a tubular extension 63 which telescopes along the shaft 50 for directional control of the chuck and compression of a coil spring 80 surrounding the shaft the distal ends of the hand grips 53 54 are pivotally connected to the cable chuck body 62 by pivot pins 64 the proximal ends of the hand grips are free and spring biased to move away from each other limited by the length of the links 55 56 the coil spring 80 has one end resting on a shoulder 81 inside the tubular extension of the chuck the other end of the spring engages a flange 82 on the shaft the relative movement of the shaft and the tubular extension 63 compresses the spring 80 as the hand grips move together release of the hand grips permits unloading of the spring and outward movement of the hand grips the chuck body 62 has a bore 65 through which the cable 11 passes within the body 62 is the clutch 70 which engages the cable 11 in the bore 65 allowing tension to be exerted by the tensioner 12 when the hand grips move toward each other resulting in the reduction of the size of the cable loop about the bones or bone fragments the clutch 70 is housed in a passage 71 in the chuck body that intercepts the bore.