What a difference a chuck makes

So, as mentioned I finally bought a scroll chuck for my lathe. After careful consideration, I decided to go for the “Versa-Chuck Model T” from Toolpost.co.uk

It suits my lathe I feel because I have a limit on the size of wood I can turn. Being on a fairly tight budget, if I ever upgrade to a bigger lathe I will make sure I can also upgrade the chuck before I order. My one criticism of the chuck is the tommy bars used for tightening/loosening are a bit pants. Just a couple of bits of mild steel rod. I made a pair of sleeves to cover them so’s to get a better grip of them.

I was able to re-mount a couple of bowls I started a few months ago, and trim them up a bit. It was nice to be able to grip them without having to duck every time they flew off’f the lathe.
This one is a bit of well seasoned oak. It has a few splits & cracks, but nothing I won’t be able to fill.

And this one is a bit of cherry from a tree I cut down last year.

There are a few cracks in the cherry one too, but I think it adds to the character. Both are still to be finished, but the cherry has been sanded a bit.

I also started turning a few little scoops which should be finished next week. The first one I made was almost finished, but I had a dig in with the skew after breaking the cardinal rule of never going back to a finished piece. Ho hum. Every day’s a school day…..