I am fairly new to turning anything bigger than a pen. I bought a Nova chuck that takes the two steel rods to tighten it. I turned down the end so I can tighten the chuck on the outside. As soon as I touch the tool to the wood it comes flying out of the chuck. The piece of wood is around 4 inches in diameter and 8 to 9 inches long. The tenon is 2.25 in diameter and I did cut the angle on the inside. Anybody know what I could be doing wrong? Thanks in advance for your help.

With a piece that long you're still going to need tailstock support, or a steady rest. What are you trying to make?

In addition to what Steve mentioned, make sure the tenon doesn't "bottom out" in the chuck. It should be short enough that the work piece rests on the chuck jaws. That will provide a little more support. 

 

 

What kind of jaws did it come with?  Some are straight jaws and some are dovetail jaws and it matters how you cut the tenons for them.

1 hour ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

With a piece that long you're still going to need tailstock support, or a steady rest. What are you trying to make?

I am trying to make a box with lid. I put a tenon on one end. Turned it around and put it in the chuck and took the faceplate off the other end. I am trying to put a tenon on the other end so I can split it with a parting tool and then hollow them out. 

1 hour ago, lew said:

In addition to what Steve mentioned, make sure the tenon doesn't "bottom out" in the chuck. It should be short enough that the work piece rests on the chuck jaws. That will provide a little more support. 

 

 

I made it short enough so it wouldn't bottom out. I cut the angle so it would draw it in as the jaws were tightened. It is a piece of tree branch. It is still pretty wet. Would being wet make it softer so it won't hold as well?

1 hour ago, HandyDan said:

What kind of jaws did it come with?  Some are straight jaws and some are dovetail jaws and it matters how you cut the tenons for them.

The jaws have a full dovetail on the outside. On the inside they come up straight half way and just a small dovetail toward the top. I will try to get a picture. Sounds like I might need better jaws.

The jaws on my chuck are like these.

28 minutes ago, RustyFN said:

I am trying to make a box with lid. I put a tenon on one end. Turned it around and put it in the chuck and took the faceplate off the other end. I am trying to put a tenon on the other end so I can split it with a parting tool and then hollow them out. 

 

Alright, if your chuck uses tommy bars, it's probably a G3, that's a fairly light duty chuck. It's a good chuck but not made for heavy loads. At 7" long you're applying a lot of torque to the where the jaws contact the wood. Recommend you bring the tailstock up to cut your tenon.

 

Steve

7 minutes ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

 

Alright, if your chuck uses tommy bars, it's probably a G3, that's a fairly light duty chuck. It's a good chuck but not made for heavy loads. At 7" long you're applying a lot of torque to the where the jaws contact the wood. Recommend you bring the tailstock up to cut your tenon.

 

Steve

What would be a better chuck that won't break the bank?

19 minutes ago, RustyFN said:

What would be a better chuck that won't break the bank?

I think your chuck will do what you want. As Steve said, using the tail stock to support the free end should eliminate the problem you are having.

 

 

27 minutes ago, lew said:

I think your chuck will do what you want. As Steve said, using the tail stock to support the free end should eliminate the problem you are having.

 

 

Do you think it will stay on when I go to hollow it out?

38 minutes ago, RustyFN said:

What would be a better chuck that won't break the bank?

 

The G3 is considered to be a good chuck. A supernova2 is a beefier chuck, and affordable. It doesn't matter though. I use supernova2 chucks and turn a lot of honey dippers, the blanks are typically 7" long. I keep the tail stock up until I'm ready to sand and part it off. I think the chuck you have is just fine, you just have to learn it's limitations.

 

Steve

1 hour ago, RustyFN said:

Do you think it will stay on when I go to hollow it out?

Are you going to hollow the full 8-9"? That's pretty deep for a 4" diameter. If that's the case, I'd drill out as much as possible with a forstner bit and then do the hollowing.

 

Remember, when hollowing much of the force is pushing toward the chuck. Whereas, with rounding the outside the forces are mostly perpendicular to the chuck.

You have gotten some good advise. I will add that on the tenon it should be cut straight , you can put a slight relief at the top of the tenon. Like Lew said hollowing 8 inches is a lot if you do not have anything but a gouge. It can be done just not easy drill as much as you can. I use SN2 and works fine for me. Do have a G3 on the Delta 46-460 but not a tommy bar type.

59 minutes ago, lew said:

Are you going to hollow the full 8-9"? That's pretty deep for a 4" diameter. If that's the case, I'd drill out as much as possible with a forstner bit and then do the hollowing.

 

Remember, when hollowing much of the force is pushing toward the chuck. Whereas, with rounding the outside the forces are mostly perpendicular to the chuck.

No. After I split it the bottom will be around 4 inches deep and the top around 1.5 inches.

12 hours ago, RustyFN said:

The jaws have a full dovetail on the outside. On the inside they come up straight half way and just a small dovetail toward the top. I will try to get a picture. Sounds like I might need better jaws

 

You need to turn the tenon to match the jaws.  Even though it is a small dovetail towards the top you should cut the tenon to match.

8 hours ago, RustyFN said:

No. After I split it the bottom will be around 4 inches deep and the top around 1.5 inches.

I think I have that same chuck. A Nova Midi Precision. It uses the 2 rods to tighten the jaws.

 

I should work fine for what you want to do. I've turned up to 12" platters/bowls with mine. One thing someone told me is to turn your tenons so that when the chuck is tightened down, the jaws are almost closed tight- BUT NOT TOUCHING. This will give the greatest holding power. If yours is the same as mine, the 2 1/4" tenon should work, although you could probably go down to 2".

 

Also, when tightening the jaws, don't be afraid of really cranking on them. The ends of each jaw segment will actually make an indentations on softer wood.

 

Don't forget the tailstock! If you are worried about the point of the tailstock damaging the turning, you can make a "cover" for it- this one is for a live center-

 

It is just a piece of hardwood drilled to fit snuggly over the live center. It applies pressure to the turning but the point doesn't damage the wood.

 

Hope this helps!

I bought another set of jaws that are a little deeper. I put the tail stock on the end and made a tenon.  Flippemdit around and made a new tenon on the other end. I took the parting tool and split it. I now have a piece around 4 inches diameter and 4 inches deep. While trying to hollow it out I have to go very little. If I get too much of a bite it still comes flying out of the chuck. I am thinking the wood is soft because its very wet.

8 minutes ago, RustyFN said:

I bought another set of jaws that are a little deeper. I put the tail stock on the end and made a tenon.  Flippemdit around and made a new tenon on the other end. I took the parting tool and split it. I now have a piece around 4 inches diameter and 4 inches deep. While trying to hollow it out I have to go very little. If I get too much of a bite it still comes flying out of the chuck. I am thinking the wood is soft because its very wet.

 

Can  you post pictures? You should be able to take a pretty big cut on a piece that size. What gouge are you using to hollow? Are you pre-drilling? If possible it's better to remove the bulk of the material with a forstner bit.

 

Steve