Customer Reviews

Grizzly G8784 4-Jaw Chuck For Round Pieces - 1" x 8 TPI

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wll This is pretty much what I expected. This chuck works but I imagine the more expensive chucks work much better and can achieve a better grip on the work piece. I do not know what problems the other reviewer was experiencing but I have only used this chuck to grip the OD of the work (I imagine ID would work as well). The 1st 1/8" or so is tapered inward and I have found making a short tapered tenon to work the best in OD gripping situations although since I am a beginner and do run into the occasional big catch I have been able to knock the work out of round. My biggest complaint would have to be the included "wrenches" which are nothing more than a couple pieces of round stock. These tend to bend when trying to get a real good grip on the work. Other than that though I feel I got my $40 worth but will probably get a better chuck in the future and will probably try coming up with some stronger "wrenches".

This chuck is 'okay' quality but the buyer should know that it is only designed for ID chucking. You cannot chuck on the OD of the workpiece. Grizzly sells a high quality 4 jaw chuck that does both OD and ID clamping through their website.

I got two of these as spares in addition to a couple of higher end chucks I have, since I have a habit of leaving unfinished work sitting around, and I prefer to never re-chuck my work to so I don't get wobble when I re-chuck. I was expecting a cheap tool that worked as well as a cheap tool should, but was quite pleasantly surprised.

For a test, I turned a 8" piece of wood in a Wood River chuck. I rotated the wood in the chuck 90 degrees, and got a tiny bit of misalignment, exactly what you'd expect. I repeated this, for 180 degrees total rotation, and got the same results.

I then chucked the same piece of wood in the Grizzly chuck, and got the same tiny bit of misalignment. No better, no worse.

I repeated the test with a PSI Barracuda and got the same results.

In addition, the jaws from the PSI and Wood River fit on the Grizzly, although the locating keyway is inverted on the Grizzly, so the Grizzly jaws can't go on the PSI or Wood River. The screws on the PSI are a different size from the Grizzly, and the screws need to be conical-headed to locate the jaws, and the Grizzly screws do not have conical heads, so you'll need to get new screws to put PSI jaws on the Grizzly. Any decent hardware store should have them.

The jaws grip just fine. I prefer this type of jaw over the ones with the multiple sharp grooves, which frequently dig into the wood. The chucks I received grip on both the ID and OD, the other user who commented on that may have gotten a mis-machined one - it wouldn't be the first time that had happened with low-end woodworking equipment.

I also tried swapping the jaws with a One Way "Talon", but the hole spacing is different.

The threads on the Grizzly are a bit longer than the other chucks, so I needed an extra spacer on the spindle of my Powermatic model 45.

Also, the "wrenches" (metal rods) and holes are a bit smaller on the Grizzly than on the Wood River, but I drilled them with a hand drill to match the Wood River, reducing the tool count on my bench.

The finish is not as good on the Grizzly, it's all a black oxide finish, and the movement is a little bit rough, but I assume it'll loosen up with a bit of use. I'm giving this five stars because it appears to perform just as well as the PSI and Wood River, and it's 1/4 the price of the Wood River and 1/3 the price of the PSI. I would love to support companies that cater specifically to the woodworking industry, but the prices for PSI and Wood River are just plain ridiculous, and as near as I can tell it all comes from China anyway.

This is a great product, and many people on the woodworking forum I frequent agree. I recommend it, just make sure you know how to use it.

I don't like chucks that close with the steel inserts. Too easy to lose. A fair product but not great.

This is garbage. I know you get what you pay for but Grizzly has not let me down in the past. It came unbalanced. What a disappointment.