Three keys to make a good tenon for holding bowls and vessels in the chuck while woodturning.

In this video, I will go over the three keys for creating a well-formed tenon that will hold your bowl, vessel, or other woodturning project firmly in the chuck while you are hollowing.

The three keys are (in order of importance):

1. The top of the jaws must have a nice flat bearing surface (shoulder) to ride against. The majority of your holding power comes from paying attention to this detail.

2. The diameter of the tenon must match the chuck jaws, do not try to get away with just having one set of jaws and putting in a tenon that is way too big for the jaws (Or using a tenon that is the correct size for the jaws but way too small relative to the workpiece). Long story short, you will eventually need multiple sets of jaws. The jaws are a true circle when they are just slightly open (a 1/16" - 3/32" gap between jaws) and this is the diameter at which they will have the greatest holding power because the entire surface of the jaws will be making contact.

3. Matching the dovetail (or other) shape of the jaws.

Pay attention to these concepts and take the time to make your tenons correctly and bowls that fly out of the chuck will be a thing of the past for you!