Woodturning is said to be the safest form of woodworking, that said it can still be dangerous and care should be taken at all times

The methods and procedures I show here are what I do at the moment and feel safe doing, I am not suggesting that you should do things the same way, that is up to you, if you don’t feel safe doing it one way find another way of doing it.

Above all take care and remember if this is your hobby it is supposed to be fun so enjoy it.

Screw chucks are very useful items and can be brought from most suppliers in different sizes and types.   However there are times when a commercial one is not the right size for what we need or just too expensive.

In this hint I will show you how I make them when I need one of a special size etc.   The first thing you need is a screw of a length and size for what you require and also a piece of wood of the right size.

Once you have these mount the wood in a chuck and face off the end.

Next mount a Jacobs chuck in the tail stock with the correct size drill in for a pilot hole for your chosen screw and drill a hole all the way through the wood.

Once you have that hole I now use a larger drill to make a hole for the head of the screw to fit in.  Once you have done this screw the screw in and remove from the chuck, you will now have something like this.

The important part is to get the screw running centrally, the easiest way I have found to do this is to mount the Jacobs chuck in the headstock and then grip the screw in it and then flatten off the base and put a chuck hold on it.

Now remove the screw and put the wood in the chuck and clean up the front face and make it slightly concave.

Now remove from the chuck and screw the screw in most off the way then add some super glue to the hollow around the screw then immediately screw the screw right home.

You now have a screw chuck, if you find the screw goes out of allignment when you are using it a gentle tap or two should straighten it again.

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