Which Nova jaws do you like best?

[Jeff Horton]

About to order a Nova Chuck and trying to decide on which jaws to order. My favorite things to turn are Christmas ornaments and bowls. Some spindle work but not much.

So, which jaws do you find you like best? Once I make up my mind I want to purchase it all at once. Just hard to decide on which jaws (and no, I don't want to buy them all! :))

[Gary Max]

I would buy the SuperNova 2---comes with one set of jaws and also buy the long finger jaws. They are great for holding smaller stuff.

[Bob Opsitos]

I have the standard 50mm jaws, the 25mm jaws, the Cole jaws, and the 45mm spigot jaws. Also have the 50mm face plate for the 50mm jaws.

The 50mm gets used for most bowl stuff along with the 50mm face plate. The 25mm only goes on for very small bowls/cups. The cole's are fairly new but I quite like them. The spigot jaws are also new, bought for hollowing, I've used them and like them for one small vase and they worked well. I think they are not suited for bowl work, I like the 50mm standard jaws much better. I get the impression that the 50mm's allow me to get away with smaller length tenons. Or maybe the serrated teeth of the spigot jaws didn't like the face grain tenon regardless of length?

Bob

[Michael Stafford]

I have nearly all the jaws but I must say my favorite is rapidly becoming the 75mm bowl jaws. They really give a tenacious grip on bowl and box tenons. But the standard 50mm jaws are terrific also.

[Jim Becker]

Without being specific to the Nova 'cause I use a different brand, I find that having a set of jaws larger than the standard ones in addition to a set of spigot jaws to be the perfect combination for me. The larger jaws let me grab a wider tenon on heftier pieces and the spigot jaws come in handy for a whole bunch of things. I also have a spur center that is designed to clamp in the chuck so I can put something between centers, get it round and ready and then put it in the chuck without a whole lot of messing around.

[Dave Wimmer]

I have 5 different sets not counting the Cole jaws. The one I use the most is the 4" PowerGrip. Haven't used the Cole jaws at all since i built my vacuum system.