Hi Tom,


I'm sure that you mark the bowl blank so that you relocate the same
"loose jaw" in its original location, but I wonder if a loose slot is
really the cause of your troubles and woes. Do your chuck jaws close
evenly when tightened fully closed? Check if they tighten evenly on a
piece of round bar about same diameter as your tenon or dovetail. I'm
betting they do.


For sure fix your chuck if a jaw is quite loose, but don't count too
much on being able to accurately remount an unfinished bowl blank on it.
For the most of us turners who can't do this either it's almost always
the wood, not the chuck so we tend to "turn & blend".


I've experimented with making a centered dimple with a center drill on
the tenon or in the dovetail and cobbled up a spring loaded centering
pin thru the chuck jaws. I've also tried an expandable thin circular
sheet metal sleeve over the jaws even tried short pipe segments so as
not to crush the wood. Didn't work for me. Okay, I blame the wood, but
maybe it's me. Anyway I hope I'm wrong. Let us know the outcome.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


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