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O’Donnell Jaws

Bill Alston

Bill Alston

Joined
Jan 10, 2024
Messages
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Location
Bournemouth, UK
I bought some O’Donnell Jaws many years ago just in case, but never really found a particular use for them.
Just recently though I had a job in mind that will require some small Dovetail Jaws. Luckily the type of OD Jaws I bought accepts interchangeable inserts so I’ve bought some 25mm Dovetails for them. Today was 20% off at Axminster so a good time to buy. Hopefully they will work well.

IMG_3841.jpeg
 
I actually have two sets of O'Donnell jaws for my Axminster chucks. The first one is an old set and they do not have the inserts. Then, the one's with the inserts came out and I had to have it. That is the set I use on a regular basis. I like them a lot.
 
Bill Alston said:
Are O’Donnell Jaws unique to Axminster Tools, they seem so? If true I wonder why.
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I’ve never heard of them until now.

Wondering: what is the advantage of having the jaws with separate inserts compared to separate jaws that fit other chucks, for example the Nova? Are insertable jaws cheaper than separate Nova jaws? More precise for some reason? I have Nova expansion jaws from about 1/2” dia to 5” or so (when closed) that fit all Nova chucks.

JKJ
 
John K Jordan said:
I’ve never heard of them until now.

Wondering: what is the advantage of having the jaws with separate inserts compared to separate jaws that fit other chucks, for example the Nova? Are insertable jaws cheaper than separate Nova jaws? More precise for some reason? I have Nova expansion jaws from about 1/2” dia to 5” or so (when closed) that fit all Nova chucks.

JKJ
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I can’t answer that except to say the inserts are about a third the price of the Jaws. They are also much quicker to fit.
Record Power have now adopted a similar approach with their Versalock Jaws.

The Axminster Jaws are available on their own or as a set. I bought my Jaws before they started making them from stainless steel, hence the colour difference. This is the current set.

IMG_3860.jpeg
 
@John K Jordan The O’Donnell jaws give you much more access to the back of the turning. Also much better clamping on squares. Nova expansion jaws just don’t have the same capability as the O’Donnell jaws (IMO). For O'Donnell inserts there are a total of 4 cap head screws and can be changed right on the lathe. I had Nova and Record chucks, but decided to switch to the Axminster brand. I was up to 10 Nova/Record chucks to avoid changing jaws. Four Axminster chucks easily replaced them and I like Axminster chucks a lot better. I just picked up a OneWay Talon chuck and it is also impressive. The advantage with the Axminster chucks are the jaw slides are reasonably priced, so buying jaw slides for the jaws is much cheaper than buy a chuck because you don’t have to deal with the jaw screws. Just crank out one set of jaws and crank in another. jaw set.
 
William Rogers said:
The O’Donnell jaws give you much more access to the back of the turning. Also much better clamping on squares.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the education. I think I'm set and don't need to buy new chucks and jaws. Whew! :)

I have some Nova jaws with better back access. I also have some jaws made for clamping on squares of various sizes. I keep about 20 chucks - it's a rare day when I change I jaw set - I think I changed one sometime last fall. I keep some chucks at ready with no jaws so I can mount jaws quickly for some special purpose.

We sure live in a great time - so many options. I know people who were turning just 50 years ago who relied on faceplates for almost everything that wasn't a spindle.

JKJ
 
Sam Fleisher said:
Have you noticed the price on them these days? I paid $159 for mine I believe not that long ago.
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I paid $80 each for the two sets including inserts some time ago when Lee Valley discontinued Axminster chucks. Although they still list a few items, almost all are noted as "discontinued" and/or"Item no longer available" on their site.
 
William Rogers said:
The advantage with the Axminster chucks are the jaw slides are reasonably priced, so buying jaw slides for the jaws is much cheaper than buy a chuck because you don’t have to deal with the jaw screws. Just crank out one set of jaws and crank in another. jaw set.
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Agreed. I find it somewhat strange that you can’t do this with most other wood turning chucks on the market?
 
I can do it with the Talon chuck (removing the limit pin) I bought, but the slides are $80 where Axminster is $55. It just cost more. Nova jaw slides cost even more. When I was buying the Axminster slides they were about $35. No telling what thangs are going to cost in the near future. I guess still cheaper than a new chuck.
 
I’ve never had a problem removing Nova slides. Last time I did this for cleaning I removed the stop screw then turned the chuck key to back out the slides. I’d have to check to see if that the same on the different types of Nova chucks I have.
 
William Rogers said:
@Bill Alston Nova sells individual slides. How would you replace them? Must be something else holding them in.
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I wondered this until I looked more closely at the picture I took of the teeth that engage the scroll wheel. The bottom “teeth” are completely different to what you’d normally expect so I’m guessing they prevent complete removal of the chuck jaws (slides)? It’s certainly the case that the Axminster Jaws are removable and have fully formed teeth.

Nova Jaws:

IMG_1283.jpeg

Axminster Jaws:

IMG_3872.jpeg

I had to remove the scroll wheel in order to remove the Nova Jaws. I suppose Nova sell spares in case they get damaged in use. Axminster sell replacement Jaws in sets of four but I did note somewhere that Nova supply them individually. Someone ordered a spare and they sent the wrong one according to a post I read online.
 
@Bill Alston This is from memory when I serviced my SuperNova chucks. I think you need to remove the scroll/gear from the chuck to get the slides out. Been a long time so maybe there is something else. I know the OneWaly Talon is similar to the Axminster where you can just crank out the slides. You need to remove the limit pin to do this.
 
William Rogers said:
@Bill Alston This is from memory when I serviced my SuperNova chucks. I think you need to remove the scroll/gear from the chuck to get the slides out. Been a long time so maybe there is something else. I know the OneWaly Talon is similar to the Axminster where you can just crank out the slides. You need to remove the limit pin to do this.
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Yes, that’s correct. You need to remove the circlip and the plastic back cover and then the Scroll Wheel can be removed.
 
Mark Jundanian said:
I see you have Torx screws in your slides rather than Allen. Did your chuck come with Torx, or did you buy replacement screws?
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The Chuck came with Torx screws. I bought some other Jaws though that needed slightly smaller diameter heads on the screws so I also bought some Torx screws as well. Just my opinion, but having had Hex sockets strip out in countersunk screws I have to say I’m a big fan of Torx screws. Particularly in the smaller sizes.
 
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