If you get a "GOOD" set of these jaws, I expect you will like them a lot.
Question:What is a "GOOD" set?
Ans: Jaws that will grip the work nicely, perfectly parallel, as test fit on a known cylindrical hard rod shuch as metal or one of the harder plastics, like PR, that we use.
If you use (softer) wood as a test-fit, it can compress and make nonparallel jaws 'appear' to be parallel.
The issue: If the jaws do not mount up for a parallel fit to the work, and you drill it, one end of the work can move off center, and you will not get a near perfect hole right down center. This either is important to you now or will become VERY IMPORTANT later, as you attempt segmented or other more intricate work.
Why do I make a big deal out of this? Gordon said this was a problem with early jaws, which wold be 2 tears ago. My experience was 2 months recent. Bought a set on Amazon, returned for nonparallel (NP). Bought set #2 direct from Teknatool, which was replaced by set #3 for NP. After some serious talk back-n-forth, finally got set #4, which had been checked by Teknatool. It was CLOSE to being parallel, and seemingly met Teknatool's standards. It met my standards only because I was mounting the jaws onto a dedicated chuck, meaning I could shim the mounting contact surface to get rid of the NP. (If you use a chuck with plans to swap jaws, they would need re-shimming every time!)
I am not an overly picky perfectionist. The NP condition exceeded 1/64" over the length of the jaws...very easy to see with just a casual glance and easy to feel with my common practice wiggle maneuver to check that the work is properly mounted. I took the time to write this post so anyone considering these jaws are aware to get "GOOD" ones. I like my "GOOD" ones very much. It was worth it to go thru the steps I took to get them to get it right. Armed with this knowledge you can get a good set and be happy!
