That could be the problem. The jaws are steel but a file makes a mark with little trouble, 15 minutes with the chuck maker's manual found an oblique reference to "standard soft jaws". Geeze, I don't know s*it about lathes. I thought all "soft" jaws were aluminum.
I'll try the speed, feed changes for the chip situation. I've been using 4000 RPM and .002 to .003 IPT with a .04 to .06 depth of cut. Now that I think about it the "diameter" concept that's new to me may mean my DOC is really .02 to .03. Well, back to the drawing boards
Vern
J C, thanks for the links.