Abstract: A method of fabricating paperboard cores, and the paperboard cores so fabricated, have improved chuck strength and can be used with chucks rotating at a speed of at least 200 mm/min., even with paper rolls having a weight of over 8.5 tons. A plurality of paperboard plies (e.g. made by press drying) are wound spirally around a mandrel into a tube to produce a paperboard core having a cylindrical surface and inside diameter and a wall thickness of 10 mm or more.