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Anyone seen or used the new version of the JT Turning Tools Vacuum Hub?

J

JeffSmith

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Lummi Island, WA
I've been using this hub since my Robust AB was new (12 years ago) and have come to love its ability to easily change out pvc adapters in different sizes while maintaining accuracy from size to size. PVC is a great material for vac hubs, IMHO; it allows simple truing of the face in seconds with a scraper while being impervious to leaks. The hub includes an o-ring in the base of the adapter slot that seals the base to the hub. I have no idea how I'd change it, but after 12 years and counting, it's still in new condition as near as I can tell. Tom Steyer designed and built these, I'd thought they had been lost to the ages when he passed. His vacuum adapter (i believe it was the basis for the one Brent at Robust is selling now - it was an option on new AB's in 2012) was and remains ( for me at least) the best on the market.

After years of bugging Brent to add this to his line of great products I finally did a google search on the odd chance that someone may have one to sell. I was directed to ebay where Zach Kerber (sp?) is selling what appears to be an identical machined hub. https://www.ebay.com/itm/325345527218

These things are great - I know there are many options out there, but these work perfectly and the only replaceable parts – PVC plumbing adapters – are and will be readily available. Sometimes simple is the best solution. Rubber Chucky makes seals for them in 2", 4" and 6" sizes (that's whats in the photo), but I have been using closed cell craft foam sheets in 1/16" thickness instead – don't even need to attach them.

I don't know Zach, but from some quick research it looks like he's a well thought of machinist in IOWA. If anyone is familiar with him or his products, please let us know how he does. I'm trying to open a dialogue with him, but having a hard time going through ebay after a decade of not being very active there.

Below is mine - long in the tooth but hangin' in there. Hoping to have one for the carving stand...
JT Turning Tools Vac Chuck Hub.JPG
 
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I have been using the original JT Turning Tools vacuum hub for many years and was concerned that the O-ring may fail. I found the similar hubs on eBay and bought one. I have used both the JT and eBay versions for about a year and all my PVC adapters work equally well on either hub.

I recall reading on one of the forums to use suede leather as the seal on the PVC adapters, because it allowed the turning to be easily adjusted at lower vacuum and then seals very well at higher vacuum. I have never had a turning shift at the higher vacuum.
 

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Glad to see I'm not alone - I received a reply from Zach Kelber – turns out he designed and produced all of the tools JT Turning Tools marketed (concept was all Tom Steyer. When Tom passed away Zach bought the company from his widow.
He's been sitting on a bunch of inventory ever since. He's in the business of producing parts for a number of markets, but has little knowledge of wood turning. He'd like to either sell it all outright, but I'm going to explore a few options on how he can get the word out to the turning community that this is well designed and machined equipment that is available.
 
Dave - that's an unusual PVC adapter you're using - is the photo distorted or is that particularly shallow compared to what I've been using?
 
Just so I understand, does this take a standard pvc pipe to the adapter then a pvc coupling to whatever size pipe you want for your chuck?
 
Mike, I don't own one of these gizmos nor have I ever laid hands on one. My recollection is that the there is no PVC pipe involved in this. The PVC adapter(s) are attached directly to the vacuum hub. An O-ring in the hub seals that side and some sort of foam is placed on the adapter to seal the bowl side.

I hope this helps.
 
Jim Reynolds said:
Mike, I don't own one of these gizmos nor have I ever laid hands on one. My recollection is that the there is no PVC pipe involved in this. The PVC adapter(s) are attached directly to the vacuum hub. An O-ring in the hub seals that side and some sort of foam is placed on the adapter to seal the bowl side.

I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
That’s it. PVC adapters to adapt 2” pipe to whatever size you need are readily available. The hub has a recess that the 2” part of the adapter fits in, it’s secured with grub screws and seals against an o-ring in the recesses bottom. When new, it’s a simple matter to true the face of the adapter with a scraper so it runs perfectly true. Works beautifully, mine has never leaked. I use 1/16” craft foam as a seal. Also, Rubber Chucky makes a set of seals for the adapters that work well. I’ve come to appreciate the very thin craft foam as a seal - there is very little, if any movement of the piece as the seal compresses. I don’t even attach the seal to the adapter any longer, just cut a circle that’s about 1/2” bigger than the adapter face, cut a small hole in the middle (actually I just cut a slot there) and insert it between the adapter face and the bowl. Easy peasy.
 
The Oddnot is another solution to the same problem. It looks to be well designed and machined. The beauty of the JT hub is simplicity – no additional parts aside from a few grub screws that only need to be touched if you want to change the adapter. Nothing to wear out or lose in the shavings. nothing to break that isn't readily available from local sources.
 
Tom Steyer at JT Turning sold some other good tools too. I have his rotary vacuum adaptor and his Gizmo articulated hollowing rig. Both have served me well. It would be interesting to see if Zach Kerber offered more of Tom's turning tools in the future.
 
Dave Bunge said:
Tom Steyer at JT Turning sold some other good tools too. I have his rotary vacuum adaptor and his Gizmo articulated hollowing rig. Both have served me well. It would be interesting to see if Zach Kerber offered more of Tom's turning tools in the future.
Click to expand...
Trying to see if he's interested in using his existing businesses to fulfill orders - he says there's a 'ton' of inventory in his warehouse – I assume that is across the full range of tools JT TT was offerring. I've asked him if there's an inventory of what he has. He had products for vacuum chucking, captured hollowing tools and a camera system for visualizing wall thickness – can't recall many beyond those. Wishing there was still access to his website, but it's been down for ages and I can'y remember fully how to use the internet way back machine to take a look.
 
Well, the internet archive 'Way Back Machine' is an interesting rabbit hole to go down...not anywhere near figuring out the best way to use it, but I was able to pull up the web pages from 2016 (I think) - one of the last years recorded I think. The links are mostly intact if you'd like information on what he was doing back then.

http://web.archive.org/web/20161219041335/http://www.jtturningtools.com/

I'm using it to try to get a sense of what is still available as new/old stock in inventory
 
I decided to order the Zach Kerber one after seeing this thread - I’ve been looking for a decent system that is flexible and this seems to fit the bill. We shall see.
 
I have been in contact with Zach Kerber since reaching out to him. It sounds like he's looking for someone to either buy out the inventory he has of existing product - he's more than happy to continue production on items. The alternative is to have someone act as a dealer/distributor for the line of products.

Zach runs several niche product lines offering performance parts for mostly small engine applications (garden tractor pulling, V-twin engine upgrades, etc. He's not prepared to spend an hour on the phone talking to turners about everything turning while ordering a single product...I can understand his frustration.

It seems to me that if someone were to handle the front end, customer service and order intake, he already has the infrastructure to handle shipping and inventory control. Could be an opportunity for someone with some time on their hands.
 
Jeff,
I apologize for the late reply. There may be some distortion, but it is a pretty shallow adapter that I use for platters and larger bowls. I probably have 8 - 10 different combinations that fit almost any shape or size. The real brilliance is that starting with the correct PVC adapter, you can easily and inexpensively make all different sizes and they all quickly mount to your lathe with the JTT adapter and just work.
 
The odd-not chucks are the best. It’s unfortunate that they haven’t really been able to keep up with demand.
They are well made, machined aluminum is good, and the seals are quite clever. It quite easy to finish a bowl that has moved a bit, a perfect surface is not required.
I had a nice chat with the maker, whose name I don’t recall at all symposium a few years ago. He demonstrated with a clear plastic bowl, a strong stiff bowl that he held on with vacuum. If he reduced vacuum and pulled one edge of the bowl hard enough to separate it from the chuck, the seal deforms and maintains vacuum, sucks the bowl right back. While I’m experienced enough to not have catches it’s good to know that the bowl may survive one.

I enjoy my oneway vacuum chucks, very beefy and just plain gorgeous, still I'm glad to have these from odd not.
 
I've looked at the Odd-not chucks. They are an intriguing concept and are similar in cost to the JT vac hub. I have no doubt that they function beautifully - until they don't. My thoughts are that there are about 7 pieces that comprise the base system - each with a chance to become a potential point of failure. The JT vacuum hub, adapter and a small foam seal comprise fewer than half the parts and pieces. In the past 12 years of use I can't recall losing a piece because the chuck failed - I do recall losing one because the pump/power failed. Sometimes simpler systems perform better.

The Oneway chucks have even fewer parts = just 2 - the aluminum chuck and a seal. For a fraction of the cost of three Oneway vacuum chucks I can have as wide a range of sizes as there are pvc adapters available. In reality, I haver only used 3 sizes - 2", 4" and 6" adapters for most of my work.
 
I have two of the JT vacuum hubs (1 14" X 8 and 1" X 8). I have the odd-not chuck and all three of the Oneway vacuum chucks. I rank them as #1 Oneway is the best, #2 JT vacuum hubs are second and lastly #3 the Odd-not. The Odd-not is the least user friendly where the Oneways are the easiest but are limited to 1 1/4" X 8 machines. JT hubs were good for me as I could use the combo of the two I had to use on my smaller or bigger lathes but still more work to set them up compared to the Oneways. Oneways cost more, JT and Odd-not are priced similar but JT will be easier and cheaper in the long run vs odd-not. It is nice to have choices! Remember you can take a face plate, glue, plywood and make your own.
 
Bill Blasic said:
I have two of the JT vacuum hubs (1 14" X 8 and 1" X 8). I have the odd-not chuck and all three of the Oneway vacuum chucks. I rank them as #1 Oneway is the best, #2 JT vacuum hubs are second and lastly #3 the Odd-not. The Odd-not is the least user friendly where the Oneways are the easiest but are limited to 1 1/4" X 8 machines. JT hubs were good for me as I could use the combo of the two I had to use on my smaller or bigger lathes but still more work to set them up compared to the Oneways. Oneways cost more, JT and Odd-not are priced similar but JT will be easier and cheaper in the long run vs odd-not. It is nice to have choices! Remember you can take a face plate, glue, plywood and make your own.
Click to expand...
Bill - I think you won the internet today (at least in this thread) - actual hands-on experience with all three chucks in an active shop adds a whole new level to the discussion. My experience is limited to using the Jttt hub for 12 years, having used (twice now) a Oneway chuck and watching a quick demo of the Odd-not at a symposium. The owner of the Oneway chucks has an on-going problem with his seals, but I don't know if it's 'operator error' or a characteristic of the chuck.

In any case, the seals seem to be the most problematic area of all systems. While I haven't found it to be an ongoing problem, I do take care to treat them kindly. Several years ago, after a few years of service I decided to replace the glued-on seals on all three of the adapters I use often. I got as far as cleaning off the old seals, took the time to reface the adapters square with a scraper and got called away for what turned into a several day period. When I got back to the shop and needed to use the vac chuck it had no seal.

Grabbed a piece of thin craft foam, cut a circle about 7" in diameter - enough to cover the face of the chuck, cut an 'x' in the middle and slid it between the bowl and the chuck.It works so well and makes changing the seal so simple I've never gone back to gluing them on. Rubber Chucky makes a very good set of seals, too. I do find that if the seal is too thick there is sometimes a problem with the piece shifting slightly when vacuum is applied. Not always a problem if just finishing a foot/bottom, but if you're in the last stages of finishing a lidded box or bowl even a slight amount of movement can be problematic. The very thin (about 1/16") closed cel craft foam seems to help.
 
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