??? The Vermec is an exquisitely machined 120mm chuck that accepts Vicmarc or Teknatool jaws plus Vermecs own range and has 144 point indexing capability - what more could you possibly want????

I love my Vermec chuck!

...and my Vermec Stubby!

Originally Posted by TTIT

How big is a Titan??? The Vermec is an exquisitely machined 120mm chuck that accepts Vicmarc or Teknatool jaws plus Vermecs own range and has 144 point indexing capability - what more could you possibly want????

So you can't do 145 point indexing?

I knew there had to be a catch somewhere...

Originally Posted by TTIT

How big is a Titan??? The Vermec is an exquisitely machined 120mm

Titans are bigger . 125 mm

and rugged with it