Foam Donuts Protect Work Pieces on Cole Jaws

[calabrese55]

Finally solved an issue trying to prevent chafing / marring a finished bowl mounted in my Cole jaws.
Starting with an ordinary kids toy, a pool noodle simply cut a slice off the noodle about 1/2 in thick and place the donuts over the rubber inserts on the Cole jaws. The bowl point of contact normally against the metal Cole jaws now nicely rests on the foam donuts. They pretty much will work with any of the Cole inserts for ID or OD workpiece gripping. Best of all they stay in place so there is no fussing around to get them to stay put or having to take the chuck off the spindle and place on a bench to keep the cushion material in place till you can load the workpiece against it . The pictures tell the whole story.
calabrese55

[lew]

Awesome tip! Thanks!!

[Grandpadave52]

Great idea and very resourceful although I thought this post was going to be about a new flavor donut.

[calabrese55]

7 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Great idea and very resourceful although I thought this post was going to be about a new flavor donut.

Actually given the current economy and the onset of Easter we tried marketing these as mini donuts. Most everybody complained they were over cooked and chewed like plastic additionally we had a real issue keeping the Bavarian cream from just falling out of the center

calabrese55

[smitty10101]

Just curious--- does, or doesn't, the donuts affect the mounting of the bowl flush to the face of the cole jaws.

It would, a first glance, not allow the bowl to sit evenly.

 

Also curious why you have a problem with the area contacting the flat plate. I usually have marks/abrasions where the rubber bumpers contact the bowl, especially if I've put a finish on that area.

[calabrese55]

30 minutes ago, smitty10101 said:

Just curious--- does, or doesn't, the donuts affect the mounting of the bowl flush to the face of the cole jaws.

It would, a first glance, not allow the bowl to sit evenly.

 

Also curious why you have a problem with the area contacting the flat plate. I usually have marks/abrasions where the rubber bumpers contact the bowl, especially if I've put a finish on that area.

No not really. Because the donuts are highly compressible with very little pressure it is quite easy to dial in the  concentricity or wobble. I simply bring up the tail stock after I have lightly captured the bowl in the jaws to add pressure to the bowl against the chuck. From there you can slow spin the bowl and easily adjust the compression again against the donuts and then secure the grip with the jaws. I really never had an issue with the rubber grips against a finish on the bowl. The issue I have  and thus the reason for the donuts is on my Nova 2 chuck the jaw elements in the chuck body are a bit sloppy naturally. Adding the Cole plates magnifies the wobble / movement by the larger diameter of the Cole plates. Previously I used some foam sheets cut in the form of a pizza slice and inserted these as cushions. The issue there with the pie pieces of foam is I typically had to take the chuck off the spindle and place it on the bench to keep the foam sheets from falling out or sliding away before the bowl was fully captured. Keep in mind that I use this method just to finish off the base of the bowl . At this point it is completely turned in and out and finish applied all that remains is the very bottom ( footing of the bowl) . Too many times I have been at this point , rounding third base and heading for an easy slide to home plate that it all goes wrong. This is my workaround that really seems to work for me, Rube Goldberg would be proud 

calabrese55