Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
pin chuck
Oscar
>I need some help locating a larger pin chuck. I want to use it for roughing down larger peices of irregular shaped wood to bowl blanks with a tenon on it. And then go to a scroll chuck. I've been using a face plate and it just seems like a pin chuck would be a better (easier) way to do it. Thanks, Oscar
Re: pin chuck
Brad Vietje
>Axminster makes a nice one, which is a true pin chuck (w/a second, smaller rolling pin on a flat section of the larger pin). Other chuck jaws are called "Pin" jaws, and expand into a pre-drilled hole -- they usually have sharp ridges to grip the wood more tanaciously. Oneway and other manufacturers offer these.
Just a thought -- If possible, I always rough-turn bowls between centers to orient the blank for best presentation of figure, voids, bark, etc... Maybe this would work for you, as well ? With a pin chuck, you have fewer opportunities to do this, and have to be pretty skilled to drill the hole just right to make the best bowl possible. You might look into a big spur drive for your chuck, like those from Best Wood Tools, or simply starting bowls between spur and live center, and turning a tenon on the foot once you have the blank oriented just so. This allows a lot of design decisions to be made by tipping things a little one way, or another.
Safe Spinning,
Brad Vietje
Thetford, VT
Re: pin chuck
Oscar
>Thanks Brad, I'll look into it. Oscar
Re: I made one last week.
Al Crandall --NE of Indy--
>I agree with everything Brad said about alternatives to pin chucks. However, recently I have been making a lot of things from very thick air dried lumber, and they all have the same size hole in the finished item. For these projects a pin chuck made the most sense. I mounted a chunk of maple to a 3" faceplate and turned the tenon part of the chuck to the size I needed for the hole in these projects. I used a hand saw and a sharp chisel to make a recess for the pin to fit into and made the pin from a section of the shank of a 1/4" bolt. The first chuck worked great for about 8 turnings, but it broke during the roughing of a piece, so the second one I made has a 3/8" x 4" long bolt running through it to reinforce the tenon. It is working out great. I take the rough lumber to the drill press and drill the hole. Then when it is on the lathe I have access to the entire surface of the project and finish it with only one chucking. Since the holder is made of wood, I have the ability to cut and sand all the way to, and past, the edge of the drilled hole. This is pretty tough to do if you have metal jaws from a chuck expanded into the hole.
Re: pin chuck
Dick Parr
>Check Ebay, there is a gentlemen from Canada that sells brand new ones for a good price. I got one for my SuperNova and really like it.
Woodwurm screw chuck will do the job !!
Leo Van Der Loo
>
Re: I made one last week.
Shel
>Mr. Crandall: I'm having trouble visualizing this chuck and its workings. Could you post a photo or a sketch? Thanks in advance, Shel
Re: Photo of a 3/8" pin chuck
Al Crandall --NE of Indy--
>Hi Shel. The one I made is large, made from wood screwed to a faceplate, has a 3/8" steel rod glued into a 3/8" hole drilled on the centerline for strength, and uses a 1/4" pin to lock the work, but it works the same as this small one at
http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=110106&Category_Code=
Keep the pin and its flat short enough that you can't reach it with your gouge.
