Slight rocking with my Nova G3 chuck? Need to know if this is fixable...

[Jon Rista]

I have been turning spindles the last couple of days, and have been having a lot of problems with vibrations. I originally thought that the issue was in the lathe, or with the set of the chuck on the spindle. But I've checked and rechecked those, and there is no issue with any of that. I then held the chuck firmly, and pushed and pulled a little on the blank I had in the chuck, and I could hear a bit of a click. On deeper investigation, it seems like my chuck jaws, may in fact be a little loose. I first pulled the blank out, and checked the tightness of every jaw screw. All were quite firm and the jaws themselves are not loose. It seems to be the slides that the jaws screw into, that are loose. Not a lot, but enough that it is causing a very problematic vibration, even with very short blanks (2-3 inches, which I've never had a problem with vibrations with before).

I am not really sure why the slides would be loose, but that seems to be the problem. I am now wondering if this is fixable...

 

[Bill Blasic]

Every one of my chucks regardless of brand has a tiny bit of movement of the slides left and right while looking at the face of the chuck when not clamped on a piece of wood, but there is no visible or feel of looseness when pulling up. When clamped against a piece of wood this movement of the slides (left and right) cannot happen. If you are able to pull on that piece of wood and get movement back and forth (not side to side) you have a problem that Teknatool should be shown that problem and the chuck replaced. I've owned a lot of chucks and have never run into that problem. Slides are like an inch long and all four slides would have to be really really messed up to get movement when pulling outward. The jaws pull on the slides in an upward direction. It is hard for me to fathom that happening but you never know?

 

[Bill Alston]

Just an observation but I’ve noticed a difference in the clearance between the Chuck body and the Jaws (slides) on various chucks. The tightest are my metal work lathe chucks.
My Axminster SK100 chuck is also very good. My Record Power and Nova chucks display more movement. The RP and Nova chucks have cast Jaws whilst all the others are machined.

I’ve not noticed any significant vibration that I could attribute to Jaw movement though.

 

[Webb Willmott]

Perhaps a little chuck maintenance might help? Take the slides out and give everything a good cleaning.

 

[Bill Alston]

I know some on here disagree, and have even stripped it all out, but Teknatool recommends lubricating their chucks. I suspect even a modest amount of grease might help with vibration? They recommend a Heavy Viscous Grease in their literature.

 

[John K Jordan]

When mounting jaws I always follow the instructions:

• Clean dust and debris from all slides and jaws.
• Place the jaws in a circle in the right order looking from above (1-4 clockwise)
• Open the slides a bit.
• Place each jaw on the grooves on the slides, one at a time starting with any slide. (Nova changed orig instructions at some point.)
• Insert screws and initially tighten them LOOSELY. I "snug" then back off a partial turn.
• Close the jaws with the key till they all meet and tighten the screws firmly.

Don't mix up individual jaws from other jaw sets, at least with older jaws which were made differently than I think they are now.

Don't know if the above will help with what you are seeing, but with my 20+ Nova chucks and numerous jaw sets I have never had a case where I could wiggle the wood the slightest bit once firmly mounted.

Also, once I bought some used chucks very cheap from a fellow woodturner. They were almost worth what I paid for them. He must have secretly been the Incredible Hulk or used long cheater bars but the chuck bodies were distorted such that it was nearly impossible to make them function correctly. It tool me days of rework until I was happy with them. I'm assuming new chucks won't have this type of problem. If these are old chucks, maybe something is worn.

JKJ

 

[Doug Freeman]

All slides/jaws will be loose when “free”. You don’t describe the shape of the blank(s) mounted. Sometimes I hear a click as you describe, and find that one jaw is not loaded. Happens with stock that isn’t quite square, or a tenon that isn’t quite round, especially one that warped a bit from drying.

Sometimes I can make it go away by tightening the jaws, other times I need to correct the shape of the work, and other times I just let it be - not an option if it is affecting your cut.

 

[Bill Hamilton]

I have been turning spindles the last couple of days, and have been having a lot of problems with vibrations. I originally thought that the issue was in the lathe, or with the set of the chuck on the spindle. But I've checked and rechecked those, and there is no issue with any of that. I then held the chuck firmly, and pushed and pulled a little on the blank I had in the chuck, and I could hear a bit of a click. On deeper investigation, it seems like my chuck jaws, may in fact be a little loose. I first pulled the blank out, and checked the tightness of every jaw screw. All were quite firm and the jaws themselves are not loose. It seems to be the slides that the jaws screw into, that are loose. Not a lot, but enough that it is causing a very problematic vibration, even with very short blanks (2-3 inches, which I've never had a problem with vibrations with before).

I am not really sure why the slides would be loose, but that seems to be the problem. I am now wondering if this is fixable...

 

[Bill Hamilton]

the jaws have to be slightly loose so they can be tightened and loosened with the chuck key.