Wood River self centering chuck any good?

[dbhost]

The title kind of says it all... Is the Wood River self centering chuck any good? Or are the additional $$ worth saving for to get a Barracuda2 chuck?

Faceplate turning only goes so far...

[DonHo]

I don't have a Woodriver or a Barracuda chuck, the chuck I use most is the cheap CUG3418C ( around $89) PSI that uses "tommy bars" and comes with 2 sets of jaws. It came with 3 sets of jaws when I bought mine and I"ve also bought the large flat jaws and the longer pins for the flat jaws. I've been very well pleased with how the chuck has performed. I've had no problems with it. I also have the nova precision midi and it works well also, I just prefer the PSI, probably because I had it first and got used to it. Either will do a good job for you.
DonHo

[BigguyZ]

I can definitely say that the Barracuda is well worth the $. I love that thing. I think they also had a special on the TiN limited edition package a while back. Now I don't care for the TiN plating, but the package was a good deal for all of the extra jaws and such that you got... Not sure if that's still available, priced the same, but worth a look.

[SteveR]

I have the Barracuda system for my Shopsmith.....It was like the cs3000?? or something. I caught a sale as well with an extra set of large jaws (and it comes with a nice variety). This is the only thing I have used, so nothing to compare it to. I would buy it again.

The jaws that come with this open up a lot more turning options. You may not use your faceplate too much more.

[dbhost]

Well the candidates right now are the PSI Barracuda CSC3000C Amazon Link (Isn't there a converter to allow BT3Central to get revenue from clicks / buys from there?)


and...

Woodcraft Wood River Self Centering chuck. Woodcraft Link.


The Barracuda is twice the price, and doesn't appear to even have a storage case to help me keep track of the bits & pieces...

[Whaler]

I have a Nova midi and a Barracuda micro, If I were to buy a full size chuck it would be the Barracuda with out a doubt.

The Barracuda does come in a plastic case. A couple things to consider are that the Barracuda comes with 4 sets of jaws, the Woodriver only appears to have one and the Barracuda is one handed key operated and the Woodriver uses tommy bars (a PIA).

[BigguyZ]

Well the candidates right now are the PSI Barracuda CSC3000C Amazon Link (Isn't there a converter to allow BT3Central to get revenue from clicks / buys from there?)


and...

Woodcraft Wood River Self Centering chuck. Woodcraft Link.


The Barracuda is twice the price, and doesn't appear to even have a storage case to help me keep track of the bits & pieces...

The Barracuda does come with a plastic molded case. But if you go that route, this package is a little mib more, but you get the face jaws and the spur center (for doing spindle work w/o having to remove the chuck).

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CSC3000CTN.html

Since the laws are $30, and the spur center is $17, it's a much better value.