Soft Jaws for lathe chuck..Quick..Simple..Inexpensive

[jjr2001]

I have not yet made copper soft jaws for my 4 jaw 4" lathe chuck.
Did not want to take the time to make them today.

On hand was a bunch of .003 shim stock.
Cut a piece just wide enough to cover the chuck jaws.
Cut it to a length that is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch shorter than the circumference of the part that needs protection.
Position it inside the chuck jaws and insert the part to be turned.
Works every time. Save it in a little box for later use and add others as the need arises.


Cheers, JR

[MichaelMoore]

Strips from a soft drink can can be used if you have nothing else but only for very light cuts as it is very soft and if you need to clamp the chuck up firmly the jaws may cut through the aluminum.

[jjr2001]

Thanks Michael, even with the soft aluminum cans you could always make two or 3 pieces
and layer them up keeping the opens all between the same set of jaws.

Cheers, JR

[MichaelMoore]

I found the limits and had both a marred part and shredded aluminum can.

[metric_taper]

On a side note, that brand of chuck from China I've found to be moderately good quality. Their 4 jaw is well machined with tight jaws, and their 3jaw was a few thou of runout, vs the 28 thou from the chuck that came with my lathe. I think it's called Saturn. I've had good luck with their 5C spin index, that replaced a unit with excess slop.

[aphilipmarcou]

I have been using strips of aluminium sheet metal for holding and wrapping around lengths of knurled stock to be machined into screws and nuts for my wooden planes- no problems at all because the aloominoom is thick and sift enough to absorb the (crisp) knurling.

[jjr2001]

Thanks guys, Aphilipmarcou, that is a nice bunch of knurled thumb screws you have there. Nice work!

[DIYer]

Thanks jjr2001! We've added your Soft Lathe Chuck Jaws to our Workholding category,
as well as to your builder page: jjr2001's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Soft Lathe Chuck Jaws by jjr2001

tags: chuck, soft jaws