New to turning, have some concerns about using a chuck, need advice

How fast were you turning? Did you get a catch?

What I typically do is turn between centers and shape a round tenon on the tailstock side that is bigger than the jaws minimum size. For me sized so I have about 1/2 – 1/4 ” of space between the jaws when clamped has a good bite. Play with that to see what size works well for your jaws and then make note of that diameter for later.

Once the tenon is cut and the piece is flipped, I still keep the tailstock up for as much of the rounding and balancing as I can.

Larger pieces I will do the same only I prefer to cut a mortise and use the jaws in expansion to grip it. Situational depending on what you are making but mortises feel more stable to me.

From reading you description I think one thing you may be doing it seating the blank too deep on the chuck.

I primarily use a recessed grip, called a mortice or dado, and only seat the wood about 1/4” deep on the chuck jaws. I wrote a blog on my mounting technique you ran review at: http://lumberjocks.com/LesB/blog/118409
Only rarely on hundreds of turnings have I had a blank come loose and only once has it come off the lathe.

On soft wood you will need a deeper mortise. On blanks that need to be trued and balanced I always use the tail stock and work at slow speeds. On longer spindle type pieces the tail stock is always needed and sometimes intermediate support with rollers are needed to prevent wobble.

Roughing speeds are usually from 500 to 800 rpm and most of the time my finish turning speeds are in the 1200 range depending on what tool I’m using.

Finally it is always a good idea to get someone experienced to work with you a couple of times. I helped one fellow who was basically afraid of his lathe. He came to my shop and did fine but complained about problems on his. When I went to his shop I found he had the lathe on a raised platform and he was not that tall so he was lifting his arms too high to have good control of the cutting tool. He also had some problems sharpening his tools. With some adjustments he started making good progress.

-- Les B, Oregon

I just got a chuck for christmas as well, the nova chuck, first one i have ever used. I have already made several bowls with it and went through what your dealing with. Watch this video and it will explain everything, or at least I was able to figure it out after watching. A forstner bit is what I have been using to get started on the side you intend to hollow out (for bowls)

This video was the most helpful for me, good luck happy turning

https://youtu.be/5KHkkws9lWA

+1 on what Les said. Seating the piece too far back will cause a problem, for sure.

Also, it’s not a bad idea to tighten the chuck, then let it sit for a moment before checking the tightness again. I think I saw Stuart Batty doing this on one of his lessons on youtube, mentioning that the fibers will compress slightly to adjust after the first tightening, and this helps secure the piece.

Still, even with mounting issues, I’m pretty surprised that it managed to get off the chuck at all with the tailstock engaged.

-- "Ladies, if your husband says he'll get to it, he'll get to it. No need to remind him about it every 6 months."

You didn’t say if used a dovetail for expansion mode or used a tenon mode or just installed spindle blank with no tenon. Can buy a dovetail scraper, make your own from old scraper or use a skew.

https://www.amazon.com/6008-Dovetail-Chisel-Chuck-Accessory/dp/B0064JJFRK?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0064JJFRK

https://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=tools-tayl-diam-dovtai

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/manuals/G3_Chuck_Manual.pdf

-- Bill

Maybe cutting too aggressively. Stop occasionally and check the chuck is still tight, if you see wobble stop, and take lighter cuts when not using the tailstock.

-- Rick M, http://thewoodknack.blogspot.com/

Clarify how it was mounted… you say it was not round stock, so did you mount it with the corners outside the chuck jaws like this:

(From this article: Wood Magazine: Getting a Grip on Four-Jaw Lathe Chucks)

If so, and the tailstock was engaged – then the only way I can see that it would go flying is if you were being way too aggressive with your cut. Maybe you could post a picture of how you have it setup so we could get a better idea.

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

+1 on what Les said. Seating the piece too far back will cause a problem, for sure.

Still, even with mounting issues, I m pretty surprised that it managed to get off the chuck at all with the tailstock engaged.

- Dustin

+1 I’m thinking operator error, which is good cuz it’s the easiest thing to fix. Good luck and stay safe!

-- Andy - Seattle USA

Clarify how it was mounted… you say it was not round stock, so did you mount it with the corners outside the chuck jaws like this:

(From this article: Wood Magazine: Getting a Grip on Four-Jaw Lathe Chucks)

If so, and the tailstock was engaged – then the only way I can see that it would go flying is if you were being way too aggressive with your cut. Maybe you could post a picture of how you have it setup so we could get a better idea.

Cheers,
Brad

- MrUnix

That’s exactly how I had it mounted. Now I get the poplar wood getting crushed in the chuck given how soft it is. The Maple not so much but Ill try to get a picture of my setup and post it later tonight when I get a free min to try it again. Thanks

One word in your last sentence stood out to me. ”Both pieces I should add were rectangles not round pieces. ”
Rectangle. You can hold square stock as shown in the pics but I don’t think it can securely grip a rectangle.
Stuart Batty has three excellent videos on Jaws and Chucks, Tenons, and Recesses … about 10 minutes each.
https://vimeo.com/woodturning/videos/sort:alphabetical/format:thumbnail

Without seeing any additional pics I would suggest you start with the spur drive and form a tenon to fit the chuck jaws.

-- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein

One word in your last sentence stood out to me. ”Both pieces I should add were rectangles not round pieces. ”
Rectangle. You can hold square stock as shown in the pics but I don t think it can securely grip a rectangle.
Stuart Batty has three excellent videos on Jaws and Chucks, Tenons, and Recesses … about 10 minutes each.
https://vimeo.com/woodturning/videos/sort:alphabetical/format:thumbnail

Without seeing any additional pics I would suggest you start with the spur drive and form a tenon to fit the chuck jaws.

- LeeMills

Sorry I meant square, they were a maple and poplar blank I picked up about 2 feet long and 2×2 sq. IM checking out the links you and others provided. I do appreciate the help.

Are you using a “live” center in the tail stock, or a non-bearing type center. If the latter, it could burn the wood and cause the work piece to wobble and eventually come out of the chuck. Also was the tail stock center penetrating the wood enough. It should be at least 1/4” deep for a secure mounting. My guess is: you got a “catch” and because the tail stock center was not well seated, the work went flying.

Here are some images of my current setup and how I had the wood setup. I managed to turn some 2×4 pine? I think without an fly outs. Though now Im trying to figure out how to get a cleaner cut on the piece. I started off with the roughing gouge and moved on to the skew chisel and it ended up looking rough like the later pics show. The tools are new so Im not sure if it’s a sharpening issue. I still have yet to pick up a bench grinder but that’s on my list for next week from harbor freight. I was going to go with the one that attaches to the lathe but the HF one is more then half the price of the nova one.

https://imgur.com/a/X1Y7OFS

You definitely need to sharpen the tools. Pine is soft and need really sharp tools.

-- Bruce, Boise, ID

The tools are new so Im not sure if it’s a sharpening issue.

With very exceptions, new tools ALWAYS need to be sharpened. There are only a few manufacturers (of premium tools) that ship their tools sharp.

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"