Circle Milling

[asallwey]

" I prefer to grip at the outer edge of the jaws. That keeps tools short and prevents working deep inside, where you may have a chance of hitting the jaws on the cross slide or compound."

Yes, I definitely see the benefit to that. That was a big part of my problem, I couldn't reach my work piece. I kind of wondered why you used such a big nut, now I understand.

" Another benefit of using the outer edges of the jaws is jaw life."

And that makes such obvious sense, guess it didn't dawn on me. This is my first encounter with them.

The one thing I did right was to take kind of light cuts, that saved me from more problems. Now I have a much better understanding of soft jaws. Not only are they for parts you don't want to mar, they are for light work (except for exceptions I suppose), and best used with single parts. I figured that clamping down deep would have less tendency to loosen (in my multiple part insertion approach).

Thanks for filling in more details!

Alex