Wood Lathe Chucks - Do Not Forget the Jaws

These days when woodturners speak of wood lathe chucks, they mean the new style 4 jaw chuck. Most of these lathe chucks come with a set of middle size jaws and many others are for sale. Extra sets of jaws can make a versatile tool even better.

The middle size jaws are used to hold objects that range from about 1 1/4" diameter to 2" diameter. This of course varies with different manufacturers but is a pretty good guess. Check with your supplier before you buy. For a long time, this size of jaws suits many if most turners. It will permit the turning of bowls to fifteen or sixteen inches as well as a variety of smaller items.

Smaller jaws are available for all the major wood lathe chucks on the market. These allow for pieces from 3/8" up to 1" in diameter. While this may seem extremely small to non turners or to those new to the craft, there are a great many items such as scoops, candle sticks, or ornaments where these jaws are used. This allows for a very secure hold on small pieces that are turned at high speeds and otherwise may be knocked from the lathe. It also circumvents the need to develop some far more complex way to hold small items for turning.

Large jaws are obviously used for large pieces. It should be considered when buying large jaws that can open to three or more inches that some pieces may call not only for large jaws but also for a larger, stronger chuck. Manufacturers usually have more robust versions of the chuck for large, out of balance pieces of wood. With that said, a large set of jaws can be used with discretion to hold many items for turning.

Jumbo jaws are sold for many of the 4 jaw wood lathe chucks on the market. These are not used for holding large, unbalanced chunks of wood but rather for turning the bottoms of bowls by holding the finished bowl at the the top. This solves a lot of problems for may turners in completing a bowl to satisfaction and a good bowl is the mainstay of many woodturners.

All in all, more jaws of various sizes can make you versatile 4 jaw wood lathe chuck even more versatile. Of course this makes the craft itself more versatile and can stimulate your creativity as you look for more uses for both chuck and jaws.

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