Need recommendation for Lathe Chuck

[JDK]

Recently purchased a very clean used Jet 1014l Mini Lathe but with out a chuck....the former owner traded it in on a bigger Powermatic.  This is my first lathe and with lessons and practice I hope to be able to do something like the work I've seen here on measures, horn plugs, etc.

I have looked at Nova chucks at Woodcraft and Barracuda chucks from Penn State Industries.  Both seem comparable in price but the Barracuda's include several sets of jaws in their sets.

I know there are also other options out there also, such as Grizzly and the cheaper (Chinese?) chucks that Woodcraft and others sell.  Any advice would be appreciated as I would like to get this right the first time.  Thanks in advance, J.D. Kerstetter

[skillman]

J.D. I have the Jet mini lathe as well. I love it but wish I had better speed control and that it was reversible. Not huge issues.
I have the Barracuda chuck and I have been very happy with it as well. It is almost universal and I have not found a task it wouldn't perform. I'm not up on the current prices as I have had my stuff for a number of years now but I would certainly recommend it.
Hope this helps
Steve

[Carl Dumke]

I went through what you are a couple of years ago and looked all over the place.  Finally settled on something that is economical and does the job.  I use a 4-jaw chuck from Penn State industries with 3 jaw sets.  For plugs, I can turn the inside of the plug using the larger jaws and then turn it around and turn the outside of the plug.  I can also us the smaller jaws to hold the plug from the inside and make minor adjustments if needed.  Very versitile and easy to use with the two tightening levers.  It runs about $100 and I am really satisfied with it.  Just my 2 cents.  Good hunting

[Tim Crosby]

 This Nova has worked well for me.

 Tim C.

 

[Mark Elliott]

I have the Nova chuck that I bought with a lot of jaws.  I figured out if I make the work fit the jaws and not try to get the jaws to fit the work,  life was much easier.    I can mostly get by with the 50mm jaws.    That is what I use to turn base plugs once I have roughed out the  blank between centers and tuned an jaw sized spigot (finial) on one side.   From there, the chuck does all the work; inside on one side and outside on the other.   

[JDK]

Thanks for all the advice.  I think I am going to go with the Barracuda CSC2000C.  Both those and the Nova chucks get great reviews but the Barracuda comes with 4 sets of jaws and the Nova only comes with one and their jaws run $40-50 each.  Amazon has the Barracuda for $10 less than Penn State Industries and Amazon ships for free.  Thanks again, J.D. Kerstetter