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Chuck Jaw storage idea?

D

David Snell

Joined
Sep 2, 2025
Messages
21
Likes
10
Location
Centreville, VA
Hello All...

I have a number of jaws, 5-6 sets at the moment and growing. i'm looking for ideas and pictures on how best to store and manage them.

ive been searching through various thread (he multi-year shop pics thread and others) but can seem to find much

Mind sharing pictures, aside from throwing them in a draw :-) or point me to a thread that i may have missed.

Thank you,

David
 
The most highly recommended way to store all your sets of jaws is to have a chuck for each of them. Easy Peasy, all the way to the Poor House.

Seriously, I have a couple lidded plastic bins that once held baby wipes, one holds the larger extra jaws, one holds the smaller jaws. Your solution will probably depend on how often you're changing jaws. This storage works for me at my frequency of changing, which is 'for special projects.'
 
I just keep them in their original heavy cardboard boxes on a shelf at the lathe. If needed, you can write their identification on the side of the boxes.

If the boxes ever wear out, I'll go to Rubbermaid food storage containers, on the shelf.
 
Dean Center said:
The most highly recommended way to store all your sets of jaws is to have a chuck for each of them. Easy Peasy, all the way to the Poor House.
Click to expand...
David Snell said:
i've started down this path, hence the ask
Click to expand...

You're on a well-traveled path! (IMO) I have two drawers that will hold most but not all of my chucks, about 20 at the moment, various jaws mounted and ready to go. I hate to change jaws but rarely have to. To stay out of the poor house I didn't buy all the chucks the same day. Also, all mine are Teknatool/Nova which usually cost less than some others, especially when bought used or on sale. I'm at the point now where I only buy new chucks when I give some away.

Chucks that won't fit in the drawers, such as one with cole jaws, hang on sturdy deck screws fastened to a plywood wall behind the drill press.

I keep jaws I don't use often in plastic sandwich bags in the back of the drawers. I have a small clear-plastic tub for extra standard jaws - there are a bunch since every new chuck comes with another set of these jaws. Also in the back of one drawer are the chuck/jaw manuals and sets of spare screws, wormwood screws, and spare chuck keys.
 
I store my jaws (those not mounted on chucks permanently) in small boxes my younger son gave me that fit in a rolling tool chest that sits under my “lathe bench.” Those I use most often are on chucks hanging on the wall behind me.
 
I have three SN2's, but don't keep any jaw sets permanently mounted. I have a nearly complete set of jaws (and some duplicates). Each set goes into a zip lock bag and the bags are lined up in order of jaw size. I have the bags in the top compartment of a rolling tool chest, but they could just as easily go in a drawer. Being in the open compartment gives me a contained place to put the jaws on and off and keep track of the screws (which get stored in their own zip lock).

Whatever storage solution you settle on it's good to also think about how that storage solution will facilitate the "next step".
 
I have a piece of pine for each set that acts as a tray. Each one has indents for setting dividers to the proper internal and external diameters for those jaws. Those not in use go in a drawer. It is easy to pull out a set, swap the jaws on the chuck without removing it, put the prior set away, and set the dividers to be ready to mark the next piece.

Edit to add a picture:IMG_4790.jpeg
 
Last edited:
 
I do have one of the Easy Chucks, and I do need storage for those jaws. Quick change takes on a whole different meaning with that chuck. I may have to build some shelves for the cole jaws. The rest can go into boxes. Other than that, most of the ones I use daily are on their chucks. I really don't use many different ones.

robo hippy
 
I am fortunate to have bought into Nova's, now discontinued, keyless Infinity chucks years ago and love them. I now have three chucks and Nova gifted me (long story) with a set of 2-7 jaws. I made a box (no lid) for each size. I color coded the boxes with a band around each and put a small colored dot (sticker) on each one to make identification easy.

20260115_124402.jpg

20260115_124126.jpg
 
I was looking at a Mike Waldt video on U-Toob and noticed he has an area on his tool wall behind him with rows of 4 V shaped holders for his chuck jaws. They look very much like those shown by Brandon in post #15, except they're not colored and must be made of wood.

As to peanut cans, Odie, they only ones they sell anymore in the large size cans are the dry roasted nuts and I really much prefer regular cocktail style. Progress.
 
Dean Center said:
As to peanut cans, Odie, they only ones they sell anymore in the large size cans are the dry roasted nuts and I really much prefer regular cocktail style.
Click to expand...

I'm using the small cans.......

=o=
 
Brandon Luster said:
My Christmas break project was cleaning up my chuck and jaw storage situation with 3D printed holders.
I'm a Oneway guy, so I color coded the filament to match the chuck wrench end caps (red for stronghold and yellow for talon.)
I also put a dot of the corresponding color (acrylic paint) on each jaw so I don't mix things up.
View attachment 84102
View attachment 84101
Click to expand...
Nice storage! Love it
 
I store my jaws on chucks :) in the past, lost too many screws in the chips. So now I store chucks here a link to a previous post on chuck storage ans the only jaws I store now are soft jaws

Search results for query: rust

www.aawforum.org www.aawforum.org
 
Steve Tiedman said:
How about using a lathe to turn a lump of wood into a tray made to fit the diameter of a jaw set? Here's a video showing how to make one, just scale it to the size you need.
View: https://youtu.be/DiJfrXJIShY?si=KKltKklnAE74VeKj
Click to expand...
Or, if you like the angular organization of square shapes for storage, mount a square lump to the lathe but turn a recess into it the diameter of the jaw set. Could be as simple as sections of 2x lumber. They'd all fit neatly in a row in a drawer or on a shelf.

Looks like my 5-1/4" OD Shark Jaws will need a 6" square board.
1000017264.jpg
 
I currently store jaws on a pegboard. This works great, as one peg will hold an entire set of lower height jaws, with two pegs for longer jaws like pin or shark style jaws. This is a Wall Control brand pegboard, which accepts standard pegboard hooks and their own style of locking hooks visible in a few places towards the top of the photo. The shelf below has a removable/replacable top drilled for the tool rest posts and chucks (hole sized for the chuck inserts to drop in).

IMG_3127.jpeg


A closeup of the jaw storage:
IMG_3128.jpeg
 
I'll also mention another 3D printed variation that went by a while back, I think posted in these forums somewhere (??). It used a series of stacking trays, where each set of jaws occupies a circular tray designed for that jaw set's diameter. Each tray had a hole in the center, and the whole collection was stacked on vertical rods, Towers of Hanoi style. Unfortunately, I lost the reference and a few attempts at searching for this aren't turning anything up.
 
Every machine (or should I say toy) that I have bought was with a thought of woodturning. The 3D printer has printed a ton of things for woodturning. The excuse for the CNC machine for my wife was the added value of treatment to woodturned pieces. That was also the reason for the Rose Engine so long ago. The first 3 lasers were for the same reason of adding to woodturned pieces. The latest 2 lasers were for the same reason. And lastly the Lathe Engraver, I started the build for use on the lathe and found Paul had the stuff to make it stand alone. So the build is stand alone but I'm not a programmer and my interest in this is waning if someone wants a very good deal on a lathe engraver. I can sometimes have 3 projects running at the same time but a lot of the time I don't know what I want to do because of all the choices. But choices are a really good thing.
 
Brandon Luster said:
My Christmas break project was cleaning up my chuck and jaw storage situation with 3D printed holders.
I'm a Oneway guy, so I color coded the filament to match the chuck wrench end caps (red for stronghold and yellow for talon.)
I also put a dot of the corresponding color (acrylic paint) on each jaw so I don't mix things up.
View attachment 84102
View attachment 84101
Click to expand...
Nice job Brandon, that's a great looking storage wall!
 
I too have most jaws on chucks, stored in a drawer with Kazan Foam cut to nest each chuck. Learned long ago that pegboard collects dust so I have lots of drawers and cabinets. For jaws not on chucks I made trays much like Raffan video but made mine so they could stack in the drawers. This is kinda like boxes . Yes smaller drawers would be better but hindsight is always better than forethought.
 
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