Top Soft Jaw

About Top Soft Jaw

Top soft jaws are a specialized and highly adaptable workholding accessory used on lathe chucks, particularly on CNC and manual lathes. Unlike hardened jaws that have a fixed profile, soft jaws are made from a softer material, such as aluminum or unhardened steel, which allows them to be machined directly on the lathe to match the exact shape and size of a specific workpiece.

Key Features and Benefits

• Custom Machining: The primary feature of soft jaws is their machinability. A machinist can bore or turn the jaws to a precise diameter and shape, creating a custom-fit grip for a specific part. This ensures maximum contact area and a secure, uniform clamping force.

• Superior Accuracy: Because the jaws are machined in place on the chuck, they provide near-perfect concentricity with the spindle's axis of rotation. This is critical for second-operation machining where a part needs to be accurately re-chucked to machine the other side.

• Non-Marring Grip: The softer material of the jaws prevents them from scratching, denting, or deforming delicate, pre-finished, or soft workpieces.

• Reduced Setup Time: While machining the jaws takes time, it is often faster and more accurate than trying to align and clamp a workpiece with standard hard jaws, especially for complex or irregular shapes.