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2025/06/12 - Guild Meeting - Building a Homemade Eccentric Chuck with Jim Duxbury

Building a Homemade Eccentric Chuck with Jim Duxbury
  • Thursday June 12th
  • Hybrid: Live at NCSU Crafts Center and by IRD Broadcast via Zoom
  • Zoom call opens a 6:15 for socializing
  • Meeting begins at 6:45 PM
  • Demonstration begins at 7 PM

Bet you're thinking this is a woodturner’s 35mm camera.  Well, it may look a little like one but it's really a Duxbury eccentric wooden chuck. Why not? Duxbury has always been a little off center.  And besides it can’t be a camera -- where wood you get a roll of wooden film?

There are many versions of eccentric chucks available for a wood lathe. Usually they are made of steel or aluminum and range in cost from under a hundred dollars to many hundreds of dollars. Each one has its advantages and the complex ones are almost a science in themselves to use. Generally they are not intuitive for most woodturners.

So, Jim created the Duxbury Wooden Chuck --- now nicknamed the Dux Chuck. It is totally intuitive to use, simple to make, stimulates creativity, and the price is right. In fact all of the material needed to make a real Duxbury Chuck could probably be resurrected from your scrap wood pile. What are we waiting for? Creativity abounds. 


The material should be straight grained hardwood. Poplar was used for this chuck but maple, cherry, oak and other hardwoods would work fine also. Jim has designed this chuck to work with a Oneway Talon chuck using #2 jaws. Slight modifications may need to be made to accommodate other brands of chucks. 

To find additional details and a drawing, click here. 


Slideshow
Dux Chuck Art Examples

Jim has also made three different mandrels that fit into the chuck frame. One is a flat center, another a screw chuck, and lastly, a 3/8”-16 TPI bottle stopper chuck. These frames can rotate to change the location of the pattern to be cut.  The mandrels are shown at the far left. 

To the immediate left, you will find a slideshow of some of the many art/designs that can be made with the Dux Chuck.  As Jim will tell you, using the Dux Chuck can become quite addictive and there is no end to the fun in sight!

About our Demonstrator:

Jim Duxbury, woodturner and inventor, is the kind of guy who thinks and creates “out side the box.”  His turnings are unique, and he seldom turns the same thing twice. 

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he now 
resides in Graham, North Carolina.  With the help of his wife, Rita and inspiration from his pet parrotlet, “Bean” creativity abounds in his studio.  Constantly improving and solving problems to make his skills more efficient and functional, he enjoys teaching others the craft of woodturning, woodworking, and kaleidoscope construction. 

He prides himself in creating wooden items of 
beauty that also are designed to function well.  His fascination with wood and wood grains, from the most exotic to the common native varieties, and with the ability to employ the wood lathe and adapt tools, all lead to experiments of new and exciting ideas.