will these flat jaws damage my bowls?

[andrew zukewycz]

i am interested in not using jam chucks to turn off my tenon. but i am wondering if these flat jaws damage the bowls at all...
http://www.woodcraft.com/product.asp...FamilyID=20042
im hoping that as long as i dont crank down on them, i should be good. i just am lazy and dont want to add any more hand work than i have to.

any input is greatly appreciated.

thx
zuke

[alex carey]

it should be perfectly fine. never had any trouble.

[David Walser]

Andrew,

When I first started turning, one of my first investments was a similar set of jaws for my Vicmark chuck. The jaws work, but I'm disappointed in them. I bought them because I thought they'd save me a ton of time in not having to turn a jam chuck. Unless you have a dedicated chuck body for use with these jaws, that's most likely not going to be the case. Taking the old jaws off the chuck, mounting these jaws on the chuck, moving the buttons, and then centering the bowl in the jaws take up a lot of time.

Worse, the jaws don't hold the bowl as accurately centered as a well-made jam chuck. (By the time you've finish turned the inside and outside of the bowl and are ready to reverse chuck it, the rim is usually not perfectly round. For some reason, I find it easier to mount a bowl in a jam chuck accurately than it is to get the bowl to sit perfectly centered between the buttons. YMMV.)

I'm NOT trying to talk you out of the flat jaws. I still use my set on occasion. Just understand what you're getting. It's not a perfect solution -- there's a reason people build vacuum chucks for their lathes!

[Frank Townend]

One other point Andrew is that Cole Jaws can crack a bowl edge if you tighten them too much. This holds true in contraction or expansion mode.

[charlie knighton]

i use both, jaws and jam chuck depending on turning

when using jaws use a paper towel between rubber pens and turning or you may be sanding black marks off

even with jaws use tailstock, a heavy cut will tear the walls out of a thin turning

with jam chuck i usually use sandpaper between jam and turning

[Alan Trout]

I also use both jamb chucks and Cole Jaws. I have had very good luck with Cole Jaws. There are appropriate uses and inappropriate uses for them. Key for the most part is you don't over tighten them and use your tail stock and live center.

Good Luck

Alan

[Mike Golka]

I use a set of home made jaws just like those and they work fine. Just rember, don't over tighten and use the tailstock to center the peice. Take light cuts and all should be good. Like others have stated they have their place and so do jam chucks.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Andrew - for that price they would make a good addition to your overall tool collection! I used mine for quite a while until I wanted something a little more secure after I launched a number of bowls. I ended up using the flat jaws as a way to attach a donut chuck to my lathe! I find that the donut chuck works a lot better and there is no risk of launching the bowl! Course, you have limited access to the entire outside of the bowl - just like when using the Cole jaws! When you get tired of that - you move up to the vacuum chuck system! Always something!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Andrew I used Cole jaws for a long time before I got my vacuum chuck. The key is to use your tailstock and put it in the dimple it made when you first started the bowl. This will center it pretty much every time. I have not had a problem with it running true using this method. As others have said don't over tighten. I also use my donut chucks a lot.

[Dave Ogren]

Zuke,

I have to second what everyone said. Also you can not sand the whole outside with cole jaws because the buttons are in the way. There are a lot of used cole jaws for sale (check the classifieds) because of a lot of turners are going to vacuum chucking which is much better as Steve said. Best of luck.

Dave

[owen bowen]

I used a set like those and changed the little "buttons" over to bottle stoppers. A quik trip to Ace Hardware for some longer bolts and 8 single hole stoppers greatly improved the the holding power. The stoppers compress around the edges for a better grip and are almost 3 times as tall. If a mishap does occur the stoppers don't mar the wood they leave a little black streak that can be cleaned off.

[Greg Just]

I will use duct tape as added support on certain bowls when using my cole jaws. It's cheap insurance that the bowl will not come out.

[Stephen Johnson]

Does anyone know if the jaws for this chuck will fit any other chucks, like maybe the G3?

[Jim Sebring]

I'll second Stephen's question. I would dedicate one of my G3s to the flat jaws if they will fit. I like the way Bob Hamilton has addded Oneway jaws to his SN2 and faced them with wood as a sort of jam chuck. I just don't want to spend 8x, or so, for Oneway jaws if these will work as well.

[Ryan Baker]

I don't know if those will fit the G3, but Teknatool has two Cole jaw sets that will fit the G3.