I found a Nova Precision Midi chuck body for a good price. However, my other Nova chucks are gear-driven. I need the two tommy bars for this chuck. Any ideas?
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Need tommy bars for Nova Precision Midi Chuck
- Thread starter Jerry Bridges
- Start date
So you have some holes in the chuck body and a couple holes in the tightening ring?
You can pick up some round steel rod at the hardware store that should fit the holes (maybe 3/8"?). I cut a couple pieces of rod about 4-5" long, I am not in the shop now so I am guessing. Then I drilled & epoxied a piece of hardwood on one end of each rod, mounted the rod in a four jaw chuck, and turned the hardwood block into a ball shape about 1" diameter. Now I have what are known as "tommy bars".
You can pick up some round steel rod at the hardware store that should fit the holes (maybe 3/8"?). I cut a couple pieces of rod about 4-5" long, I am not in the shop now so I am guessing. Then I drilled & epoxied a piece of hardwood on one end of each rod, mounted the rod in a four jaw chuck, and turned the hardwood block into a ball shape about 1" diameter. Now I have what are known as "tommy bars".
Good Idea. It looks to be about 3/8". I will take it with me and check the size at the store.
Jerry: the chuck you bought is called Nova precision midi. The G3 chuck is an open back gear driven chuck.
https://www.toolsplus.com/nova-48287.html This is a G 3
https://www.toolsplus.com/nova-48122.html This is a midi
https://www.toolsplus.com/nova-48287.html This is a G 3
https://www.toolsplus.com/nova-48122.html This is a midi
I don’t know about you, but I’ve got scores of old screwdrivers in my shop, some with pretty worn blades. I’d look for two with the right diameter shaft and cut off the blades. Voila! Bob’s your uncle!
That is exactly what I have. Got less than $50 in it including jaws. I have a lot of old screwdrivers. If I can find two that fit I have what I need with handles already attached.
I know I can depend on you all to give good advice.
I know I can depend on you all to give good advice.
most of those bars are 5/16" or 8MM
The Tommy bar chucks are super fast and I have more than a few. Just remember to insert those bars totally into the hole otherwise you risk making the holes oval.
I suspect that if the bars are not securely in the holes I might risk them slipping and pinching my hand. I will make sure they fit properly a;nd all the way to the bottom of the hole.
My problem with those is bending the bars. I like the other chucks better.
I have three other chucks--two Novas and an Axminster. All of those are gear-driven. I agree they are much better. This chuck will be dedicated to a set of spigot jaws. The chuck will not be used often.
I bought a 5/16" steel rod (36") for about $4 at the local big box (Menards where I live) ... enough to make as many tommy bars as I'll ever need. Turned a knob for each and epoxied it on ... they live in the tool rack on my lathe.
I no longer have any chucks that require use of tommy bars, but they come in handy to loosen/tighten faceplates and chucks. Every faceplate I own was drilled at the factory for a 5/16" bar.
I no longer have any chucks that require use of tommy bars, but they come in handy to loosen/tighten faceplates and chucks. Every faceplate I own was drilled at the factory for a 5/16" bar.
Curious, my older Nova chuck is drilled and I use a Phillips head screwdriver to get leverage when I need help removing it from the spindle, my new jumbo Nova (not sure off the top of my head what it’s called) has no holes. Occasionally presents a challenge removing it, especially if I want to keep the work in it. I wonder why it wasn’t also drilled.
My Nova does the same thing. I keep a thick barbeque glove with grip strips near the lathe. I close the jaws completely, lock the headstock and use the glove to protect my hand and turn the chuck. This usually works.
If I can remove the work from the chuck, I open the jaws so I can fit one of my scrapers between the jaws. That always does it. The challenge is when I want to keep the work in the chuck, for example, if I want to reverse it onto the vacuum chuck.
Nova does sell a wrench to fit the flats on the insert, or you can buy your own. This makes it much easier to remove the chuck from the spindle without disturbing the jaws.
You probably have a Nova Titan ... same situation with my Nova Titan II.
To remove it, I lock the spindle, open the jaws enough to slip one of my tommy bars between them and use it to wrench the chuck. My 5/16" shop-made tommy bars are 10" long,
As I mentioned above tommy bar chucks are very fast in use. If you have trouble make 1 bar long enough to reach the lathe bed an this allows 1 hand use. Myself it makes little difference whether it is a tommy bar chuck or a gear driven chuck I choose for the jaws that are on it, I have at least a half dozen tommy bar chucks and use them regularly. It's all what you get used to. Gerald the Nova Titan II was the biggest disappointment I have ever had with a Nova product. Going from 3 hole slides to 2 hole slides was for me brainless. I have asked if I could get 3 hole slides to replace the 2 hole slides but they say no. I have the original Titan, Titan II and the Titan III. The 2 new jaw sets that fit the original and the III are fantastic. I'm going to check and see if by chance that one of the 3 holed jaws may fit on the Titan II using just 2 screws. I have never had a Titan lock onto the spindle but another option rather than the tommy bar into the jaws is a board clamped in the jaws for leverage.
I made a couple tommy bars for my screw center chucks.....same concept. I did what Tom Albrecht did, but used a couple old drill bits of the correct size. Hardened rod works best. The wood handles are simply some dowel stock with the holes drilled long enough to completely cover the flutes of the drill bits.
-----odie-----
Yes, the Titan is what I’ve got. No problem getting it off when there’s no work being held in the jaws. Occasionally the problem is when I can’t open the jaws without having to remount the piece. I’ll look into a purpose made spanner (wrench) or universal plumbing spanner. Is there something for it to grab onto when the jaws are fully closed? I’ll go out to the shop in a bit and see. Thanks for the suggestions. Mark, I didn’t know that they made an accessory wrench.
Lou, on the SN2 the insert has a hexagonal base for a wrench to grip. If the Titan or other chuck does not accommodate an ordinary wrench you can use a strap wrench on the chuck body instead.
Mark (picture me dope slapping myself!), what a simple solution. Thanks!
Found a good spanner wrench at Home Depot for about $15 . The Nova wrench sells for about $30 on EBAY. Problem solved for a little money. Thanks for the suggestion.
The tool I find most effective for loosening chucks is an adjustable pin spanner. There is a hole near the back of Nova chucks- access to a set screw. I hook the tool in, with spindle locked, and give it a slap. It’s effective and doesn’t stress the chuck, lathe or me. You could also hook the chuck tightening Allen bolt, or even a jaw. Really good tool to own.
If you use regular cold rolled steel bar for the Tommy Bars you might want to heat them with a torch and quench them in oil to temper the steel. Cold rolled steel bars that diameter will bend easily with the pressures used to tighten the chuck with daily use. The factory Tommy Bars are tempered steel.
Part of the challenge and satisfaction of turning (or any craft work for that matter), is coming up with solutions to problems that present themselves. This thread and the suggested wrenches that were offered got me thinking about how I might improvise a solution. This is what I came up with. A wrench similar to what Marc suggested but with a piece of an Allen wrench epoxied into it. It fits in the female Allen head on the chuck, but also will work in the slide track if the chuck is closed down enough. I padded it with a piece of bicycle inner tube held in place with double sided tape for a bit more grip. I’ll see how it holds up.Happy, healthy new year to everyone!
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I’m sorry, I don’t know why duplicate copies of my images appeared.
If you edit your post you should be able to delete one copy of each photo, but it's not that important, either.
Thanks Mark!
Where would one find such a tool, Marc?
Found this one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-G...t=&hvlocphy=9019126&hvtargid=pla-881141976622
Tom Gall
TOTW Team
Any industrial supplier will probably have them. I bought a "fixed pin" spanner for my Record chuck about 6 yrs. ago. They are considerably cheaper than the adjustable pin spanner. Current price is about $6 more than I paid. My wrench was for a 2" diameter.
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