Hello friends, I don't have a small chuck and would like to know what would be your aproach to make one of these? Or if you made one of these, if you can explain the process. By the pic, those kerfs look too wide for your everyday bandsaw blade.
Here is the link of the video :
https://www.facebook.com/reel/798776249613704
Thank you
View attachment 82566
Manny,
I have chuck jaws that hold various sizes including small diameters. But I've made a similar "chuck" for special purpose - to finish the ends of wooden eggs!
If making one just like that and you have a bandsaw, you could make two or more cuts to get the width. It would be safe to cut if the round piece were secure. (Easy to support securely with one of the handscrew clamps - I use these a lot. Made like this with two screws for adjustable angles if needed:
This is the "chuck" I made:
Some points:
- I made more than four segments.
- Used eastern red cedar since it was fairly soft and flexible.
- Since cedar IS soft, I turned and glued in an threaded insert made of strong/hard dogwood, tapped to fit the lathe spindle. You certainly wouldn't need that if holding the thing in a chuck lie you show.
- The hose clamp works well but can be a hazard to fingers!
If making one like you show I might want the wooden "jaws" to be harder to hold up.
Since you will be holding this in a chuck, due to the way wood compresses it might not run true if removed then mounted again. It would help to use dry, fairly hard wood with the mounted diameter very close to the minimum chuck jaw diameter. Also, something I always do when removing a tenon that I might want to remount later: I make a mark of the chuck body with a sharpie (I like to put a dot between jaw #1and #4 and put a dot on the wood before loosening the jaws. This can help me put the tenon in the same spot later.
Seems like one disadvantage to the one you show is the sides of the wooden "jaws" would not stay perfectly cylindrical as they are squeezed. However, this might not make much difference and no practical difference if the tenon they grip is very close to the unclamped diameter.
Hey, there's another way if you haven't tried it: if you remove the jaws completely from a chuck the jaw slides can be used to hold small diameter work.
Look at "D" in the pic below: It shows a square blank being held but it also works with round. Has some limitations but will work if nothing else is available. However a set of pin jaws are better. And my newest favorite for small things: the dome jaws, "C"! Can hold REALLY small diameters. (This is a section of my document on Handbell Ornaments.)
Another option for small diameters is to use #2 Morse Taper collets. They are cheap and hold securely. Mount directly in the taper in the headstock The downsides are they need a drawbar (but easily made for very little cost) and the tenon on the wood needs to be turned to a fairly close diameter. I have a complete set but use only the 1/2" collet for wood (the largest diameter you can get for a #2MT.
.
JKJ
