Size of work-piece using SS face-plate

[SaturnMarkV]

I love my lathe!

Tried the faceplate last night, with mixed results.

I was making a shifter-knob.

I centered the faceplate as best I could, and applied some 1" screws.

The faceplate was then attached to the drive shaft. For support while turning it down to diameter, I used a live center on the tail-stock.

When the general shape was there, and I just needed to do a few touch-ups and sanding, I removed the live center, and sawed off the extra wood that was between the knob to and the live center (hoping that makes sense).

So, I had a piece that was basically 1.5" in diameter sticking out approximately 5" from the faceplate, and there was a lot of wobble. This is with the speed set as low as I could get it.

I'm assuming the wobble came from the length of the piece. If so, is there a general rule of thumb for turning without using the tail-stock? Is there anything I can do to make the work-piece wobble less?

[JPG]

How 'much' is 'a lot of wobble'?

Are the screws securely tightened? i.e. the work piece rests on the faceplate 'everywhere'?

What type screws did you use?

[ChrisNeilan]

I would first check alignment between the live center points and tailstock points. They should touch point to point. If not, adjust your ecentric in the tail stock until they do. If it's off just a bit, it can really throw spindles for a loop. What happens is the spindle is turned off center...
Another possibiliyt is that when you bring the work up to the tailstock, the point of the tailstock might follow the wood grain and be pulled off center, or, are you maybe not finding an accurate center in the wood...

[reible]

In general there is a block of wood attached to the face plate with screws and then a glue joint/tape/hot glue between the work piece and that block. The block is mounted first and then the face made flat and shaped before the work piece is attached.

If you were going to turn a work piece that is starting off a 3" square then you shape the waste block on the face plate so it has a 3" round stepped into it so it is easier to center the block.... if the square is 2" then a 2" circle.

If you go with glue it good to put a sheet of newspaper between the joint to get a nicer separation.

You then turn the shape you want using the tail stock as you did. You want to do as much turning and finishing as you can with the tail stock in place. You can do a lot to the end before you have to separate it, in some cases you need to have a bit of "extra" stock to cut away to get the angles.

Depending on the wood you can get it pretty thin before you have to cut it free, later on you might even turn all the way to separation. You then need to get the tail stock out of the way or at least the sharp point of the center.

With something out 5" you will want to take very light cuts if anything needs to be done, a lot can be done with sandpaper but again very light touch is needed. If it is moving around alot then you are better off taking it off the lathe to finish.

Ed

[wa2crk]

Is the shifter knob threaded on the inside? If so you can thread the inside of the knob blank and mount the blank on a bolt and use the bolt as a mandrel. If it is smooth make a jam chuck and turn the knob and then epoxy it to the shifter. Kind of like doing a wine bottle stopper.
Bill V

[terrydowning]

And if you're lust getting started with wood turning I suggest some of the following as well.

Get yourself some books on Work Holding. I really like this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Fixtures-Chucks- ... ords=lathe

Find a mentor. Many areas have wood working and/or wood turning clubs.
the AAW is a great pace to search. Reading books and forums is great, but actually watching and receiving guidance from someone that knows what they are doing with a lathe is an immense help.
http://www.woodturner.org/

Practice, Practice, Practice. You just never know what will come out of the fire wood pile or scraps. (I now have no scraps in my shop, just progressively smaller cutoffs. Once a cutoff is too small to work with, it is considered waste and disposed of.)

I like my scroll chuck. (Penn State Barracuda) The Nova G3 sold by the MS is a good one as well. When it's on sale it makes for a great deal.http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/nova_g3.htm (On my wish list)

I also like my collet chuck (also from Penn state) especially for small things.

I like using my face plate, as it fit's great on the SS. I have a few blocks that I can screw on the face plate.
A glue block that I keep faced and clean. This provides a stand off away from the head stock with which to work.

Another I use on the opposite of the head stock as a hand wheel for turning the lathe by hand.

I also have made face plate mounted screw chucks as required for shifter knobs, bottle stoppers, brush handles etc. Attach a cutoff to your face plate, make it tall enough to give your self room to work. find the center. and mount a screw into it of the appropriate thread size. Mount the blank and have fun. (I have 3 of these, with a 1/4 -20 bolt about an inch long, one with a 5/16-18 bolt about an inch long and one with a 3/8 - 16 bolt an inch long.)

best of luck and safe wood working.

[SaturnMarkV]

Lots of great information here. Thanks so much everyone. I'd love to get a mentor!