NOVA SuperNova2 Woodturning Chuck Review
The chuck most turners settle on after their first one. Single-handed operation, a 1045 steel body, and a jaw range that stays useful as the lathe gets bigger.
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A scroll chuck changes woodturning more than any other single purchase after the lathe itself. Mounting work in a chuck instead of on a faceplate means you can take a piece off, do something else, and put it back running true — which is what makes hollowing, reverse-chucking and finishing the foot of a bowl practical rather than heroic.
The SuperNova2 is Teknatool’s mid-range chuck and has been the default recommendation for home turners for a long time. The body is machined from 1045 high-tensile steel with a fully sealed backing plate, which is the detail that decides how long a chuck lasts: shavings and dust that reach the scroll are what makes an old chuck gritty and eventually immovable. Sealed means they do not.
Operation is single-handed via a T-bar handle key that locates positively in the body. On a 10 lb wet bowl blank, being able to keep one hand on the work while the other tightens is not a convenience feature — it is the difference between a controlled mount and a dropped blank.
It is specified for lathes from 14 in to 20 in swing and ships with 50 mm (2 in) accessory jaws, a woodworm screw, the T-bar key and the fixing hardware. Teknatool put a 10-year limited warranty on it.
Get the thread right
The SuperNova2 comes in an insert version, an M33 ASR Eurolock version, and a direct 1-1/4 in x 8 TPI version. The insert version is the one to buy: the chuck body is thread-agnostic and a screw-in insert matches it to your lathe’s spindle, so the chuck moves with you to the next lathe for the price of a new insert.
The trap is that the insert is a separate purchase, and it has to match your spindle exactly — 1 in x 8 TPI and 1-1/4 in x 8 TPI are the common ones and they are not interchangeable. Check the spindle before ordering, not after.
The accessory habit
The 2 in jaws that come with it cover a lot of spindle work and small bowls. They will not hold a 12 in platter, they will not grip a bowl rim for reverse turning, and they are wrong for very small boxes. Each of those wants a different jaw set, and NOVA sells all of them.
This is not a criticism of the chuck so much as a warning about the budget. Most owners end up with three or four jaw sets, and the total spend on jaws exceeds what the chuck cost. Plan for the jaws you actually need — for most people that is Cole jaws for reverse-chucking and one larger bowl jaw set — rather than collecting them.
What works
- Single-handed operation with the T-bar key: one hand steadies the blank while the other tightens, which is the whole argument against two-lever chucks when you are mounting a heavy bowl
- A machined 1045 high-tensile steel body with a fully sealed backing plate keeps shavings out of the scroll, the failure that eventually seizes cheaper chucks
- The NOVA accessory jaw range fits it (Titan III and Discovery jaws excepted), so the chuck stays useful as your work changes rather than being outgrown
What doesn't
- The chuck body and the 2 in jaws are only the start — Cole jaws, spigot jaws and larger bowl jaws are each a further purchase, and the accessory bill outruns the chuck
- Insert versions need the correct thread adapter for your lathe bought separately, and getting that wrong is the most common ordering mistake with this chuck
- It is sized for lathes from 14 in to 20 in swing; on a small benchtop lathe it is more mass than the machine wants