Screw Chucks on Wood Lathes - We Always Did it That Way

When wood turners speak about lathe chucks these days they usually mean the expensive four jaw style. However this is a recent innovation developed from the self centering chucks of the metal lathe industry. Woodturning has been around at least since the days when the ancient Egyptians put their pictures on the side of pyramids. The old timers often spoke of the screw chuck when they mentioned lathe chucks and the often made their own quickly and cheaply.

A lathe chuck is simply a tool that goes on the lathe center and holds work. While it may be used on the tailstock, it is usually placed on the headstock. Consider the making of a simple candle stick, with a cup on top to hold the candle, a stem to hold on to, and a base.

A block of wood is cut to the size of the cup and long enough to fit on the screw of the chuck. It is turned to shape and hollowed out to accommodate the expected candle. Decorative work is turned on the bottom to allow space for a mortise to take a tenon.

Another piece of wood is placed between centers and turned into the stem of the candlestick. A round tenon is cut on either end of the stem. Each tenon is the width of the screw or a bit larger.

Now a piece of wood large enough for the base of the candlestick is cut and drilled at center a little smaller than the diameter of the screw for the lathe screw chuck. The less figured side of the wood is facing out. Once the piece is turned to round, the face is flattened and made slightly concave. This will be the bottom of the base and a concave base will help it sit better.

The piece is removed from the chuck and reversed for holding. Now the entire top of the base is available for turning. Once it is turned it is easily removed from the chuck by simply unscrewing it. A quick trip to the drill press and the holes used by the screw chuck on cup and base are widened to fit the tenons on the stem. All that remains are to glue them together and apply the finish.

Screw chucks are extremely useful additions to the accessories of the wood lathe. A great indicator of this is the familiar procedure of four jaw wood lathe chuck manufacturers to include a screw attachment to convert today's modern lathe chuck into the screw chuck of yesteryear.

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