Anyone have any recommended videos for how to set up and use the chucks with the wood lathes? I thought it seemed pretty straightforward, but I couldn’t get my material to mount securely with the chuck in the drawer.
It seemed like I would’ve needed to swap out the jaws (inward-facing vs. outward-facing jaws), but I’m not sure how to do that, couldn’t find it in the wiki, and didn’t want to screw it up. 
Sorry I missed this! These smaller Allen keys in the drawer can be used to remove the 8 screws on top and switch out the jaws. I can try to track down a video on the jaws.
I can also try to help if you tell me a little bit more about what you’re trying to do with the jaws!
I was trying to make Christmas trees out of some scrap wood I had lying around, something like this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6fqqZK1N7U (but only ~6" tall).
That wasn’t the original video I was referencing - the one I saw initially only used the chuck, and didn’t include the backstop. The wood only sat inside the jaws about half an inch, so it wasn’t very stable (and started wobbling as soon as I turned the lathe on). In most of the videos I’ve seen, it looks like you want at least an inch or so of the chuck to grab onto the wood.
If you’ll be around the shop sometime later this week, I can come in and show you what I was trying. Otherwise, I’ll just try to grab some pictures/video next time I go in. Thanks in advance for the help! 
Ok cool! I would probably use the jaws in my picture above to clamp down on it. A few things I’ll suggest:
I’d keep the tail stock on as long as possible, especially with something this long. Bowls can do fine with just the head stock mount, but anything that extends more than about 5-6 inches from the head stock needs a bit more support in my experience. You’ll see in that video they leave the tailstock in place up until the last second before finishing.
Also, you’ll notice they put a slight inward/downward angle on that tenon. That will help pull the jaws into the piece and align it. I would recommend replicating that.
Hope those things help! And @Rolo is great at woodturning, I’d be curious if he has additional suggestions that I’m missing.
I may not have a ton of availability this week, but will be around next week! I’ve also been debating making some trees, I’ll let you know if and when I’ll be doing one.
Hey y’all! Happy to contribute what I know. I’ve turned a few “scrap” trees and left them around the Asmbly display area.
I’ll be in just about any and every day, usually afternoons and evenings. If there’s a time you’d like to meetup about it I’m happy to show you some things.
TLDR; Err on the side of bigger tenons. Shape the tenons to match the chuck grip. Tail stock required if the spindle starts wobbling.
And the note about bigger tenons. It’s really easy to undersize your tenon. I recommend to aim for the biggest tenon you can make given your materials. It need to be a perfect circle before you make your tenon. As long as the chuck as a tight grip, a few rough spots are no problem.
I hope this helps! Happy turning.
This is great, thanks so much for the info! I’ll be at the space for the forging class tomorrow, and I’ll give it another shot after the class if the lathe is open.
One more question about the chuck jaws - in @drew.hynes 's picture above, it looks like those jaws are only about half an inch deep, and I placed the wood inside the jaws so that they would have to tighten down in order to grab it. Is that a correct way to use them?
I’ll give it another shot tomorrow, and I’ll take some pictures/videos if I can’t get it figured out. This has been super helpful!
I should have checked discourse this morning. I said hi and didn’t even mention this! Were you able to try today? I’ll be in this week probably not Sunday though.
I totally lost track of this leading up to Thanksgiving! I’ll be back in town on Tuesday and get back to the shop either Tuesday or Wednesday evening. I’ll send you a DM.
