Advice on which Jaws for Axm SK114

[Raymond Tourneaux]

I decided to keep the Axminster SK114 standard kit but have been wanting larger jaws and I am hoping that someone has actual experience with either the Gripper "G" jaws (serrated internal grip 82mm to 100mm with 16mm depth) OR the standard dovetail "M" jaws (Potential gripping range: Internal 91mm to 117mm with 16mm depth)
The serrated gripper jaws would hold rough wood better than the M jaws but they have a smaller internal grip range... the perfect circle at 100 is almost 4" while the M jaws will expand to 4.6") Theorizing is all well and good but experience is really what matters.I was going to sell my two axminster chucks and migrate to vicmarc. Still thinking about it tho... will post here if i decide to sell. Thank you.

 

[Bill Blasic]

If the dovetail is configured correctly it makes absolutely no difference what the brand of chuck used. I have all the major brands of chucks and never go to the closet and choose the chuck by brand, I choose as to what jaws are on any of the chucks that I'm looking for. I have jaws from 1" to 8" diameter for dovetails. I never use gripper jaws even though I have a few.

 

[Alan Weinberg]

agree with Bill. I like both Vicmarc and Axminster. If you sell Axminster, I’d be interested.

 

[William Rogers]

I have the M jaws (and also the Colossus jaws) I use the M jaws a lot and they have a nice range. Mainly because I prefer dovetail vs serrated. I also have the serrated Colossus jaws that are really big and have only used them on occasion. Most of the time I use the M jaws and the O'Donnell jaws. I also have the C jaws.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

I decided to keep the Axminster SK114 standard kit but have been wanting larger jaws and I am hoping that someone has actual experience with either the Gripper "G" jaws (serrated internal grip 82mm to 100mm with 16mm depth) OR the standard dovetail "M" jaws (Potential gripping range: Internal 91mm to 117mm with 16mm depth)
The serrated gripper jaws would hold rough wood better than the M jaws but they have a smaller internal grip range... the perfect circle at 100 is almost 4" while the M jaws will expand to 4.6") Theorizing is all well and good but experience is really what matters.I was going to sell my two axminster chucks and migrate to vicmarc. Still thinking about it tho... will post here if i decide to sell. Thank you.

I have both the "g" and the "m" but in reality I use the "h" the most because a lot of my rough turned bowls were turned before I had the "g" and "m" so the "h" matches the "c" That I had at the time. Just seems easier to me to use a gripper jaw because when I true up a tenon for final turning I don't have to make sure the dovetail is correct. Just put a nice right angle on it, and when I true up some of them the tenon gets smaller so the "h" works good for that too.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Just seems easier to me to use a gripper jaw because when I true up a tenon for final turning I don't have to make sure the dovetail is correct. Just put a nice right angle on it, and when I true up some of them the tenon gets smaller so the "h" works good for that too.

A dove tail tenon will never work for a rough turning so yes the gripper jaws, if they are similar to the OneWay profile jaws, are the way to go. The only way to make a dovetail work is doing a recess, due to the fact that when the wood dries it shrinks, so most of the time it can be trued to that perfect circle.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Here's the "H" profile and dimensions. I don't know if they're like the one-way or not.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Here's the "H" profile and dimensions. I don't know if they're like the one-way or not. View attachment 66867

Google "OneWay profile jaws" and you will see that each jaw has 2 contact points that will grip tenons of varying diameters equally.

 

[William Rogers]

A dove tail tenon will never work for a rough turning so yes the gripper jaws, if they are similar to the OneWay profile jaws, are the way to go. The only way to make a dovetail work is doing a recess, due to the fact that when the wood dries it shrinks, so most of the time it can be trued to that perfect circle.

I don’t understand why dovetail jaws won’t work for rough turned wood. I have done it numerous times doing an oversize tenon rough turned and then once dry truing up that tenon.

 

[hockenbery]

I don’t understand why dovetail jaws won’t work for rough turned wood. I have done it numerous times doing an oversize tenon rough turned and then once dry truing up that tenon.

Real dovetails work great on oversized tenons. I do that all the time to plan for a round tenon to be inside the dried teno

The nova birdbeak ( not a real dovetail) won’t hold oversized tenons well.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

I don’t understand why dovetail jaws won’t work for rough turned wood. I have done it numerous times doing an oversize tenon rough turned and then once dry truing up that tenon.

Ya you are right they will work but poorly those 8 ends of the dovetail jaw don't have anywhere near as much holding power as the profile jaws.

 

[hockenbery]

Ya you are right they will work but poorly those 8 ends of the dovetail jaw don't have anywhere near as much holding power as the profile jaws.

The ONEWAY jaws hold with more force
The dovetail jaws hold with more force than is needed

The ONEWAY jaws on a larger tenon is like lifting 1 ton with a 10 ton jack
The dove tails on a larger tenon is like lifting 1 ton with a 3 ton jack.

Does one do the job better?
I’ve use both a lot.

I much prefer the ONEWAY jaws for holding square stock without tenons.

I much prefer the dovetails for tenons and am much more confident using dovetails on short tenons in the 1/8” tall range.

 

[Bill Blasic]

Number 1 the Nova "birds beak jaws" are only the 2" jaws which when you are talking large out of round tenons you are not seriously going to be looking at 2" jaws. I always true up the tenon on out of round dry pieces and then use an appropriate size dovetail jaw. I myself do very little turning on wet wood where I have to dry and then re-turn. So when turning lets say a bowl I start on the woodworm screw, rough out the piece including the tenon and then turn to finish with the last cut a finish cut on the tenon as removing all that wood has released inner tensions in the wood and a finish cut on the tenon insures that at the start of turning the other side it is as close as possible to being round to start. After taking out the inner bowl yes the piece will probably be a hair out of round but not very noticeable. I have turned probably a thousand pieces using those Nova 2" birds beak jaws (and by the way for me that birds beak is a dovetail) using a tenon that rarely gets to be an 1/8" inch tall most generally 1/16" to 3/32" tall.

 

[William Rogers]

I guess we all can have our opinions. No doubt the OneWay profile jaws do a great job, however I have never had a problem using dovetail jaws on twice turned bowls. Instead go saying they do the job poorly, I feel they do the job just fine. I generally size my tenon to about 1/4’ gap between jaws and that allows me plenty of wood to true up to the desired size for final turning. As long as it works is the goal.

 

[Raymond Tourneaux]

Thanks for the comments on DT jaws vs serrated jaws. As usual its easier having multiple chucks with different jaws. One think I like about the vicmarc 55mm shark jaws paired to my vm100 chuck is that the piece is away from the chuck body that allows me more access to the bottom of the piece. When i use the SK114 chuck and the standard C jaws the chuck body is a bit in the way for me. I suppose larger diameter bowls are not a problem but I seem to work on narrower vases and more follow forms where the piece further away from the chuck makes it easier to turn. given enough time, $$ and experience i am sure Ill find an answer.