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cole jaws

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question is, which cole jaws are best to use for my lathe it has a 12" swing. most of my bowls are in the 10" range and i would like a better looking foot.
 
ryan34 said:
question is, which cole jaws are best to use for my lathe it has a 12" swing. most of my bowls are in the 10" range and i would like a better looking foot.

Ryan....


I have both the Nova chuck and Oneway stronghold chucks with the cole jaws. The Oneway will be too big to fit your 12" swing.....but, if I'm not mistaken, there is a smaller size of cole jaws available for the Oneway. Check on this.

The Nova is the right size for your lathe. It will fit up to a 10" dia bowl on the expand mode, and up to a 9 9/16" dia bowl on the contraction mode.

Minimum diameters for the Nova cole jaw chuck are 2 5/8" dia on contraction, and 4" dia on the expand mode.

I have been using both of these chucks with cole jaws for about 15yrs now, and my impression of both is very positive.

otis of cologne



BTW: here's a pic of the Nova and Oneway with cole jaws.....
 

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Ryan.....

I've been checking out the CSUSA site, and the Jumbo jaws specs for the Oneway stronghold chuck is a little confusing to me. Maybe my set of cole jaws are no longer available, because it lists them for a maximum of 12" on the expansion mode, and 11" on compression.

I just went out to the shop and measured for myself, and the rim of my Oneway cole jaws will expand to the full 16", which is the maximum I can handle from my lathe. Although it will expand to 16", the maximum bowl diameter I can grip is about 14 1/8".

Even when compressed all the way, the cole jaw rim is still about 14 3/8" in diameter.....so my Oneway cole jaws wouldn't work on your lathe.

Anyway, I see there is a smaller set of cole jaws available for the Oneway. That one ought to work for you....if you choose to go that route. If you go by the specs provided, it will handle up to a 10 1/8" bowl on expansion and 8 1/8" on contraction.

Let me know how I can help. I can provide further measurments, or whatever.

-----------------

Overall, the cole jaws are a great alternative to sanding the bottoms flat....and less expensive and troublesome than a vacuum chuck. (Although I'm considering putting together a vacuum chuck someday!)

....odie dog
 
ryan34 said:
question is, which cole jaws are best to use for my lathe it has a 12" swing. most of my bowls are in the 10" range and i would like a better looking foot.
I bought the nova mini jaws on the advice from woodcraft and they are too small guess I will have to go larger but will they bang on the bed of the lathe when I'm turning.
 
ryan34 said:
I bought the nova mini jaws on the advice from woodcraft and they are too small guess I will have to go larger but will they bang on the bed of the lathe when I'm turning.

As I understand it, the mini cole jaws are intended for mini-lathes. This isn't what you want at all. If it's what Woodcraft talked you into buying, I'd talk to them and see if they'll refund, or give credit toward another purchase.

The larger set of Nova cole jaws is what you want.

If your lathe has a 12" swing, the Nova jaws won't interfere with your bed ways.

What kind of lathe do you have? A pic would be nice. Maybe there's something I'm missing in your inquiry.

....odie
 
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odie said:
As I understand it, the mini cole jaws are intended for mini-lathes. This isn't what you want at all. If it's what Woodcraft talked you into buying, I'd talk to them and see if they'll refund, or give credit toward another purchase.

The larger set of Nova cole jaws is what you want.

If your lathe has a 12" swing, the Nova jaws won't interfere with your bed ways.

What kind of lathe do you have? A pic would be nice. Maybe there's something I'm missing in your inquiry.

....odie
odie I have the rikon midi lathe. I am going to return the jaws I purchased and get the larger set. thanks for the input
 
odie said:
As I understand it, the mini cole jaws are intended for mini-lathes. This isn't what you want at all. If it's what Woodcraft talked you into buying, I'd talk to them and see if they'll refund, or give credit toward another purchase.

The larger set of Nova cole jaws is what you want.

If your lathe has a 12" swing, the Nova jaws won't interfere with your bed ways.

What kind of lathe do you have? A pic would be nice. Maybe there's something I'm missing in your inquiry.

....odie
odie I have the rikon midi lathe. I am going to return the jaws I purchased and get the larger set. thanks for the input
 
Own, but seldom use the jaws. Decided that I didn't need any more on a base than a smoothed hold and a groove or two, and I do them in conjunction with the mortise.

Lots of stuff on Longworth chucks on the web, if you're hot to do one. http://www.fholder.com/Woodturning/lwc-wtm.htm for example. Then there are vacuum types to consider.
 
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