Thread: Nova quick change jaws.

what a great idea when are vicmarc going to bring out there`s.
Mick

Makes for an expensive chuck

Originally Posted by

Similar to Easy woods

AWFS: Nova's Quick Change Lathe Chuck is a Game Changer - Fine Woodworking

Is it just my eyes or in the image in the magazine reversed? Or is the demonstrator standing on the wrong side of the lathe?

Regards

Peter

I just have a chuck dedicated to each set of jaws.

The part that I didn't like was "Of course, this won't help you in reverse."

As I sand using both directions this doesn't sound very promising, does this mean it is unsafe to turn in reverse?

Just wondering, Trevor

Originally Posted by The Hun

Is it just my eyes or in the image in the magazine reversed? Or is the demonstrator standing on the wrong side of the lathe?

Regards

Peter

He is standing at the back of the lathe.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

Makes for an expensive chuck

Jim/Ian,
Is this a straight forward retrofit or are there some complexities? Thanks, Drillit.

Nova aren't the only manufacturer with similar technology - have a look at Easy Wood Tools - Easy Chuck. Jury is out for me on these designs. I'm a firm believer in the KISS principle. Why introduce potential hazards? Would like to have a real good play with these.

Easy Chuck « Easy Wood Tools

Meh. Nova chucks have had quick release mechanisms since at least the old Compact chuck... just ask Tea Lady!

Now That's a bit on the nose Skew, well nearly

Those prices are insane. One can buy a brand new chuck that's dedicated to each set of jaws for less.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Those prices are insane. One can buy a brand new chuck that's dedicated to each set of jaws for less.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/nov...7/#post1682131

Hi All,
I think I have this wrong, but to me it says with my Older Type Black Nova's, I can obtain a set of these Jaws for $ 149 ea. Chuck.
The thing is, just how safe are they, as we don't want anything to go wrong, a bit like TL's.
If it did throw a Jaw, I wood be in trouble, as I wood never be able to find it, the way my shed is set up.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

I just have a chuck dedicated to each set of jaws.

You are not alone there, Cliff, mea maxima culpa

I might come at a 30sec jaw changeover, but not the 6 mins for the old jaw system, plus another 5 mins finding a dropped screw in the shavings.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Those prices are insane. One can buy a brand new chuck that's dedicated to each set of jaws for less.

That depends on the number of jaw sets you end up with. None of us plan to have the number we eventually acquire...

At last count I think I have 8 sets of Nova jaws. That's 8 x $200 per SN2 chuck = $1600, excluding the cost of the jaws sets.

Had I purchased an Infinity Quick Change Chuck (no jaws) for $349 and purchased the same 8 sets of jaw sizes for the quick change system for what appears to be about an additional $30 per jaw set, then the extra cost of the 8 sets would have been $240 over the cost of the standard jaw sets. That's $349 + $240 = $589

On my reckoning I would have been $1k better off with the new chuck system.

There is a break-even point with fewer jaw sets, for example if you only ended up with three jaw sets then two SN2s plus jaws would cost you about the same as one quick change chuck and three quick change jaws sets. The problem is knowing in advance just how many you will end up with eventually.

There are, of course, other considerations:

• Such a high upfront investment will tend to lock you into just the one chuck/jaw system
• Dedicated chucks will still save more time, but at a higher cost
• Multiple chucks provide more versatility as you can have a number of pieces on the go without removing any of them from their chucks.
• The Nova jaw range has stagnated in recent years. The new chuck system doesn't promise that this will improve.
• And, we are as yet to see how good the engineering is on this new chuck

Teknatool does claim that the new jaws are "much more powerful and capable compared with the older NOVA accessory jaws". If so, that's a good thing, although you rarely hear about any of the current makes of jaws breaking, so perhaps a moot point.

I'll leave others with fewer chucks to consider the economics of the retrofit option, but expect that it will be the way in which the new system will be workshop tested by experienced turners, who already have a lot invested in their current chucking kit and unlikely to go out and buy the higher cost 'starter kit', at least initially, and who will also be the ones who will give the system the thumbs up or down, which will largely determine its future.

PS - issatree, I don't think the retrofit is available for the original Nova chuck, just SN2 and G3.