minorhero Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hello, I am finishing up a restore on an old Brodhead Garrett J-170 Lathe (same as the Yates American model). For those not familiar with this lathe, it is pretty big and weighs in at 525 lbs. It has a gap in the bed over which I believe it is a 16" swing, over the bed it has a 12" swing. The gap is only about 5 or 6". The spindle on the inboard side of the lathe is 1 and 1/8" with 8 threads per inch. I am interested in buying a chuck so I can turn some bowels etc. Because of the odd ball spindle size I am left with two routes I can go down for buying the chuck. I can 1) Buy an adapter from Best Wood Tools for 80 dollars and then buy a chuck that has the more popular 1" with 8 threads per inch that delta and other manufacturers use. Or 2) I can buy a oneway Stronghold chuck which comes with an adapter that will work for my spindle. The advantage of buying the adapter is that I can then use a lot of other accessories made by other companies. However even with a relatively cheap chuck system (like the barracuda II at 170 dollars), after you throw in the 80 dollar adapter cost I am not that far away from the cost of the oneway stronghold chuck (specifically about 40 dollars away). So my question is this. Is the stronghold chuck worth the extra cost? I only get one set of jaws with the stronghold chuck (though others can obviously be purchased) and I do not know enough about turning right now to know if that is an important disadvantage or not. If it is not a big disadvantage and the stronghold chuck is significantly better then other cheaper chucks on the market then I wouldn't mind spending the extra 40 dollars and getting the oneway. Obviously oneway is one of the big names in the business, but I care more about quality then name brand. If the stronghold chuck does not significantly outperform cheaper chucks then I would obviously be better off with the adapter and a cheaper chuck. Any thoughts would be very welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texfire Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 I don't have experience with the chucks you mention, but I have two Nova G3 chucks, one with the correct thread for my Delta, and one with an insert for it. I plan to sell the delta dedicated chuck with the lathe if and when I upgrade lathes, and buyIng a new insert for the second chuck to use on the next lathe. A good chuck with an insert will be a better choice if you anticipate upgrading to another lathe, the adapter would be useful on multiple chucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanZ Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 You can also get a 1-1/8 - 8 RH/LH adapter for the OneWay Talon chuck. It's a smaller chuck than the Stronghold but in my opinion a fine size for a 16" swing. I have lathes that use 1x8 and 1.25x8 threads, and two Talons, each with the two size adapters. I've used a sindle adapter to step down my 1.25x8 thread to 1x8 but do that under duress only when the chuck needs to be moved between different spindle size machines set up for different operations. I generally just like to install the correct insert into the chuck. So, getting the correct chuck adapter would be my first purchase. Then you can always get a spindle adapter later if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APierce Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 Oneway makes some of the best chucks, but Nova makes pretty good ones too. I would decide whether you would rather spend the extra $ on the chuck or some other tools like lathe chisels, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 General has a 1 1/8" 8tpi spindle on the 260, perhaps their faceplates would work. I've got a Stronghold, and I love it. If you were to get the adapter, what other accessories are you looking at that wouldn't be covered by the Oneway? Beauty of a lathe, I like YA machines. I've got a Y20 that's stripped and ready for bodywork. Pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted June 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 General has a 1 1/8" 8tpi spindle on the 260, perhaps their faceplates would work. I've got a Stronghold, and I love it. If you were to get the adapter, what other accessories are you looking at that wouldn't be covered by the Oneway? Beauty of a lathe, I like YA machines. I've got a Y20 that's stripped and ready for bodywork. Pics? Thank you all for the input. Once I found out the talon could work I went ahead and bought that one. It was a little cheaper then buying an adapter and another decent chuck. Here are some pictures of my lathe. The first is of the lathe as it looked when I first unloaded it in my shop. The second two are how it looks now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebeam Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 That is now a sweet looking lathe, something tells me you will have fun with it. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 Nice job! I fully restored my lathe too, a 1964 Powermatic. They sure run better after, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted June 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 Nice job! I fully restored my lathe too, a 1964 Powermatic. They sure run better after, eh? Absolutely, in my case it didn't run at all before I took apart. The reeves drive was completely frozen and the tailstock and banjo was rusted completely in place. I'm pretty happy with how it runs now. I've already turned a couple of things and can see why folks get addicted to this aspect of woodworking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APierce Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Beautiful restoration job!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashust1 Posted November 29, 2022 Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 Hello guys, this is a new question to your old posts.... I am looking at J-170 that is missing the Banjo and tool rest... cant seem to find one - anyone know of where to get/find one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonPacific Posted November 29, 2022 Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 Are you looking for usability or restoration accuracy? Banjos and rests are almost universal. As long as you're just looking for something functional I'd say go on ebay or a replacement parts dealer for one that's the same size as your lathe originally called for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted November 30, 2022 Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 vintagemachinery.org might be a useful source of info, if you have not already explored it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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