Chuck Jaw storage idea?

[Steve Tiedman]

I can show you an idea that does NOT work. 17 pounds of chuck jaws in a $4 plastic tub. Oh, they all fit just fine, lid installed and everything. But that thin plastic does not accept the weight of what it contains if kept on a shelf where it would need to be grabbed and put back repeatedly. It would be fine if its home was a stationary location, which I do not have.


I'll just keep them in their boxes on a shelf.

 

[Gary Beasley]

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.

View attachment 84080

View attachment 84081

I have that system too, wonderful design! I have a large rolling tool chest that I set the jaws into on one end of the top drawer with the larger handled tools on the other end. The drawer is deep enough to set the chuck in as well. Each set is marked with the set number, 1 through 7, and arranged by jaw number so its easier when changing jaws to grab the right one. Before that I used to hang sets on pegboard behind the lathe for my supernova and G3 chucks. I still have the supernova and leave the 50mm set on it mostly for the worm screw.

 

[Tom Gerhard]

chuck and jaw storage situation with 3D printed holders.

Did you design these or use a design you found online?

 

[Bill Blasic]

The 3D printer is one of the most pleasant surprises I've acquired in conjunction with all the rest of my toys. There are just tons of stuff available for free for my woodturning, my CNC, my new Xtool laser and importantly my Nieces and Nephews plus my newest Grand Niece. A lot of the stuff is available for specific brands.

 

[Brandon Luster]

Did you design these or use a design you found online?

I used these without modification for the chucks:

Wood Lathe Chuck Wall Mount - Slip On/Off by MikeSam | Download free STL model | Printables.com

And I used these without modification for the Talon jaws. (I scaled it up 20% for my Stronghold jaws.)

Midi Lathe Jaw Holder by MikeSam | Download free STL model | Printables.com

 

[John K Jordan]

The 3D printer is one of the most pleasant surprises I've acquired in conjunction with all the rest of my toys. There are just tons of stuff available for free for my woodturning, my CNC, my new Xtool laser and importantly my Nieces and Nephews plus my newest Grand Niece. A lot of the stuff is available for specific brands.

One son and I both built 3D Prusa printer kits a few years back and I used mine a lot. We both built temperature-controlled lighted enclosures with cameras for remote monitoring over ethernet by way of Raspberry Pi. Then life got overload for me and in my downsizing sent mine to him. He how has the two identical printers and productivity went way up! (He designs and prints incredibe jewelry, wonderful lamps, tools, things for his photo/videography business, gidgets and gadgets.) When I need something he can print it and send it.

Another son who lives near bought an assembled printer and his kids started going crazy! They were running low on their one spool of filament so I took over a box full of the filament. He made some amazing Christmas gifts this year - one was a cylindrical maze puzzle with a bunch of nested cups.

The number and variety of free ready-to-print models has exploded. No printer? - there are lots of places to get something made. (such as printathing.com/) Search google for 'where can i get something 3d printed'

Things sure have changed since the '60s.

JKJ

 

[Lew Kauffman]

My little shop is in the basement. Wall space disappeared years ago. The space between the floor joists (basement ceiling) provides storage using swing down cubbies. Magnetic tool holders from Harbor Freight hold my jaws securely. Because the ceiling isn't a full 8 ft the jaws are within reach whether the cubby is up or swung down.

 

[Larry Felton]

I'm using Planter's peanut cans for chuck jaw storage.

They are the perfect size.....and they're free!

=o=

Tuna fish cans are also a good size.

 

[John Whitley]

Ah, this clever 3D printed jaw storage system by @Scott Horton, which I was trying to reference up-thread, popped up again. (Glad it wasn't just a fever dream! ). Scroll down towards the end of this post for the relevant bit:

Post in thread 'Axminster (new chucks) vs New Vicmarc'

Feb 17, 2025

Hi did you finally get the VM over the Axminster and why?

James et.al.: In the end I chose Vicmarc.

My Reasons in no particular order:

1) The Vicmarc landed cost was substantially less. No one in the USA really had much stock if any. So I bought mine direct from AU and the USD to AUD exchange rate was very good at the time of ordering. I could have bought (2) VM100s and have money left over vs. (1) SK100 sourced in the USA (see #2)

2) The SK100 was not available from Axminster, not in the old, solid body, lifetime guarantee version, nor in the upcoming universal style...

• Scott Horton

• 
• 

 

[Edward Kerslake]

This thread, along with the discussion of 3D printed parts / storage idea led me to create my own set of designs for the "Gridfinity' system,
If you're not familiar with the Gridfinity method of tool storage, I suggest a quick google to lead you to the black hole / Alice in wonderland misuse of time ;-)
In essence, it's a standardized cubic grid system. The baseplate is generated to 'fill' a drawer edge to edge and then gridfinity elements then fit within it.

I've spent the last two weeks generating CAD files to match my Oneway Jaws and Chucks and after about 10kg of scrap PETG and the removal of a few more of my (few) head hairs, I am getting there!

I LOVE the gridfinity system and this way of storing as I can quickly open my drawer and eyeball a jaw to fit my tenon (or my caliper measurement)
The jaws are stored in their 'perfect circle' diameter.

I've now done it for both my Axminster Jaws and my Oneway jaws. The Axminster ones I have yet to clean up and process but the Oneway ones I have just uploaded to Creality Cloud. (8933607028) Pretty happy with the result and my wife is now happy that I am no longer parked in front of a computer

When I get the time and energy I will turn my attention to the Axminster files

 

[Edward Kerslake]

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Like some others I found it easier to store the jaws on chucks.

 

[Edward Kerslake]

Like some others I found it easier to store the jaws on chucks.View attachment 86958

I agree with you for the Oneway chucks, which is why you see some already mounted on my Stronghold's. There is little benefit with the Axminster chucks (which I MUCH prefer) as each jaw is attached to keyed slides and they can be inserted with a simple turn of the chuck key. It takes about 30 seconds.

 

[john lucas]

I have a lot of chucks and jaws. I made square pieces that I bored a hole to fit each set of jaws. This keeps them in some kind of order in the drawer. All the other necessary items for tge chucks are in this drawer.

 

[Darryl Fective]

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

It's a lot quicker to just change the chuck, rather than mess with small screws that like to fill their heads with dust.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

I guess if you're a production turner who sells his/her work, time might be very important but, for me, the time it takes to change jaws isn't worth spending money on several more chucks (actually 5 I counted). They have become expensive.

 

[Edward Kerslake]

It's a lot quicker to just change the chuck, rather than mess with small screws that like to fill their heads with dust.

The Axminster jaws are not the same as Oneway. You turn the chuck key until the slides exit

 

[Bill Blasic]

Now that I am down to 4 lathes (2 with 1" X 8 and 2 with 1 1/4" X 8) and having purged my tool cabinet of most brands of chucks except Novas. Also no longer teaching or having Hands On in my shop all the Nova chucks (down to about 20 of those) they all have different jaws on them. I don't foresee having to change jaws again. Change chucks not jaws!

 

[Darryl Fective]

The Axminster jaws are not the same as Oneway. You turn the chuck key until the slides exit

I'd still much prefer to just swap chucks, than to fart around changing jaws/slides.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

I'd still much prefer to just swap chucks, than to fart around changing jaws/slides.

I guess you must have a very tight schedule. My goal for my woodworking and woodturning time is to relax. Preparation and tool maintenance (including changing jaws which I don't need to do all that much) is just part of the whole experience. Relax, relax, relax...That's my goal when I'm in the shop. Maybe the difference is I'm retired and have time.

 

[Gordon Andrus]

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

I love my axminster chuck! I can just dial a set of jaws out and dial a new set in. They sell these storage hangers. I believe Oneway chucks do this too. The other jaws hang on these slat board hooks.

 

[John K Jordan]

Preparation and tool maintenance (including changing jaws which I don't need to do all that much) is just part of the whole experience. Relax, relax, relax...

It's great that different people have different ways to relax!

I relax in the shop by picking out wood for a project, sketching, planning, sizing blanks on the bandsaw, then turning, and smoothing the wood. Changing jaws is not on my relax list, more in the category of emptying trash, sweeping the floor, cleaning off the workbench.

I also relax by pulling few tools off the wall rack, and opening one of the chuck drawers to pull out a chuck or two of the 20+ chucks that haven't had the jaws removed for years. Last time I bought a set of jaws completely new to me (Teknatool dome jaws) I ordered a new chuck for them. I keep one chuck with no jaws for just in case. Several chucks have the most often used jaws mounted,ready to use. I sometimes leave pieces mounted for weeks or months in chucks until I get back to them. One yarn bowl has been in it's chuck own for maybe 4 years now. It's very relaxing to see it when I walk by - I feel no sense of urgency, no schedule, no guilt, no stress.

I also relax by feeding the peacocks, brushing horses, digging up a tree or stump with the excavator, mowing the llama pasture, or walking a mile or two around the farm if it's not freezing or pouring rain.

I think the most mentally unrelaxing thing I do related to woodturning is figuring out just what to take to a demo, making lists so I don't forget anything, and packing it all for the drive. The demo itself is bliss.

JKJ

 

[John Torchick]

The ad for Record Power has the new Versalock system, eliminating screws. A spacious drawer should have room for several jaw sets. One chuck to handle all?

 

[John K Jordan]

A spacious drawer should have room for several jaw sets. One chuck to handle all?

Ha!

At the moment I have two nearly finished student pieces in identical jaws in separate chucks, waiting for the student to return - take them out of the chucks risks getting them in perfect registration later. The yarn bowl I mentioned reclines patiently in another chuck with different jaws. A partially completed platter is in another chuck, a box and lid in two, a chuck with pin jaws holding a .5x.5x4" ebony blank for an upcoming demo in Chattanooga, and one chuck I just carried to a demo in Charlotte, NC and back to the shop.

The way some work is different than others. Without variety, life sure would be predicable.

JKJ

 

[Darryl Fective]

I guess you must have a very tight schedule. My goal for my woodworking and woodturning time is to relax. Preparation and tool maintenance (including changing jaws which I don't need to do all that much) is just part of the whole experience. Relax, relax, relax...That's my goal when I'm in the shop. Maybe the difference is I'm retired and have time.

No, I'm on my own clock, but I'll say I'm more relaxed making shavings that messing with tiny bits. My shop is usually a mess and dropping a screw can turn a jaw swap into a much longer task. It's also way more convenient for me to just choose the best size tenon for a project, rather than having what jaws are currently installed influence that decision.

 

[Bill Blasic]

Not a thing wrong with having time to change jaws by unscrewing and changing jaws but too its fine to have 30 different jaw sets on 30 different chucks. On my Powermatic I have had the same Supernova chuck on the lathe for at least 5 years as I start every piece with the screw that came with the chuck. The last time I had that chuck off was for a run of rolling pins which do not need a chuck. We all do what just what we want to do.

 

[John Torchick]

Question: How did woodturners survive without chucks?

 

[Heath Bateman]

While I do have several chucks with different jaw sets, I keep the extras in a drawer utilizing the cardboard corners that come on some pallet shipments. Taped underneath to keep them together.

 

[R Henrickson]

Question: How did woodturners survive without chucks?

For many things they weren't (and aren't) necessary -- such as almost all spindle work. Despite the overwhelming emphasis on bowls and hollow forms in current turning, some flourishing turning traditions focused on spindles almost exclusively for centuries. For example, the woodturners guild in Cairo was one of the largest craft groups in the city 200-500 years ago. Their work was ubiquitous -- such as huge window lattice screens (mashrabiyas) in thousands of houses and much furniture. These panels often had 100-200 pieces per square foot. They did not turn bowls, plates, or hollow forms -- suitable wood was not available and far too expensive for such uses. Spindles, however, were sustainable, even though at least some of the wood had to be imported.

 

[Dave Landers]

Question: How did woodturners survive without chucks?

Take bowls for an example - the outside can be done much like many of us do today - between centers or on a faceplate or screw chuck. And the final turning of the base, after the inside was done, is also similar to what many of us do - jam chuck or friction chuck (between centers), donut chuck, etc.

There are lots of options then to hold the bottom for turning the inside. You could use a faceplate with short screws and part off the waste. If you left the screw holes in the bottom, fill them or cover the foot with felt. Or use a sacrificial wood block on a faceplate, glued with a paper joint. Or make a spigot to fit into a jam chuck (like a collet). Etc....

 

[David Stranz]

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

Wow, you are well on your way to becoming a finalist in the "He who dies with the most tools wins" contest. Hope you can keep accumulating (and organizing) for a long time to come.

I have very limited wall space. Long ago I bought a Husky rolling tool cabinet from Home Depot (52" x 18" x something high), mounted my Nova 16-24 lathe on top, bought a chunk of granite countertop and bolted it to the back for mass and stability. There isn't much movement even when turning lopsided pieces. It has enough drawers to hold all of my most-used turning tools and supplies. I keep my 5 or 6 chucks, most with jaws mounted nested on their sides in a tray in one drawer, unmounted jaws in plastic cases in another. It mostly works.

 

[John K Jordan]

Question: How did woodturners survive without chucks?

Jam chucks made from wood, often for face work. And "cup" chucks from steel, often with a taper inside. End grain work could be hammered into the taper and held securely. I've got old books about woodturning over a half-century old and one from well over 100 years old. These are interesting to read and see how things were done then.

Four-haw scroll chucks sure are a huge improvement in holding, efficiency, and flexibility. With today's lathes, chucks, and tools we are living in a golden age.

Three-jaw chucks, each jaw independently tightened, are commonly use on metal lathes. Not so handy and not as secure for wood as a four-jaw scroll chuck.

Someone told me recently he had a four-jaw non-scroll chuck - each jaw was adjusted independently. I've never seen or heard of one like that. Could be useful to position and hold rectangular and other irregular things.

JKJ

 

[Sam Fleisher]

The laid out everything in it's place is good but I'm too cheap. I just keep each set in a plastic food storage container I get at a dollar store. Then store them in a filing cabinet with the chucks. (kind you open the door then comes sliding out)

 

[Sam Fleisher]

View attachment 86893

I see you have the deep grip jaws, do you use them a lot? I'm still on the fence because of the $169 price tag but they aren't getting cheaper. I just bought my fourth sk114 the other day. I keep jaws on mine so now I have small, medium and large ready to go and the fourth one is for my vacuum chuck setup. Is that the "colossus" to the left of the deep grip? too big for the same space as others?