# Nova Chuck



## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

Back in February when I bought my Lathe I got the Nova Chuck along with it.
When I put the tail-stock with the live center up to the drive spur it is dead-on, with the tail-stock fully extended/retracted and every inch in-between!
The chuck uses a "D" insert for my lathe. after the first few things on the lathe i noticed a slight wobble on the chuck. I called woodcraft and they said to make sure the insert is very tight in the chuck. I checked it and was able to tighten it a little more. Problem solved? no...
well, at first it was quite a bit better and worked ok. well, now it is really wobbling BAD, UNUSABLE!
I called woodcraft (on the last day of my 90 day warranty) I could have ran up there in time enough to swap it out but they said to "call in the morning and talk to such and such. He knows more about these things." I explained to her that my warranty expires today and i don't want that to stop me from returning it. she said it would not be a problem. I should have just ran up and exchanged i guess...
I then called Teknatool and spoke to Bob. Bob seems like a nice enough guy he is sending me a new insert. he thinks this is the problem. he says Woodcraft is using aftermarket inserts and that they are having a lot of problems right now with those aftermarket. 
Woodcraft swears that they are not aftermarket. this wobble seems to be too bad for just an insert. anyway after waiting weeks for the insert, it is on its way.
Has anybody else here had any similar problems with their Nova chuck with Insert?


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

That sounds like it should be be the correct insert (1X8). A couple of things to check.
Make sure the set screws are tight on the jaws. I had one chuck (not one of my Novas) and three of the set screws had come loose. One up to 1.5 full turns!! There was no way to really see it when mounting the blank since the wood pushed everything tight. I assume your jaws were already mounted when you purchased the chuck. If it was working fine prior, I suspect this may be the culprit.

You are not using one of those plastic washers on the spindle which may have gotten misformed are you? That would cause it also. 


I also had a G3 that had a very very small sliver of steel from the machining process inside the chuck body. Remove the insert and use an old toothbrush to make sure there is no foreign matter.


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## jlord (Feb 1, 2010)

My local WoodCraft has a notice by the Nova Chucks saying the Wood River threaded inserts are not compatible with the Nova Chucks & to use the Nova inserts.


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

jlord said:


> My local WoodCraft has a notice by the Nova Chucks saying the Wood River threaded inserts are not compatible with the Nova Chucks & to use the Nova inserts.


The problem is, I didn't pick the insert. The woodcraft salesmen did. He should have known better then. This is woodcraft, not sears.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

If you still have your receipt you can probably tell fairly quickly. If the insert was less than $10 it is probably a woodcraft, if $20-$25 it should be a Nova. The woodcraft maybe should not be termed “aftermarket” since it is made for Woodcraft and their brand of chuck. The Nova should have full hex flats around the head, stamped with the “D” on one of the flats, and it seats within the chuck body. The head will not seat against the back of the chuck as it was designed this way. The Woodcraft (that I have seen) has only two flats on the head. They are shorter and will not seat on the interior of the chuck body but may seat against the exterior.
Guess you will know for sure when the mail runs.


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## Barry Ward (Mar 22, 2008)

I have four Nova chucks and love em all.but I did have a bit of a problem with one of them that was way out of warranty,but when I called Tim giest who used to be there he had me a new chuck in less than a week and I just sent the old one back.No delay when he was there.Did you check it with a dial indicater?ans did you try checking the insert also before mounting the chuck,hope you get it working.


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

NCPaladin said:


> If you still have your receipt you can probably tell fairly quickly. If the insert was less than $10 it is probably a woodcraft, if $20-$25 it should be a Nova. The woodcraft maybe should not be termed &#147;aftermarket&#148; since it is made for Woodcraft and their brand of chuck. The Nova should have full hex flats around the head, stamped with the &#147;D&#148; on one of the flats, and it seats within the chuck body. The head will not seat against the back of the chuck as it was designed this way. The Woodcraft (that I have seen) has only two flats on the head. They are shorter and will not seat on the interior of the chuck body but may seat against the exterior.
> Guess you will know for sure when the mail runs.


The receipt says it's a nova. It has the D stamp on one of the flats. 
Bob from teknatools says all his inserts are sold in a small box. Mine was in a small bag. The woodcraft rep said that their supplier may re-package them into bags to hang on the wall. This makes sense to me. 

Yep I gotta wait on the mail! Month down now and I'm getting withdraw!!!!


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## jlord (Feb 1, 2010)

I bought my Nova chuck when it was on sale one month. The insert was in a Teknatool box. They keep them in a glass case at least at the store I go to or the couple I've been in across the country. I doubt they are taken out of the manufacturers box & re-packaged in bags with no markings. If that was so then that would be normal for all shipments sent to stores. I can't see them discarding a suppliers box. I think they gave you the wrong insert. Here's pics of my insert it is a 1" X 8 for my jet 1220. Althought it is in a WoodCraft bag it is still in manufactures box.


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

jlord said:


> I bought my Nova chuck when it was on sale one month. The insert was in a Teknatool box. They keep them in a glass case at least at the store I go to or the couple I've been in across the country. I doubt they are taken out of the manufacturers box & re-packaged in bags with no markings. If that was so then that would be normal for all shipments sent to stores. I can't see them discarding a suppliers box. I think they gave you the wrong insert. Here's pics of my insert it is a 1" X 8 for my jet 1220. Althought it is in a WoodCraft bag it is still in manufactures box.


I hope they did actually. The one I got was in a bag but no box. If he gave me the wrong insert then shame on him. I paid 22.50 for it. 
I spent almost a grand in there that day.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

It may also be that it was returned (unharmed) by someone else and that is why it was in a bag. Then again, someone may have returned it because they buggered it up and it could not be seen just looking at it.
I still want go back to your comment that it is getting worse. Even with a bad insert it should not get worse. An increase in diameter of the work-piece would make it seem worse? If you haven’t, remove the jaws and clean the chuck face and underside of jaws. Reinstall per directions. (Install in guides rings, and tighten screws finger tight, and scroll the jaws in until they mate. Then screw down the inside screws, then the outside screws.) 
Per Teknatool you may have to seat the jaws on the alignment ring with a few taps with a block of wood. It may be possible that one or more jaws were slightly up and seated into the correct position while in use (the jaw would then be loose).


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

*It wasn't a nova insert!*

The new "real nova" insert is on bottom.
The woodcraft Rep sold me the wrong one either by mistake or because he was out of them. either way he should have notified me when I purchased it. Kinda irritates me!


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

NCPaladin said:


> It may also be that it was returned (unharmed) by someone else and that is why it was in a bag. Then again, someone may have returned it because they buggered it up and it could not be seen just looking at it.
> I still want go back to your comment that it is getting worse. Even with a bad insert it should not get worse. An increase in diameter of the work-piece would make it seem worse? If you haven’t, remove the jaws and clean the chuck face and underside of jaws. Reinstall per directions. (Install in guides rings, and tighten screws finger tight, and scroll the jaws in until they mate. Then screw down the inside screws, then the outside screws.)
> Per Teknatool you may have to seat the jaws on the alignment ring with a few taps with a block of wood. It may be possible that one or more jaws were slightly up and seated into the correct position while in use (the jaw would then be loose).



It was the back side of the chuck that "had" the run-out.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

Glad you finally got the problem solved. That was a lot of hoops to jump through to get it working as it should.
I notice the D is stamped in a different orientation on the OEM than on the other one. On mine (4) they are all stamped in the orientation of the correct one (your bottom picture). 
If he doesn’t have one, you may want to email Bob at Teknatool your picture of the inserts. There are probably a lot more out there. I have nothing to do with Teknatool but I suspect that a few posts of several forums may cost them a lot of sales when they are not at fault.
I do also have to wonder about the integrity of a company who would have the aftermarket inserts made and try to pass them off as original.


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

NCPaladin said:


> Glad you finally got the problem solved. That was a lot of hoops to jump through to get it working as it should.
> I notice the D is stamped in a different orientation on the OEM than on the other one. On mine (4) they are all stamped in the orientation of the correct one (your bottom picture).
> If he doesn’t have one, you may want to email Bob at Teknatool your picture of the inserts. There are probably a lot more out there. I have nothing to do with Teknatool but I suspect that a few posts of several forums may cost them a lot of sales when they are not at fault.
> I do also have to wonder about the integrity of a company who would have the aftermarket inserts made and try to pass them off as original.


The way woodcraft put it was, "try selling a chuck without the insert."
"they did not have stock, so we had a US company make them"


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

slicksqueegie said:


> "they did not have stock, so we had a US company make them"


Hmmmm…so they found a manufacturer, determined the exact specifications (well almost), and had some made? Really, Really Quickly. All before Teknatool could produce more (because Teknatool didn’t have any inserts available)? And all their other company stores were out and couldn’t mail them some? And the service center wouldn’t sell them any of his?
:blink:Wanna buy a bridge?:blink:


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

slicksqueegie said:


> The way woodcraft put it was ... "they did not have stock, so we had a US company make them"


Was this from a representative of "Woodcraft corporate" or the guy in your local store?

Sounds very strange.


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

duncsuss said:


> Was this from a representative of "Woodcraft corporate" or the guy in your local store?
> 
> Sounds very strange.


Strange indeed! Bob at teknatools had said the same story almost to the "T" and added that there were a lot of company's making these inserts because they couldn't keep up with demand. Delta tools also played a part in this somehow and were also producing inserts not recommended for the chuck. Teknatools is located in Germany I think. Bob was a one man show when I first spoke with him. But Bob is located in Florida where the US customer support center was located. And when the problem first arose he had explained that this is more then likely the problem.


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

NCPaladin said:


> Hmmmm&#133;so they found a manufacturer, determined the exact specifications (well almost), and had some made? Really, Really Quickly. All before Teknatool could produce more (because Teknatool didn&#146;t have any inserts available)? And all their other company stores were out and couldn&#146;t mail them some? And the service center wouldn&#146;t sell them any of his?
> :blink:Wanna buy a bridge?:blink:


Strangely enough it's another Bob at woodcraft technical department that explained this to me. How hard can it possibly be for a well equipped machine shop to reproduce these? Maybe he lied but both company's claim the same story. 

Bridge??? Taking a shot at me? Or woodcraft?


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

slicksqueegie said:


> Bridge??? Taking a shot at me? Or woodcraft?


Sorry, I was *definitely* talking about Woodcraft expecting someone to buy into their explanation. 

However, at the time of that posing I did not know that Teknatool also verified it. It just sounded _very unusual_ to me that Teknatool could not keep up with demand to the extent that Woodcraft would have the inserts made. Now if Woodcraft had them made to increase profit that is different and I have no problem with that as long as they are not sold as OEM.

Unless they have changed, Teknatool is headquartered in New Zealand with their main production facility now in China.


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