cole jaws

[byron constantine]

I have the nova 10" cole jaw set and was wondering if anyone has made a
set of wood extension jaws to accomadate larger turnings? Any info would be helpful.
Thanks, Byron

[Allen Neighbors]

Byron, I've never made any, but if I remember right, some longer screws came with my Cole Jaws, for just such an endeavor. I saw a post on one of these forums where a man had made a set from 1/2" baltic birch plywood. 1/2" (actually 15/32) Baltic Birch was originally designed to be used for dynamite boxes, and has 9 plies, and no voids, making it one of the strongest plywoods available at normal retail stores.
If I were going to make a set, I'd cut out a disk the size I wanted, center the cole jaws on the disk in a closed position, and mark the mounting screw holes, the button mounting holes, and the exact point of the location of each jaw (at the outer edge, at the point the jaws touch). Then I'd drill the jaw-mounting holes, and counter sink them for the screw heads. Then I'd connect the jaw-location marks on the disk and saw the lines, separating the jaws into four.
Then, I'd drill and tap the button screw holes, extending the line of holes to the edge of the oversize jaws. After tapping the button holes in the plywood, I'd put thinned CA in the threads, let that set, and then re-tap. It'll make the threads stronger.
Then, using the longer screws, I'd mount the cole jaws between the plywood jaws and the chuck, and give it a try. :)
You'll probably get some better instructions than these, but this is the way I'd try it. You might be able to get by without the cole jaws and just use the ones you made. :)

[Dale Johnson]

if you do make wood jaws, do not use mdf. a turner in canada almost lost an arm when his mdf ones flew apart. the lathe was turning at its slowest setting. use a quality plywood. i made mine out of baltic birch.

[Richard Jones]

Per Allen's final thought,, something like this?

http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/turning/articles_123.shtml

[Colin MacDiarmid]

Try doing a search for the articles on the longworth chuck but donot use mdf

[Jack Savona]

http://www.aroundthewoods.com/jaws.shtml