I have not been turning that long, not much experience of years as such  I kind of make up stuff as I go. I have been frustrated when turning a mortise, tenon, sacrificial piece etc trying to get the "right bite" for the bowl or vase I am ruining at the moment . Taking measurements of 3 sets of chuck jaws, I made a chart and compared to measurements of the work  to see if I have the right "bite" on the work. To me this was a PITA and for some reason counterintuitive . Out of the frustration came the "GO / NO GO" gauges shown here. the picture here shows 3 gauges I made, ( one for each set of chuck jaws) that I can now simply hold up the correct gauge to a mortise or tenon I am trying to create and instantly know if I have a good fit for the chuck. For me this greatly simplifies the process and instantly shows how much "bite" I can expect without ever taking an actual measurement. 

calabrese55 

 

thanks HandyDan, Fred W. Hargis Jr and John Morris for having a peak at my madness. I shared similar on a couple of FB groups but it seems to be very confusing to some. Do you think this makes any sense given the details / method ? 

Makes perfect sense Mike.  I have done the same and use mine for leaving less marks on pieces when clamped so the gauges are made with jaws pretty well closed.  The jaw edges don't dig in if the diameter matches the purchase spot.

When I bought my EWT chuck, I made a similar one for the jaws that came with it. Over time I added more jaws and discovered that EWT copied your idea!

 

The added magnet holds them on the lathe for easy access.

Hi Dan and Lew

not sure they copied my Idea    nothing about me is original everything I do is either begged, borrowed or flat out stolen form the general population. i had an original thought once and it hurt like heck so i decided to never did that again 

I saw something similar by CAptn Eddie years ago and made mine of aluminum. It kinda gets lost sometimes so I made a story stick with holes to match diametersof different jaws. Then the calipers transfer that measurement to tenon. 

Wow Gerald that is amazing. On my version I apparently built in some legs too because I have to chase them all over the shop , they just seem to always walk off the ultimate irony is the time I saved measuring I now pi$$ away looking for the darn things